Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you.
Posted on 03/13/2026 6:28:23 AM PDT by lasereye
President Donald Trump’s critics claim he has taken the United States to war in Iran with no coherent endgame in mind, while some of his own skittish advisers are urging him to end the war prematurely. Both are wrong.
Operation Epic Fury is on its way to a massive success. A patient Trump can achieve what no modern president before him came anywhere close to: the irreversible elimination of the Iranian threat. By contrast, if victory is not decisive, Iran’s surviving leaders could conclude that America lost its nerve and was too weak to defeat them.
So, what is the definition of victory? Three levels of success in Iran are all within Trump’s grasp:
Level One: The United States eliminates the regime’s ability to project force beyond its borders. Trump is well on his way to meeting this objective. After less than two weeks of combat, the U.S.-Israeli combined force has struck more than 5,000 targets. Together, they are systematically dismantling Iran’s air, ground and naval forces, its command and control, nuclear and ballistic missile stockpiles and production capacity, and terrorist infrastructure.
The impact of these strikes is already being felt. Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command, reports that Iran’s ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90 percent and its drone attacks have decreased by 83 percent since the start of the war. Soon, Iran’s ability to strike the U.S. and its allies will be eliminated. “We’re not just hitting what they have,” Cooper says. “We’re destroying their ability to rebuild.”
There are thousands more targets that need to be hit, but if the United States and Israel finish the job, Iran will be militarily neutered — unable to launch missiles, drones or rockets or to provide these weapons to its terrorist proxies. Its nuclear and ballistic missile programs will be decisively set back. It will no longer have the ability to threaten its neighbors or spread terror across the region. That will be a world-changing accomplishment. But this success will be temporary and reversible if the current Iranian regime survives with its will intact.
Level Two: The Iranian regime collapses and is replaced by a new government answerable to Washington. The U.S. and Israel have already killed Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Trump has reported that at least 48 other senior officials. Taking out so many leaders so soon was not part of the war plan; it was possible only because so many were foolish enough to gather in broad daylight, presenting a target of opportunity. But the initial phase of combat operations is primarily focused not on Iran’s leaders, but on eliminating Iran’s air defenses and retaliatory capabilities.
Once the United States fully establishes air dominance, more leadership targets can be hit. Khamenei’s son, just appointed to succeed him as supreme leader, is certainly at the top of the list. As such decapitation strikes escalate, the regime will begin to fracture from within. Hard-line elements may want to fight to the death, but at least some leaders will probably choose survival over martyrdom, and step forward to cooperate with the U.S. — just as remnants of the Maduro regime in Venezuela are doing. At this level, the will of Iran’s remaining leaders to reconstitute their apparatus of terror will have been decisively broken — creating the conditions for a third level of success.
Level Three: The Iranian people rise up and take back their country. Just a few weeks before military operations began, Iranians took to the streets in more than 100 cities to demand their freedom — retreating only in the face of a brutal crackdown that killed as many as 30,000. Now, the U.S.-Israeli combined force is dismantling the infrastructure of internal repression that carried out those massacres. As it does, Trump told the Iranian people, “Stay sheltered. Don’t leave your home. It’s very dangerous outside. Bombs will be dropping everywhere.” He then urged, “When we are finished, take over your government.”
When the smoke clears, Iranians will probably heed Trump’s call and return to the streets to seize their institutions, just as the German people tore down the Berlin Wall. But it is also possible that democratic change could come more slowly — with a transitional government that eventually gives way to one chosen by the people. Once the climate of fear has been lifted, opposition groups will be free to meet openly, protest and demand their rights. Whether in an instant or over time, Iran could be transformed from totalitarian adversary into a pro-American ally for peace in the region.
Of course, a lot could still go wrong. There is a risk that the regime could prove more resilient than expected, or that civil war could break out. But the greatest risk would be in ending the military campaign too soon before the Iranian regime collapses. Not only would that represent a lost opportunity, but regime remnants could conclude that they had actually won a contest of wills with Trump. For them, any form of survival is victory. Indeed, they may take the lesson that they were saved by providence to continue their campaign of jihad against the West.
