Democrats must not lose the plot on Iran

When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975, several U.S. liberals, including Noam Chomsky, praised and supported the communist militia. After decades of war in Vietnam, some leftists had been so jaded by the lies and destruction of the U.S. government that they viewed any opposition government as good.

As refugees fled Cambodia with stories of atrocities, Chomsky and others accused them of lying and engaged in genocide-denial. Of course, they turned out to be wrong — the Cambodian Genocide was one of the worst in history. But Chomsky and other liberals were so angry at the U.S. government that they had lost the plot. 

Today, Democrats risk doing the same thing with Iran.

President Trump just launched his long-awaited attacks on Iran after weeks of posturing. Of course, we shouldn’t be cheering Trump on blindly, as we no idea about his rationale. Is it a distraction from historically low poll numbers? Or maybe the affordability issues of Americans? Maybe Trump needs a safe win after a year of losses? Or the elephant in the room… that this movement on Iran only started with the release of the Epstein files.

Trump might even be sincere in his actions. He might want to cause regime change or make the region peaceful.

But never mind his motives. There is no doubt that the regime of Iran is evil and has caused death and destruction both inside of Iran and outside. The massacres of protesters in January may have numbered in the tens of thousands. Iran has been responsible for terror attacks in Israel, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and many other places. Iran’s regime has long financed terror groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

In short, it would be difficult for anyone to advocate for the Iranian government and the ayatollahs.

And this is where the Democrats can run into a trap. The war with Iran won’t be popular, especially with the money being spent on it. And nothing less than regime change would be acceptable. And that’s where Democrats need to stand.

Simply being against Trump on Iran is not the play. Trump likes to play with absolutes — if you aren’t with him, then you are against him and America too. We saw this at the State of the Union. And the very last thing you want to be is looking like you are so against Trump that you end up supporting the Iranian regime.

We have fallen into this trap before. After the Oct. 7 attacks, many Americans were revolted not just by the initial terror attack, but the disregard of civilian safety by the Israelis. Things got so bad that some people confused supporting Palestinians with supporting Hamas. As badly as we want to criticize Israel, Hamas is a terror group and hasn’t changed its stripes.

Democrats can’t afford to do the same thing with Iran. The best course of action is to call Trump out if the job isn’t done correctly — the key word being “correctly.” We saw when Trump carried out a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities that he claimed that they had been obliterated, yet they remained in place. We saw when he told protesters that “help was on the way” and then sat by as 30,000 were massacred. We have seen Trump claim victory in a myriad of battles that turned out to be paper proclamations and not actual victories.

Trump’s supposed victory in Venezuela has resulted in a Marxist-socialist government making an oil deal with the U.S. Regime change didn’t happen. Venezuelans aren’t better off. And the system is still in place.

If Trump kills Iran’s Supreme Leader but leaves a theocracy in place, can he claim victory? No. If Trump stops bombing Iran after they make an economic or resource deal with the U.S., would that be a victory? No. If he replaces the ayatollah with a shah who doesn’t allow freedom, elections, dissent or free speech, is that a victory? No.

Democrats need to understand that opposing Trump doesn’t mean that they need to go against him, because he’s just going to do it anyway. Congress has been neutered to the point that he can effectively attack whomever he wants.

So call him out and campaign on the fact that he doesn’t actually follow through with things after the initial action.

Trump wants to claim that he took down the Iranian regime. So hold him to it. If there is anything less than a complete regime change to a democratic government, Trump has failed.

Instead of hoping that Iran’s regime survives Trump, Democrats should demand that Trump get the job done for once. And if he doesn’t, hold him and every Republican accountable for leading us into another forever war.

Jos Joseph is a recipient of the Military Reporters and Editors award for Best Commentary / Opinion. A graduate of Harvard and Ohio State, he is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. He currently lives in Anaheim, Calif.

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