OPINION:
Those of us who have studied the Middle East for decades understand why President Trump has led us to war with Iran. For those millions of Americans who haven’t, Mr. Trump needs to do a much better job of explaining why and how he decided to take us to war with the ayatollahs’ regime.
Democrats are waiting for an opportunity to declare Mr. Trump’s attacks on Iran illegal and immoral. They want to get to the American people first. The anti-Trump media are already building a case against the war.
It’s more than that. If Mr. Trump wants people to follow him, then he needs to lead. The way a president does that is by speaking directly to the people.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has already demanded that Congress return early and said he will force a vote limiting the president’s war powers. The Democrats will likely be joined by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and some other Republican squishes, who will demand that the campaign stop without a congressional declaration of war.
Mr. Trump should now take a page from the playbook of the late, great President Reagan, the “Great Communicator.” Our commander in chief should give an Oval Office speech addressing the American people the way Reagan used to. We need to hear about his goal of government change in Tehran, why it’s entirely appropriate to overthrow the regime (which has American blood on its hands) and what he believes a new government in Iran should look like.
The president can explain that we are justified in this war because the Iranian regime has been responsible for a great many attacks that took American lives. He should explain Iran’s hand in the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut that killed 241 U.S. Marines and sailors, the 1996 Khobar Towers attack, which took 19 American lives, and the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa that killed 220 people.
Iran has been our enemy since the 1979 revolution that put the ayatollahs in power. Mr. Trump should explain why it is worth spending American lives to overthrow their regime. He should generally address our strategy. We must expect some American casualties in this war and the public must be prepared.
To end this war too soon would be a huge mistake that would enable the regime to stay in power. Mr. Trump should make clear that we won’t stop until the ayatollahs’ regime has been overthrown. He should also directly address the Iranian people, as he has already done.
He has said that the people should rise up and help overthrow the ayatollahs, that the hour of freedom is at hand. He needs to ensure that it becomes true.
By making that speech, the president can reach a great many Americans and convince them of his right thinking on the matter. He won’t convince the anti-Trump media, but he can convince some international leaders.
Global reaction to the attacks on Iran has been mixed. Saudi Arabia joined some of its “brotherly” Arab countries in condemning Iranian attacks on their nations. Even Qatar did so, despite its support of Hamas, an Iranian proxy.
Britain and even Canada have been supportive, while the Omanis have condemned the attacks. The French, always contumacious, are opposed to the attacks and, like the Omanis, have demanded a United Nations Security Council meeting about them. As if that would change our course of action.
The world was a simpler place in Reagan’s time. The Soviet Union was our only real enemy at the time. China wasn’t the threat it is now, and Iran was a negligible concern.
We applauded Reagan after he walked out of a summit meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986, when the Russian leader demanded that the summit include discussions on the elimination of Reagan’s plans for a U.S. missile defense.
We knew most of Reagan’s thoughts because he made them clear to Americans by speaking directly to them on many occasions.
Now, Mr. Trump needs to do much better in that regard. He cannot rely on social media to reach the audience he needs to influence.
If Mr. Trump makes that Oval Office speech in the next few days, then he might equal Reagan as a “great communicator.” If he fails to do so, then he will let the Democrats — and the anti-Trump media — lead us to a far worse future.
• Jed Babbin is a national security and foreign affairs columnist for The Washington Times and a contributing editor for The American Spectator.
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