When Iran struck Israel on Sunday, President Donald Trump demanded that the Jewish nation stop firing back. But when Tehran struck a U.S. military helicopter the next day, it was “bombs away” against the Islamic Republic. You can call it strategic, but I call it hypocrisy.
First of all, those who claim Trump is Israel’s puppet — and not the other way around — are eating some serious crow right now. But more importantly, Trump’s pride-fueled push to preserve his precious ceasefire has been exposed as just that: a project of his ego.
We already know he’s trying to win a Nobel Peace Prize and/or an eternity in heaven by negotiating peace deals around the world. He routinely rattles off his diplomatic achievements to the press, and for good reason. He’s done a great job ending conflicts. But he’s having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that some conflicts can’t be ended with diplomacy, especially when you’re dealing with a jihadi regime willing to be “martyred” in the fight against the “great Satan” and the “little Satan.”
I’m not posing a hypothetical when I say that if Iran attacked the United States, rather than Israel, Trump would have no problem retaliating — this is exactly what happened a day after he prohibited Jerusalem from striking Tehran. This so-called ceasefire has been violated countless times, and the U.S. has been “two weeks” from ending the war for months on end. I supported Trump’s military operation to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But neither Iran nor Israel wants a ceasefire right now. So let them have it out, and get involved when it’s strategically advantageous.
The campaign against Iran has already been overwhelmingly successful, with the U.S. and Israel killing numerous Iranian political and military leaders, crippling its war machine and economy, and considerably setting back its nuclear program. Instead of crying “Uncle,” Iran is begging for more pain — so give it to them, as Trump rightfully did on Tuesday after the Apache helicopter shootdown. But when Iran strikes Israel, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has every right to respond with full force, too. Again, Iran is literally asking for it.
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But Trump is latching onto the prospect of his ceasefire turning into a long-lasting peace agreement. Newsflash: Peace is not in the jihadi vocabulary. Taqiyya, however, is. If Trump really believes Tehran could ever negotiate in good faith, that’s grounds for the 25th Amendment right there. As a supporter of his, who tends not to side with the “panicians,” I am waiting for the president to pull out his signature “Trump card” and make a fool out of his critics as he often does. Ideally, he’s just buying time for the CIA and Mossad to carry out covert operations in Iran to bring about regime change from within. But short of that, I’m not sure what he’s doing right now apart from protecting his pride and his “wars ended” tally.
Regardless of Trump’s Iran war endgame, one thing has become perfectly clear in this conflict: The president is operating on “rules for thee, but not for me.” And Israel, despite being within its rights to an unfettered response on Sunday, chose to respect Trump’s wishes. Only time will tell if Netanyahu continues to allow the U.S. president to pull his strings.