American credibility: Why Trump must enforce his ‘red line’ in Iran |
Set aside for a moment the enormity of Iran’s clerical tyranny having murdered tens of thousands of unarmed citizens. Even then, thinking only of America’s national security interests, without considering the moral imperative to stop a historic massacre and punish the perpetrators, it is nevertheless imperative that President Donald Trump should intervene with the U.S. military.
In truth, he has already committed himself to do so, to punish the ayatollahs and help Iranians liberate themselves from nearly half a century of tyranny. The question now is whether he will keep his word or will try to find a way to abandon it. The latter course, which seems less likely, would undermine the nation he leads and betray a tyrannized people begging him to act.
Trump made his commitment before sending what he called an “armada” to the Middle East, where it is now in position to pound America’s declared enemy. He made it when he deliberately and repeatedly used the term “red line” to demarcate the limit of American tolerance as Tehran sought to end a popular uprising. The line he drew was at the slaughter of Iranian civilians, and the mullahs manifestly crossed that line.
The president’s choice to draw his line and his readiness to refer to it again and again show he did welcome the comparison it naturally invites between himself and feckless past Democratic presidents. Barack Obama first used the phrase, saying he would not allow Syrian President Bashar Assad to cross the red line of using chemical weapons against his own people.
Assad went ahead and gassed 1,400 Syrians, and Obama did nothing in response. It was a humiliating American capitulation that did much to define Obama’s second term. It exposed the president as an appeaser of Middle Eastern tyrants. It revealed America under his leadership as a paper tiger. It meant future U.S. ultimatums would sound hollow and be easy to ignore. This was instantly a massive blow to America’s credibility as a world leader. It was a permission slip for Russia to invade and conquer Crimea and the Donbas in Ukraine in 2014 and Syria in 2015. Credibility cannot now be fully restored, especially after former President Joe Biden’s shameful rout in Afghanistan, without Trump frankly enforcing his red line and punishing the ayatollahs for insouciantly wading in blood across it.
Since first mentioning the red line, Trump has added, “If they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved,” and, “You’d better not start shooting because we’ll start shooting, too.” Finally, he promised, “Help is on the way.” He could not have been clearer.
But even while he was saying these things, there was........