OPINION:
President Trump announced on social media that the war with Iran is over, and then a short time later, from France, he said a peace deal was in process and that America, Israel and the world can expect “a lot of great things” to “happen in the Middle East” in rapid time. Specifically, Trump said, the Strait of Hormuz “will be completely open” by the end of the week.
Wonderful news. War is over, the good guys won, the bad guys lost, wonderful. wonderful news. But “over” comes with some asterisks.
Just a blink of an eye ago, Iran’s crowds were in the streets shouting “death to America.” Are Americans to believe they’ve had a change of heart?
The regime, decimated as it has been by American military strikes, hasn’t denounced its anti-Israel, anti-America, anti-West ways. Neither has it abandoned its hope for nuclear weaponry. If its leadership only respects strength, then peace is only as lasting as the peacemaking authorities are believed to be capable of enforcing its terms. Iran has been stonewalling because Iran’s leadership knows America’s political system is poised to change — if not this November with the midterms, then in a couple of years, with the next presidential pick. Democrat control of Congress this November means Trump’s toughness will be tied back a bit; Democrat control of the White House in 2028 means Iran can get back to the business of enriching uranium and pursuing nuclear weapons — maybe even with some cash infusion from the newly inaugurated, weaker commander-in-chief.
The best Iran can hope for is a clean sweep of Democrat wins of the House, Senate and White House.
That would bring the end to any accountability over the peace deal with Trump, and certainly the end to any enforcement of peace terms with Trump.
“The Islamic regime in Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terror,” the U.S. State Department wrote. “For over 40 years, their malign behavior and support for terrorist proxies has spread across the region.”
Then-President Obama’s JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), the Iran nuke deal, handed the regime a major opportunity to advance its nuclear designs and terror activities. In other words, peace, peace only brought the opposite. So Trump slapped back with the sanctions, and then some. And Iran has still not changed its goals of “death to Israel, death to America, death to the West.”
It’s impossible to make peace with those who seek death.
“Trump and Iranian Negotiator Sign deal to Reopen Strait, but Challenges Loom,” The New York Times reported, in the minutes after papers were signed between the two countries in France.
“But the deal’s specific terms have not been released and the countries have pushed their biggest disagreements to later talks,” The Times continued in the same article.
It’s more of the same.
It’s an end of war — but not quite.
It’s an agreement for peace — but not just yet.
The delays favor Iran.
Iran knows that with each delay, the midterms get a little bit closer, the stock market gets a little bit wilder, the price of barrels of oil go a little bit higher, the cost of gas to fill vehicles at the pump get a little more expensive — and the chances for Democrats to win this November on the kitchen table and economic issues that always guide voters and their votes grow a little bit better.
Iran cannot be trusted. Not now. Not ever — or at least not until they voluntarily stop shouting “death to Israel, death to America, death to the West,” and agree to abandon their savage, uncivilized and terroristic ways for more democratic governance. They need to prove they love life more than they seek death.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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