By disarming Iran, Trump is already doing more for Middle East peace than has any other president in the modern era. But if he stays the course, he can decisively defeat the regime and replace its totalitarian theocracy with a new government answerable to Washington — or, better yet, its own citizens.
History, and the American people, will reward him for doing so.
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Rebuilding capability to attack is easy so necessary to get them to decide not to.
Destroy your enemy's ability to conduct war...PERIOD!
I’m hoping for level 3!
OMG! A positive article from WaPo about Iran, Operation Epic Fury and President Trump? This blows my mind. Now they think PDJT is the GOAT?
I don’t think it would be easy for the Ayatollah regime to rebuild capacity easily or quickly IF they survive in any form
The only way the regime collapses is mass defections in the IRGC.
"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. If the—if he—if 'is' means is and never has been, that is not—that is one thing. If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement. "Quoting another jackass ---
"At this point, what difference does it make."And quoting them both ---
"I don't recall."
No, it’s just Marc Thiessen‘s opinion piece. I’m glad to see the WP continue to publish his work.
A better than average article from the WaPo, but it seems to ignore the fact that the administration may have had other, less obvious objectives in mind, which may already have been 100% achieved. It’s a very common human tendency to think we know more than we really do, and it’s often most obvious among professional critics...
Bezos who owns WaPo signaled he wanted to move it away from the left last year. The opinions editor David Shipley left shortly after.
Thiessen has been one of the few conservatives at WaPo.
I’m really surprised the WP would print this article because it is so different from their usual “Let’s Hate Trump” offerings.
One other thing though: we need to eliminate Iran’s ability to stop shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
So much winning. Now the voices for “No, no, can’t stand so much winning!” will begin to rise, because it is not “fair” to use such overwhelming force against the IRGC and the ayatollahs.
Nobody plays “fair” with rabid dogs. They are shot, from great enough distance that the final lunge will not result in said mad dog assaulting the shooter.
There are three types of Iranian Supreme Leaders: dead, soon to be dead, and reasonable.
Unfortunately, this article doesn’t mention the most important threat which is the domestic “whack-o-mole” war we will be faced with AFTER totally defeating Iran. China will finance Iranian sleeper cells already here in America to disrupt and upend our economy. We have unlimited soft targets and a citizenry lacking the resolve to properly defend them.
I’m not s__ting on the war goals by saying this - any child could have come up with what Thiessen says here. These aren’t brilliant insights and aren’t really logical categories of war aims. The best “war aims” that I’ve seen are, after the bombing stops, will a regime be in place that is still hostile to the US, Israel and their allies? If so -
Will Iran be able to fund overseas terrorism and proxy wars?
Will Iran be able to ramp up drone and missile production capacity within the next five years?
Will Iran still have the materials and technological know-how to produce nuclear weapons?
“Unfortunately, this article doesn’t mention the most important threat which is the domestic “whack-o-mole” war we will be faced with AFTER totally defeating Iran. China will finance Iranian sleeper cells already here in America to disrupt and upend our economy. We have unlimited soft targets and a citizenry lacking the resolve to properly defend them.”
I went to buy SD cards for my camera. There seems to be a shortage of GB memory.
There’s only one reason I can think of for that - the US government is recording the images of all the computers in the world repeatedly.
“....Will Iran still have the materials and technological know-how to produce nuclear weapons?”
The questions are best asked in Hebrew.
Part of the US plan towards #3 is arming the citizens. Just drop pistols and ammo, enough for everyone. An armed populace will not be oppressed.
This is not simplistic optimism. At least two IRGC commanders were assassinated prior to the bombing — by citizens with small arms. They terrified many of the rest by marking the doors of their homes.
90M citizens cantake out any number of IRGC soldiers, especially since individual soldiers will rat out the officers.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.