Will these protests succeed where their predecessors failed?
People don’t risk their lives for niche issues like climate change and trans sports cheating. It was revealed that many of the protesters in cities throughout Iran were chanting, “There is nothing in the refrigerator!” When a person has nothing left to lose, then he goes out to fight. The Iranian people are denied freedoms and weapons, so their massive protests against the mullahs and their enforcer muscle are a sign of both desperation and incredible bravery. People are getting shot and killed. This is not some stupid “Stop Oil!” protest blocking people from going to work. This is the real deal.
Will it work this time? Several times in the past, there were significant protests and disruptions. President Obama famously sat on his hands and did nothing in 2009 when protests swept the country. Obama, the Left, and their media are on the side of mullahs—they are in love with Islam, until it comes for them. They like Islamic control—far more than messy freedom of expression. I think that most normal people are rooting for the Iranian people, but are somewhat skeptical. People want the evil mullocracy gone for the good of the Iranian people and the world. But we’ve seen this movie before. Just as the people are desperate, so too is the government. They will not roll over, and as is their playbook, they are using foreign thugs to attack their own citizens. They are not interested in opening a new falafel restaurant next to Assad’s place in Moscow. They will hold onto power with increasing brutality and ruthlessness. Just like the people whose currency is worth less than toilet paper, the mullahs have nowhere else to go. The people can’t go back to abject poverty driven by the government’s throwing probably trillions of petrodollars at worldwide terror organizations. And the mullahs have no place to go; they will not become an opposition party. They either rule or die.
The government showed its total obtuseness when it tried to address the economic disaster faced by many Iranians. “I have seen government offices with 14 lights on, where one would have been enough.” “They heat the room so hot that others open the windows to cool down,” said the president. Like some government waste is the real problem. The endless money flows to Hamas, Hezbollah, and others, and Israel’s drubbing last summer only contributed to the total destruction of the Iranian rial. I remember when it was only 450,000 rials to the dollar; now it is 1.5 million. The currency is worthless, and the people don’t have money to live. I am hoping that this time is different, that the protests don’t just fizzle out but lead to the end of the most brutal regime of the past 50 years. But only the Iranian people can bring about such an outcome, though other countries can support and possibly offer some help on the side.
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The situation is like a child, God forbid, needing a serious operation. Everyone would like to take his place, but it can’t happen. He alone has to go through the procedure and whatever comes afterwards. While others can pray, support, and encourage, only the child can go through the surgery. So too with the Iranian people: they alone can legitimately end the mullahs and their evil government. The U.S. and Israel can give support, but only the people can break the will of the IRGC to the point that they either change sides or run. That is a tall order, but if the government falls, a new day will dawn not only for Iran but for the world.
Hamas and Hezbollah are also at crunch time. Their future is not only tied to Iran’s fate, but they are reaching the end of their international dawdling time. Three Israel-hating countries (Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar) told Hezbollah that it must disarm for good. They won’t, but don’t say that you weren’t warned when Israel pummels what’s left of southern Lebanon. Why did those three countries give such a warning to an anti-Israel terror group? Because Lebanon has a government and army. Hezbollah is somewhat extraneous. The same is not true with Hamas, where they have not encouraged the psychotic terrorists to give up their weapons, which include around 60,000 Kalashnikov rifles. The Jew haters always like to have someone around to kill Jews. They did not tell Hamas the same thing that they told Hezbollah.
So, how will it all turn out? I, too, am hoping and praying that the Iranian people will take back their country from the lunatics who took it over with Khomeini’s coming down from the Air France flight. There are thousands all over the world who were harmed through the direct or indirect terror efforts of Iran, including hundreds of U.S. servicemen killed and wounded in Iraq from Iranian IEDs. I hope that they fall, but I have not yet placed my bet in Vegas. As to Hezbollah and Hamas, there is no way that they will give up their weapons. Their whole existence depends on projecting their ability to attack and kill Israelis. Hezbollah is not interested in becoming a political party solely; it wants weapons to be ready to attack Israel. Israel will have to finish Hezbollah off for good. Will it do it? I don’t know. But Lebanon will be partially destroyed as Israel attacks Beirut and the south, which includes Sidon and other cities. The Lebanese deserve the destruction as they have historically been cowards toward Hezbollah. Sure, the Shia terror group has been well-funded and armed, but the Lebanese let their hatred of Israel temper their own desire to control their own country. The massive explosion a few years back at the Beirut port was the price they paid for letting Hezbollah run wild in their formerly beautiful and Jew-friendly country.
As to Hamas, I don’t know if Israel will really destroy them. They have been threatening the same for over two years. Donald Trump has several times told Hamas to disarm or face the gates of hell. In his meeting with Netanyahu last week, he reiterated the point. I hope that Israel sees a green light to finish them off with zero mercy. Hamas apparently is holding the body of the final hostage as their last and only trump card against a full Israeli assault. I have seen several reports of Israel moving the yellow separation pylons deeper into Hamas territory. Good. Play by their dirty rules. Because Israel is obsessed with protecting civilians, I don’t see how they can “finish off” Hamas. It would require a level of brutality and violence that Israel would not want to mount, and the world would not let it run for very long. So, what happens next? Trump ignores Hamas weapons and moves to “Phase 2” of his plan? The situation remains a permanent stalemate, where “Israeli Gaza” gets built up and rehabilitated, while “Hamas Gaza” remains like East Berlin, a dump of destroyed and burned-out buildings. I don’t know, but I would not count on Israel or anyone else fighting Hamas to the very end. It would require a level of military ruthlessness that died with General Curtis LeMay, though Donald Trump has shown in Iran and now Venezuela that he is ready to fight—and win.
The world is at a turning point with Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamas. If all three go out of business, the world would be a safer and better place. I don’t care if a mullah-free Iran is no friend of Israel; ditto for Lebanon. As long as the Death R’ U.S. crowd is out of power, then maybe those countries—and the world—will have a better future.
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