This weekend, President Donald Trump delivered a disastrous blow to both Iran’s nuclear capabilities and the projected isolationism of the woke right, with the U.S. military striking three nuclear sites in the world’s greatest sponsor of terrorism: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, in direct and proud collaboration with the Israeli military and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!” Trump declared on Truth Social after announcing the obliteration of the golden jewel of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, followed by perhaps his pièce de résistance: “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Across the vast spectrum of responses — including celebrations, concern, and condemnation — one particular reaction demonstrates why Trump’s generation-defining decision to address the Iranian threat was so undeniably necessary: fear of Iran’s response.
Fear that Iran would now launch missile strikes against Americans, at home and abroad. Fear that Iran would now close the Strait of Hormuz, choking the global supply of oil. Fear that Iranian sleeper cells embedded in the United States — thanks to Joe Biden’s border control policies that were more porous than Swiss cheese — would now carry out terror attacks against Americans.
It’s important to acknowledge that these are reasonable fears, but it’s also important to ask how you can possibly be terrified that Iran could carry out missile strikes, spark havoc, or trigger acts of terrorism … and not be terrified by the prospect of an Iran with nuclear weapons.
If the potential for any form of reprisal is a sufficient excuse to oppose any military action — no matter the circumstances — then how does this encourage our enemies to do anything other than ratchet up tensions, threats, and violence? And if inaction is justified by the threat of a non-nuclear enemy, why aren’t these threats magnified by the addition of a nuclear arsenal to the toolbelt of a genocidal regime that openly and proudly chants “Death to America”?
Of course, there are those squeezing out crocodile tears over Iran’s response who will point to any retaliation — no matter the scale, scope, or target — as proof that Trump’s entirely justified and unquestionably moral action was unjustified and immoral. And there are also those who are stoking fears over Iran’s response to land political punches against their real enemy: Donald Trump.
But then there are those who are genuinely afraid of Iran, and believe that Trump’s assault on Iran’s nuclear facilities will drag us into another forever war in the Middle East.
To those people, I have two things to say. First, whether you like it or not, we have been at war with Iran — and radical Islamic terrorism — for decades. Despite the propaganda of the all-too-online jihadi sympathizers, Americans have been targeted and killed by Iran long before any B-2 bombers flew over Iranian airspace.
IRAN LAUNCHES RESPONSE TO US STRIKES. WILL IT STOP THERE OR ESCALATE?
Second, if you are afraid of Iran now, then you should be thanking Donald Trump, his administration, and the brave men and women of the U.S. military. Thanks to them, you are now living in a world where the Iran you fear doesn’t have access to nuclear weapons.
Because I promise you, the Iran crippled by Trump this weekend is immeasurably less terrifying than the Iran of Barack Obama and Joe Biden’s dreams, which would soon become the first radical Islamic jihadist regime with access to the deadliest weapon in the history of humanity.
Ian Haworth is a syndicated columnist. Follow him on X (@ighaworth) or Substack.