“If W had turned Iran into a parking lot, we ...”
... would have nuked 20 million innocent Iranians who are just as pissed with the Mullahs as we are.
We would have given beaucoup validation to every Pol Pot equivocation ever uttered by any America-hating leftist anywhere.
I totally get the sentiment, but the Iranian regime is daily ignored by thousands of man-on-the-street Iranians; most of them young people who despise the repression and would be happy for any viable route to restoration of the cosmopolitan city of Tehran that existed before the Carter Administration.
I think some great things are happening in the Middle East with regard to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the GCC taking the leadership role there. For the first time, I see the potential for long term peace over there - brought about locally and not by some outside nation.
So if that comes to pass, The United States won't be getting credit for it and probably shouldn't be getting credit for it. Let it come from within that region.
Trump is the first president to see that real solutions involve the other side saving face and not being seen as "rump" states of the USA. This was Jimmy Carter's big mistake at Camp David. He (Carter) wanted to be seen as the hero that brought the sides together.
Would our own country be as successful if we allowed France to assume the glory for our successful revolution? How would we have turned out if we had allowed France to come over here in 1783 to supervise our elections, bring us aid and assistance and tell us how we should run things?
So a successful peace in the Middle East needs to come about through those in that region.