Allowing the Islamic Republic of Iran to endure would signal to regimes everywhere that deception, brutality, and aggression pay off — and that the free world will not finish what it starts.
This is a primer on the nature of good and evil, and that victory of the moral and just reside not in the abstract, but in the hands, will and action of humans willing to to go beyond mere defense of those tenants and fight, physically, technologically, and intellectually to eliminate the humans, individuals and groups, that hold back moral progress of our societies.
Good job, Joshua. This essay should be placed on the desks of every member of the governing bodies of the countries of the free world.
If the regime survives, its malevolence will only intensify, because the regime will have confirmed that the West lacks the fortitude and moral courage to confront and destroy evil. This is a war of ideology not geopolitics. If the regime survives, the ideology survives, and they will claim victory even if they are weakened and the country lies in ruins. Israel has the resolve to finish the job. Does the U.S.?
After WWII the west lost the notion of fighting to obtain complete surrender of an evil empire. Since then we fight for compromise as if that worked before the need to go to war. This is especially true in the Middle East wherein compromise itself is weakness. Take Israel’s post-1967 war status. Each time it is forced by enemies to go to war, it’s then forced by allies to stop before finishing the job. Israel’s enemies (also the West’s enemies) know this, so they are never “defeated.”
As this wonderful essay shows, without strength there is no freedom. Indeed, true free has been a rare worldwide quality. We need to fight for it unequivocally.
Your reasoning, Joshua, is so precise on this issue. The only outcome must be for the dissolution of the regime. There is no 'what if', or 'maybe' when it comes to this terrorist regime. Where's the pushback on the Strait of Hormuz? It is not owned or controlled by Iran. It is an international strait and yet they have the ability to close it? The regime has played this game too often and to even appear to have a plan or negotiation with them, if true, shows how little the West has learned. Everything they say is a reflection of who they are and what they've done. Then again, look at Gaza and Hamas; they're still in power and have not given up weapons. It seems as though they are no longer an issue, until they plan once again another attack on Israel. If there really is a negotiation and a stop to this war, the regime will have won, and the leaders will look weak and foolish. In addition. lives will have been lost on all sides, especially the Iranian people, who will face an even more brutal regime if left to rebuild again. You are absolutely right when you say, "history remembers outcomes." Let's pray this will be one that benefits the Iranian people and the West.
“If the Islamic Republic survives after direct confrontation, the conclusion will not be subtle: The free world lacks the will to finish what it starts.” Well said. I’m afraid that’s already common knowledge. Not because our fighters (American and Israeli) aren’t up to the task -they’re nothing short of amazing-but because our politicians always stop them before they’ve finished the job. Nothing short of a surrender should be our goal. We didn’t make a “deal” with the Nazis. They surrendered. As an aside, I just read that the Palestinian Authority has a 65,000 man force- with weapons like tanks and RPG’s-capable of waging war on Israel much worse than Oct.7th, which is their sole purpose. Israel needs to do something about this before it’s too late.
Very concise analysis. It is clear that failure to remove Iran as an ongoing threat will embolden every autocratic government to pursue aggression against their neighbors. It was bad enough when you had Obama saying "Don't cross the red line in the sand", only to retreat from any action, or Biden's famous "DON'T" message to the Russians about invading Ukraine. After WW2 there was some semblance of collective effort by the west to deal with the threat of the Soviet Union (ala NATO), but that fractured quickly where the US wound up being the defacto enforcer of the status quo to keep the Soviets in check. I am skeptical that the west will ever step up to the challenge. It is almost like western society is suffering from fatigue and is unwilling to even defend its own founding principles and it doesn't seem anything will wake them.
Is it ever possible to negotiate with evil? Has evil ever been defeated without the use of force? One of our biggest problems ( in both America and the western world) is that millions have become post modernist/moral relativists and pretend ( or fool themselves) that there is no such thing as evil ( arguing in part it is s religious notion and thus has no objective merit). We see this every day in our schools and media and our elected leaders. The trend line is going in the wrong direction and the failure to acknowledge and recognize evil will result in more death and destruction. History proves the point over and over again. Evil combined with modern technology is frightening to comprehend.
I thank Trump for all he has done to date. If Harris had won, Iran would have gotten the bomb, nuked Israel and Israel’s response at a minimum would have been to nuke the entire Middle Eastern energy infrastructure thus causing worldwide economic collapse. And quite possibly this would have spiraled into a global nuclear war.
I pray for the people of America 🇺🇸 and the people of Israel 🇮🇱 and the people of Iran 🇮🇷 who are suffering from this terrible disease of EVIL corrupt government. I pray that we WILL WIN this war.🔥✨🇮🇱🇺🇸💥💥🔥✝️✡️🙏😺
Great piece. Trump is unpredictable and has many variables to juggle. But he doesn't like to lose. Allowing the regime to survive is losing.
