When talking about the Iran war, we can paraphrase the Billy Joel song, “you may be right, they may be crazy, but it might just be a lunatic we’re looking for.” Any country that has a favorite slogan like “death to America and “death to Israel” cannot be categorized as normal or trustworthy. Past presidents, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden were not able to slow down Iran’s march to becoming a nuclear nation.

George W. Bush initiated a war with Iraq that strengthened Iran. Barack Obama did negotiate an agreement to limit their nuclear proliferation, but who can trust a government that imprisons women for not wearing a head covering or threatens a soccer team and their families for not singing the national anthem, to say nothing of torture and execution for other civil infractions.

No other countries, especially Europe want to challenge Iran when they are dependent on their oil. They will all be at risk if Iran continues to develop longer range ballistic missiles and eventually a nuclear bomb, as we have already seen attacks on their neighbors. Unchecked, they will threaten the entire western world.

America stated their red line in Syria and then thousands of Syrians died from poison gas initiated by their own government. We had little or no response. At the time, the Syrian government suffered no meaningful consequences. We can’t let Iran continue to attack their own citizens and neighbors, primarily Israel. I understand that there are other places in the world where people are oppressed and receive little media coverage, but such a blatant attack before our eyes by Iran inside and outside their country has to be addressed.

It’s logical that people are upset over higher gas prices, but America has plenty of oil and is being affected by the world market price. In the past, the markets have stabilized and prices will eventually go back down after the conflict ends.

The same could be said for the financial markets. I know that many of us are upset about our 401(k) accounts being eroded because of the war. Again, after prior upheavals, markets recover, maybe not as fast as we would like, but there is always a price to preserve freedom and stability.

I have never been a fan of Donald Trump, but most presidents do not have military strategy expertise which is why they need to rely on generals and other military strategists. John Kennedy had no foreign policy experience, even though he had served in the navy, when he faced the Cuban missile crisis and relied on the generals for military options and chose the right one with the help of his aides. When Ronald Reagan first took office he was asked during a press conference a specific question about foreign policy. He did not hesitate and said well; he would need to consult with his foreign policy experts to answer the question.

Trump just has more bluster and says things for shock value that we have never experienced in a president. We have come this far so we need to ride with him to a final conclusion to safeguard American bases, and Iran’s neighbors, especially Israel to allow their citizens uninterrupted sleep and begin to heal from the trauma of the last three years. At the same time removing the neighborhood bullies like Hezbollah and the Houthis to stabilize the region.

As the theme of the song continues; they may be crazy, but he just might be that lunatic or unorthodox leader we are looking for.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)