Why the Mullahs Have to Go

by Newt Gingrich

There is a lot of confusion among the Western elites about the current Israeli-Iranian War.

The outcries to stop fighting, negotiate a truce, and find a diplomatic solution came rushing out as if they were pre-programmed.

These sophisticated leaders are recommending exactly the wrong outcome. The pathetic desire for appeasement and defeatism has grown so deep in the elites that they can’t imagine a change worth fighting for – or a threat that requires defeat rather than appeasement. Against opponents who want to destroy you, talk simply gives them more time to prepare to defeat you.

That is the exact situation we are in with the theocratic dictatorship of the Mullahs of Iran.

No matter how much damage Israel does, if the Mullahs continue to control Iran, they will find ways to rebuild their nuclear and strategic missile programs. Furthermore, having survived apparent Israeli air supremacy, the Mullahs will come to believe they succeeded by not having been driven from power.

Under a negotiated truce, the Mullahs would feel they endured the worst that Israel could muster and be further emboldened to fund terror around the world and threaten Israel.

Any analysis of the current situation must start with a review of the dictatorship’s 46-year history of unrelenting hostility toward the United States and Israel.

During the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini began his campaign to drive the United States out of the Middle East – and Israel out of existence. As early as 1978, Khomeini described the United States as the “Great Satan” and Israel as the “Little Satan.” Revolutionary crowds chanted “Death to America,” “Death to the Shah,” and “Death to Israel.” Two of these are now the standard part of the Iranian leadership’s death chant.

In the fall of 1979, to revive enthusiasm for the revolution, activist Iranian students and mobs illegally took over the U.S. Embassy and took 66 Americans hostage. After a few were released, the remaining 52 hostages were held in illegal captivity for 444 days.

President Jimmy Carter, who Iran despised, tried to rescue the hostages in a daring raid which collapsed in the Iranian desert on April 24, 1980. America was humiliated before the world by Iran.

The hostages were released only as President Carter was leaving office and Ronald Reagan was being inaugurated as President.

In 1983, a peacekeeping force in Lebanon was attacked. There were 241 Americans and 58 French troops killed. Courts found the assault had been planned and funded by the Iranians. In a different time, this would have been considered an act of war.

The U.S. Department of State designated Iran as the largest state sponsor of terrorism in 1984. For the last 41 years, it has kept this title.

On June 25, 1996, the Iranians bombed an American barracks at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 Americans.

After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush called Iran a key member of what he described as “the Axis of Evil” during his 2002 State of the Union Address.  However, nothing came of the description even as the Iranian dictatorship supported anti-American efforts in Iraq and facilitated and equipped the killing of Americans. Several Central Command Commanders advocated hitting back at the Iranian dictatorship but were told not to by various presidents.

When President Donald J. Trump authorized the targeted killing of General Qasem Soleimani  on Jan. 3, 2020, the Iranian response was to threaten to assassinate the President and more than two dozen Americans who had some role in the decision and implementation.

Recently, it was revealed that there have been at least two serious Iranian efforts to assassinate President Trump.

This use of assassination is nothing new for the Iranian dictatorship. Over the years, it has killed at least 20 of its opponents and made 52 different attacks. In October 2011, there was a serious Iranian effort to kill the Saudi Arabian Ambassador at a restaurant in Washington, D.C. and then bomb the Saudi and Israeli embassies. Fortunately, the plot was discovered and stopped.

Given the consistent pattern of hostility and promises of death to America and Israel, why would anyone even consider an agreement with the Mullahs?

Imagine if even one of the rockets that hit Tel Aviv this week had been equipped with a nuclear warhead. Permitting the Iranian dictatorship to survive is risking a holocaust of horrible proportions.

The time to end the regime is now. With sufficient encouragement, the Iranian people will take back their own country and the world will be safer and more stable.

This is the only path to long-term success.

For more commentary from Newt Gingrich, visit Gingirch360.com. Also, subscribe to the Newt’s World podcast.

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