Hand it to European leaders. They are akin to diplomatic poker players who have mastered the art of demanding a cut of the pot without ever offering up their ante in advance. In both Afghanistan and Iraq, many European states waited in the wings to see which way the war would go, but then demanded equal say in its political and economic aftermath.
President Donald Trump should not tolerate this. When the Islamic Republic of Iran falls, shaping a provisional government and reconstructing the country will be among the first orders of business. European states that have stood on the sidelines should have no role in either. European leaders might complain, but to cave into their diplomatic whining would be wrong. It would be wholly unfair to those countries that put their forces in harm’s way. It would also reinforce to European leaders that they will suffer no consequence for their strategic laziness in the face of tyranny. Germany, especially, should have no role in Iran’s future given its decades of blatant profiteering off the Islamic Republic. Nor should France, especially given its history of commercial dealings with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The same holds true with postwar contracts. The United States has invested both blood and hundreds of billions of dollars to end the Islamic Republic’s reign of terror. After nearly 47 years, the Islamic Republic has never upgraded the oil infrastructure that the British and then the U.S. laid down. Instead, the regime cannibalized systems and applied mechanical Band-Aids.
French, Chinese, and Russian firms should have no role in upgrading Iran’s oil and gas infrastructure once the air campaign ends and the regime collapses. Only U.S. firms should have a role.
The same is true with construction. Trump should disabuse Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of his belief that he has Trump in his pocket, especially after Erdogan joined with Russian President Vladimir Putin to mourn Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s death rather than celebrate it. Today, Turks get rich in Iraq, building hotels and extensive high-rise housing developments. This should not repeat in Iran. To channel funding into Turkey is simply to finance the next generation of Middle East terrorism.
While Trump openly ogles business opportunities, for the U.S., if not his family, U.S. officials should not repeat the mistakes of Iraq. There, U.S. ambassadors used their positions to exploit Iraqi business opportunities or partner with Kurdish politicians to create “consultancies,” which produced no research but collected mandatory fees to unfreeze paperwork and permits. It was corruption in everything but law and sullied America’s image. It was hard to correct Iraqi Kurdish oil corruption, for example, when Kurds saw front-page coverage of a recently retired U.S. ambassador standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani breaking ground at a new oil facility in which both had an interest.
TEXAS BAR SHOOTING SUSPECT WORE ‘PROPERTY OF ALLAH’ CLOTHING WITH IRANIAN FLAG
U.S. officials deployed to Iran to help with reconstruction and setting up the U.S. Embassy should forswear any personal business or investment in Iran for at least five, if not 10 years. History runs deep in Iran, and the experience of the British and Russian concessions will be fresh in Iranians’ minds.
Nevertheless, Americans and Iranians should congratulate Trump for ending the ayatollahs’ religious tyranny. If he seeks to make both America and Iran great again, he should begin by denying naysayers and fence-sitters a seat at the postwar table.
Michael Rubin is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential. He is director of analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.