The paradox is that we all know what it takes to survive. In Israel's case today, it's the survival of the fittest, and it takes what it takes. The stronger survive, through many kinds of strength. Simultaneously, the moral code imposes restraint. But the moral code arrived perhaps ahead of its time, and its degeneration in the West, showing a blood thirsty craving for annihilating the Jews only proves the regression. This also blinds them to the horror of the enemy's immorality, to the point of inverting the source of the evil.
I love your discussion for its acute correctness and the confrontation it offers the reader. Already, because of the price of petrol at the bowser, the media in western countries are panicking and speaking out against continuation of the war against Iran. Soft, privileged people who do not have the spine to look what you have written in the eye and stand firm. We shall see how it goes. I do not feel confident about it.
I heard it expressed once by an Israeli commander of a tank battalion: "If we give 100% in battle, God gives an extra 20%." That's a far cry from believing that God protects us all and that all we need to do is pray fervently. It recognizes that just being a pious soul is not enough: it never was. And if the Holocaust doesn't convince you of that, nothing ever will.
But belief in the "extra 20%" leaves room for us to see and experience the miraculous in our present struggles. The litany of spectacular achievements racked up by Israel and the U.S. in the war against Iran stagger the imagination. The courage of the soldiers is awe-inspiring and their joy in singing "Od Yoter Tov" is unbearably beautiful. I choose to believe that our current successes are fed by both sacred and secular streams and by the hard won understanding of their necessary interdependence. Am Yisrael Chai!
Joshua, I agree with your central point: if the Iranian regime survives intact, deterrence collapses and the lesson to the world will be that brutality and deception work.
But your article raises a question that has always troubled me. We’ve long heard that most Iranians hate the regime — yet in a police state we really don’t know. Tens of thousands may protest, but millions who feel the same way might simply fear being shot.
That uncertainty makes this moment critical. The regime’s leadership and its missile and nuclear capabilities have to be reduced to the point where they simply cannot threaten the region again.
Trump’s style has always been delay, pressure, then decisive action. When I see thousands of Marines heading into the region, I doubt they’re going there just to stand around. My guess is we haven’t seen the final act yet.
And if the regime survives intact, it will simply regroup and start again.
The thing that has gone wrong for the West is that it has lost sight of the idea that failure is not an option. When failure is not an option the stronger horse finds a way to win.
First class article.
The conclusion is carefully evidenced by the historical and contemporary facts explained all the way through every fascinating part of the article.
I hope, I PRAY that Trump has the courage to finish the job.
Iran Delenda Est
This is a primer on the nature of good and evil, and that victory of the moral and just reside not in the abstract, but in the hands, will and action of humans willing to to go beyond mere defense of those tenants and fight, physically, technologically, and intellectually to eliminate the humans, individuals and groups, that hold back moral progress of our societies.
Good job, Joshua. This essay should be placed on the desks of every member of the governing bodies of the countries of the free world.
If the regime survives, its malevolence will only intensify, because the regime will have confirmed that the West lacks the fortitude and moral courage to confront and destroy evil. This is a war of ideology not geopolitics. If the regime survives, the ideology survives, and they will claim victory even if they are weakened and the country lies in ruins. Israel has the resolve to finish the job. Does the U.S.?
Israel would have no choice but to go nuclear
After WWII the west lost the notion of fighting to obtain complete surrender of an evil empire. Since then we fight for compromise as if that worked before the need to go to war. This is especially true in the Middle East wherein compromise itself is weakness. Take Israel’s post-1967 war status. Each time it is forced by enemies to go to war, it’s then forced by allies to stop before finishing the job. Israel’s enemies (also the West’s enemies) know this, so they are never “defeated.”
As this wonderful essay shows, without strength there is no freedom. Indeed, true free has been a rare worldwide quality. We need to fight for it unequivocally.
Your reasoning, Joshua, is so precise on this issue. The only outcome must be for the dissolution of the regime. There is no 'what if', or 'maybe' when it comes to this terrorist regime. Where's the pushback on the Strait of Hormuz? It is not owned or controlled by Iran. It is an international strait and yet they have the ability to close it? The regime has played this game too often and to even appear to have a plan or negotiation with them, if true, shows how little the West has learned. Everything they say is a reflection of who they are and what they've done. Then again, look at Gaza and Hamas; they're still in power and have not given up weapons. It seems as though they are no longer an issue, until they plan once again another attack on Israel. If there really is a negotiation and a stop to this war, the regime will have won, and the leaders will look weak and foolish. In addition. lives will have been lost on all sides, especially the Iranian people, who will face an even more brutal regime if left to rebuild again. You are absolutely right when you say, "history remembers outcomes." Let's pray this will be one that benefits the Iranian people and the West.
