Iran Delenda Est?
Between 218 B.C. and 202 B.C., Rome and Carthage were engaged in a long-running war for supremacy in the Mediterranean world. History knows it as the Second Punic War. Early in the war, Rome suffered such serious defeats at the Trebia River, Lake Trasimene, and Cannae that its very existence was called into question. However, the Romans rallied, decisively defeated the Carthaginians at the Battle of Zama in 202 B.C., and finally won the war.
Living through the Second Punic War was Cato the Elder, born in 234 B.C. Cato well understood how dangerous Carthage was. In 157 B.C., he traveled to Carthage and saw with his own eyes how powerful Carthage had become. Thereafter, he concluded each and every speech he gave to the Roman Senate, no matter what the topic, with the words “Carthago delenda est”— Carthage must be destroyed.
I’m no Cato the Elder, but for 47 years I’ve been seeing fanatical Iranians and their proxies killing Americans. Their hatred of us cannot be doubted. Certainly, there are good Iranians who don’t feel that way, but they aren’t in charge.
A few months ago, we learned that Iran was only several weeks away from enriching uranium from about 60 percent to 90 percent, thereby rendering it weapons-grade. At that enrichment level, Iran would have had enough to make 11 nuclear warheads. Not only Israel but also the major European capitals of Rome, Paris, London, and Berlin would have been within range of their nuclear-tipped missiles. If Iran developed an ICBM, it would have the capability of wiping Washington, D.C., and New York City off the face of the map, along with ten million or more Americans.
Despite this incredibly precarious situation, the Mainstream Trump-hating Media and their Marxist-Leninist fellow travelers have been telling us that “Iran presents no imminent threat.” They can be likened to the people who were saying in 1939 that if we just gave Hitler Poland, everything would be okay.
At the current juncture, there appears to be an internal war within Iran between those Iranian leaders who wish to accept Trump’s terms and those who want to keep on fighting, no matter what. Trump’s terms are simple, straightforward, and eminently reasonable: send the enriched uranium to the United States, don’t enrich any more, don’t ever get a nuclear weapon, stop funding terrorism all over the world, and don’t close the Strait of Hormuz. It’s not a big ask. But it appears to be a bridge too far for the Iranian leaders who call the United States the “Big Satan” and have been trying to kill us for the last 47 years.
Let’s hope that saner Iranian minds prevail and that Iran accepts Trump’s terms. But if, for whatever reason, this cannot be accomplished within the space of several weeks, the only alternative the United States has to protect itself and the world from a devastating nuclear war is to permanently destroy Iran’s capacity to make war. This would mean bombing and destroying all of Iran’s power plants and bridges, along with Kharg Island. You can’t make nukes without electricity. Nor can you make missiles, drones, artillery, etc.
You can’t fix stupid, and you can’t reason with religious fanatics who are bent upon killing you. The only solution is to permanently deprive them of the means of killing you.
Iran delenda est.
-Mark Wallace
This piece was shared with the permission of Mark Wallace. Any opinions articulated herein are those of the author, not The Prickly Pear.
