Don’t Repeat Obama’s Mistake in Iran

UANI Advisory Board Member Ray Takeyh writes: "Mr. Trump’s predicament now isn’t dissimilar to Barack Obama’s when he said the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad in Syria in 2013 would be a “red line”—and then proceeded to ignore his own warning when Syria crossed it. Mr. Obama’s failure opened the door to Damascus and its Iranian and Russian backers to crush the rebellion mercilessly; it signaled to Tehran that it could have both its way in the region and nuclear talks with Washington. Mr. Trump should hardly welcome being compared to Mr. Obama. . . . Any immediate military operation will be undertaken when a lot of chaos reigns on the ground. It would be easy to make mistakes, which could kill innocents. This is an unavoidable risk, which the Iranians now dying on the streets would surely accept. But for a leader often mocked for being amoral and transactional, Mr. Trump could prove that Iran is an exception. The consequences of the Islamic Republic’s collapsing—even if Iran has a protracted period of instability after—would be momentous and beneficial. And for the regime that has murdered and maimed so many Americans since 1979, it would be condign punishment."