Posted on 01/09/2020 7:46:43 AM PST by Kaslin
President Trump gave a thoughtful and measured address that put Iran on notice, allowed them to save face, and turned the tables on his leftist critics. President Trump’s speech was reminiscent of the actions President John F. Kennedy took during the days of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In 1962, the Soviet Union placed nuclear missiles in Cuba and Kennedy drew a line in the sand in saying that Soviet nuclear missiles would not remain in Cuba. However, once announcing that course he gave the Soviet Union wiggle room to make this end happen. He put a blockade 800 miles off the coast of Cuba and later reduced it to 500 miles to give the Soviet Union more time to consider their course of action. Meanwhile, Kennedy gathered the support of NATO allies and the Organization of American States for any potential United States course of action.As we know, through diplomatic intrigue and the U.S. removing Jupiter missiles from Turkey that were set to be removed anyway, the Soviets folded.
Like Kennedy, President Trump’s speech reiterated the key component of U.S. policy. For President Trump it is not regime change but rather that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon under his watch. After that, under the emphasis that no American lives were lost in the Iranian missile raid, the president gave Iran room to decide what kind of nation they want to be. He put Iran on notice by adding additional sanctions, and is seeking to gather American allies by getting a strengthened NATO into the Middle East.It is worth remembering that an attack against one NATO member is considered an attack against all, giving the U.S. even more cover and allies in the case of any eventualities.
The Iranian regime distinctly signaled before President Trump’s speech that it did not want all-out war. U.S. troops were not hit in the recent Iranian missile attack and neither were bases that were solely the purview of the United States. The Iranian missile strike was a face saving operation and the president was perceptive enough to recognize this fact.Who would have doubted that if any American military members had died from the Iranian strike that the president would have retaliated? Thankfully, none did and Iran was aware of what President Trump would have done. Iran knows the president is fiercely devoted and protective of the U.S. military. Yet, President Trump exercised caution by not unduly using United States Armed Forces in what could be the biggest conflict in our lifetime.
Though I disagreed with him, especially in his later years, the words of Kennedy Press Secretary Pierre Salinger ring true regarding the Cuban Missile Crisis and can be applied to these past few days with Iran. Salinger said, “You don’t shove somebody up against a wall because when you do they gotta fight back. You give them some room for maneuver. You give them some room to reflect and that’s what he (JFK) did with Khrushchev.” President Trump has done the same with Iran.
Even the leftists who were arguing that Trump was itching to go to war with Iran had trouble finding ways to criticize the president though some, in their hatred, will blame him and not the murderous Iranian regime, for the recent crisis.
On the other side, there are those who want war with Iran. They genuinely believe the Iranian regime is destined to continue its ways forever. That may be. The leaders of the Soviet Union were officially atheistic while the leaders of Iran are led by militant Islam which is just as dangerous if not more so than atheism. It is no mistake that even before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Islamic fundamentalism replaced Communism as the force with the greatest hostility towards the United States.
Having served in Iraq and Afghanistan, I do not want war with Iran. All avenues for peace, short of appeasement, should be exhausted. Still, war with Iran may come but if it does, it will be Iran’s awful choice. If that day does happen, and the prayers of most Americans are that it does not, we can be confident that President Trump would spare no effort into ensuring the greatest chance for victory by the United States.
Some naysayers, many of whom were ready for appeasement, will now call this kicking the can to the curb. Yet in a situation where a war would be very destructive to both sides, even with America winning, President Trump has bought time and room for maneuver for whatever may come in the future whether it be regime change in Iran, a deal, status quo or even war. The great questions of war and peace will continue to define the foreign policy of the United States but today generations yet unborn can thank President Trump for his prudent leadership.
*Views in this article are those of the author and not any government agency.
I had a conservative professor who gave us the true story not long after it happened.
You are exactly right.
Castro took over Dec 30, 1959, Eisenhower was still president until JFK’s inauguration Jan 20, 1961.
JFK gave up our missile bases in Turkey to get the Soviet’s missiles out of Cuber.
I continue to believe that JFK didn’t want to start a conflict in vietnam and that he wanted to change the Fed
JFK did not SOLVE the cuban missile crisis. JFK CAUSED the cuban missile crisis!!!
I continue to believe that JFK didn’t want to start a conflict in vietnam and that he wanted to change the Fed.
Kennedy myth worshipers can continue to believe whatever they want. But “His brother Robert Kennedy said in a 1964 oral history that JFK never thought about pulling out of Vietnam and was convinced the United States had to stand there against Soviet expansionism.”
Maybe you should read what’s in your own link
The PGM-19 Jupiters were already slated to be decommissioned. The missiles were a stopgap until more reliable ICBM’s were online. The Jupiters were in above ground fixed locations known to the Soviet Union, in fact the installation in Italy was overflown by a reconnaissance MiG. Add to that the complexity of using liquid oxygen.
What was in their place operationally were the first Polaris SSBN’s, each with 16 missiles that could be launched from periscope depth. This forced the Soviet Navy’s focus from ant-surface to anti submarine.
Still, both sides could plausibly declare victory to the folks in Buncombe.
They got our missiles away from their soft white underbelly, we got their missiles away from our soft white underbelly.
Except those Polaris submarines were at the soft white underbelly instead. And the Soviet admirals were wondering where the hell they were. Replace one squadron of fixed location Jupiters in Turkey with one SSBN - or more - in the East Med. The Soviets did get some short term face saving though.
That, and Kennedy agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey. Which was the reason that the Soviets introduced missiles into Cuba in the first place. Today it is called a quid pro quo.
JFK almost got us in a nuclear war with his blundering.
Cuba’s people are imprison due to his incompetence.
bump
I appreciate that you took the time to follow the link. It contains the quote from Robert Kennedy, and then says that some “historians” do not believe it. The article encapsulates your belief which is why I chose it and not the many other sources for the same quote from Robert Kennedy. It is a good example of Kennedy worshiping historians and those such as yourself directly contradicting those who knew JFK, worked with him and in this case was the family member that he partnered with.
JFK was nothing like Democrats of today, but he was a deeply flawed and immoral character and if he had lived... the hero worshiping myth that we are forced to endure today would not exist. The press at the time completely overlooked his outrageous and risky indiscretions, but this would not likely to have lasted through a second term. The wheels were already starting to come off of the Kennedy bus.
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