“If the Islamic Republic survives after direct confrontation, the conclusion will not be subtle: The free world lacks the will to finish what it starts.” Well said. I’m afraid that’s already common knowledge. Not because our fighters (American and Israeli) aren’t up to the task -they’re nothing short of amazing-but because our politicians always stop them before they’ve finished the job. Nothing short of a surrender should be our goal. We didn’t make a “deal” with the Nazis. They surrendered. As an aside, I just read that the Palestinian Authority has a 65,000 man force- with weapons like tanks and RPG’s-capable of waging war on Israel much worse than Oct.7th, which is their sole purpose. Israel needs to do something about this before it’s too late.
Very concise analysis. It is clear that failure to remove Iran as an ongoing threat will embolden every autocratic government to pursue aggression against their neighbors. It was bad enough when you had Obama saying "Don't cross the red line in the sand", only to retreat from any action, or Biden's famous "DON'T" message to the Russians about invading Ukraine. After WW2 there was some semblance of collective effort by the west to deal with the threat of the Soviet Union (ala NATO), but that fractured quickly where the US wound up being the defacto enforcer of the status quo to keep the Soviets in check. I am skeptical that the west will ever step up to the challenge. It is almost like western society is suffering from fatigue and is unwilling to even defend its own founding principles and it doesn't seem anything will wake them.
Is it ever possible to negotiate with evil? Has evil ever been defeated without the use of force? One of our biggest problems ( in both America and the western world) is that millions have become post modernist/moral relativists and pretend ( or fool themselves) that there is no such thing as evil ( arguing in part it is s religious notion and thus has no objective merit). We see this every day in our schools and media and our elected leaders. The trend line is going in the wrong direction and the failure to acknowledge and recognize evil will result in more death and destruction. History proves the point over and over again. Evil combined with modern technology is frightening to comprehend.
I thank Trump for all he has done to date. If Harris had won, Iran would have gotten the bomb, nuked Israel and Israel’s response at a minimum would have been to nuke the entire Middle Eastern energy infrastructure thus causing worldwide economic collapse. And quite possibly this would have spiraled into a global nuclear war.
I pray for the people of America 🇺🇸 and the people of Israel 🇮🇱 and the people of Iran 🇮🇷 who are suffering from this terrible disease of EVIL corrupt government. I pray that we WILL WIN this war.🔥✨🇮🇱🇺🇸💥💥🔥✝️✡️🙏😺
Great piece. Trump is unpredictable and has many variables to juggle. But he doesn't like to lose. Allowing the regime to survive is losing.
The paradox is that we all know what it takes to survive. In Israel's case today, it's the survival of the fittest, and it takes what it takes. The stronger survive, through many kinds of strength. Simultaneously, the moral code imposes restraint. But the moral code arrived perhaps ahead of its time, and its degeneration in the West, showing a blood thirsty craving for annihilating the Jews only proves the regression. This also blinds them to the horror of the enemy's immorality, to the point of inverting the source of the evil.
I love your discussion for its acute correctness and the confrontation it offers the reader. Already, because of the price of petrol at the bowser, the media in western countries are panicking and speaking out against continuation of the war against Iran. Soft, privileged people who do not have the spine to look what you have written in the eye and stand firm. We shall see how it goes. I do not feel confident about it.
The trouble of the world is the result of years of INDOCTRINATION on multiple generations.
Love your neighbour as yourself. A falicy when taken out of context.
NO, love yourself, your wife, your family your real neighbours and your country first. Protect and cherish.
It will require to be the one to act first to prevent harm and to eradicate the danger.
The world love human rights but detest themselves and their loved ones.
I heard it expressed once by an Israeli commander of a tank battalion: "If we give 100% in battle, God gives an extra 20%." That's a far cry from believing that God protects us all and that all we need to do is pray fervently. It recognizes that just being a pious soul is not enough: it never was. And if the Holocaust doesn't convince you of that, nothing ever will.
But belief in the "extra 20%" leaves room for us to see and experience the miraculous in our present struggles. The litany of spectacular achievements racked up by Israel and the U.S. in the war against Iran stagger the imagination. The courage of the soldiers is awe-inspiring and their joy in singing "Od Yoter Tov" is unbearably beautiful. I choose to believe that our current successes are fed by both sacred and secular streams and by the hard won understanding of their necessary interdependence. Am Yisrael Chai!
Joshua, I agree with your central point: if the Iranian regime survives intact, deterrence collapses and the lesson to the world will be that brutality and deception work.
But your article raises a question that has always troubled me. We’ve long heard that most Iranians hate the regime — yet in a police state we really don’t know. Tens of thousands may protest, but millions who feel the same way might simply fear being shot.
That uncertainty makes this moment critical. The regime’s leadership and its missile and nuclear capabilities have to be reduced to the point where they simply cannot threaten the region again.
Trump’s style has always been delay, pressure, then decisive action. When I see thousands of Marines heading into the region, I doubt they’re going there just to stand around. My guess is we haven’t seen the final act yet.
And if the regime survives intact, it will simply regroup and start again.
The thing that has gone wrong for the West is that it has lost sight of the idea that failure is not an option. When failure is not an option the stronger horse finds a way to win.