No one wants war. At least, people will use diplomacy as a means to avoid war. And we have witnessed in history, within the last one hundred years, that appeasement, disguised as diplomacy, has been used several times to avoid war.
But in the end, when one country tries to use diplomacy (or appeasement) to negotiate with an unwilling adversary, the end result always ends up with a war.
History is replete with examples of this. In just the last one hundred twenty-six years, diplomacy, or appeasement, has resulted in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the War on Terror, and finally, the Iran War.
These are just the wars the United States has involved itself. There were other wars, certainly, including the Six Day War, the Sino-Russian War, the Yom Kippur War, the Boer War, the Indo-Pakistani War, countless border skirmishes, and so many others.
And every one began with diplomacy and negotiations. Which ultimately failed because one side had no intention of negotiating honestly.
Thus, we are witnessing this very same scenario played out now. The United States and Israel have tried all means of diplomacy with the Islamic Republic of Iran to stop the terror it foments throughout the Middle East with its proxies; has actually bribed Iran to stop developing its nuclear capabilities; has actually bombed the nuclear proliferation sites to convince them to cease and desist; and finally, ran unending bombing raids to destroy its entire military structure for six weeks, until a ceasefire was unilaterally declared. By the United States.
Yet, the Islamic Republic (or what is left of it) refuses to back down, even as it is being economically destroyed, and even as its supporters and allies have tried to reason with them that it is a lost cause. The current leadership is deaf to it all.
Instead, they are blinded by the mantra which was part of the DNA which created the Islamic Republic forty-seven years ago. They believe that “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” are noble causes with which to fight.
The Iranian people, for forty-seven years, have dealt with this regime and are eager to return to an Iran which existed under the Pahlavi dynasty, when they actually enjoyed a westernized society and religious freedoms to worship. Iran was once a secular country, similar to Turkey or Morocco.
They are exhausted from the brutality they have lived under, and actually hoped that with the recent war with the US and Israel leading the way, the days of oppression by the occupying force would be gone for good. But, the regime has been determined to stay in power at all costs. And a sense of despair has come into focus again.
It is time for the US and Israel to make a final play, by providing weapons to the citizenry to take the battle to overthrow the regime. The desire is there, but the weapons, which are desperately needed, have not yet been made available. It is now overdue to move to that next level.
Once the overthrow of the regime has been accomplished by the Iranians, and a free government determined by the Iranian citizens, the expectation and hope is for Iran to be a civil and decent country going forward. But until then, it behooves the US to help the Iranians in their quest to achieve that goal. It has been a promise they have relied on.
And it is our responsibility to keep that promise until we hear the words: Long Live a Free Iran!
It is not diplomacy at play here; it is finally ending a war which has been forty-seven years in the making.
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