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Opinion: Iran and Me
By Michael Graham
Before I was old enough to vote, the Islamist lunatics of Iran had declared themselves enemies of my America.
For 444 days, they humiliated an American president — the cluelessly inept Jimmy Carter — by holding innocent Americans hostage and declaring the United States “the Great Satan.” That was 1979.
Forty-five years later, in January 2024, a drone strike by the Iranian-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq killed three U.S. soldiers at Tower 22 in Jordan, 1,000 miles away from Tehran.
In the years between, Iran’s Islamist leaders waged a nonstop war against America that we’ve endured my entire adult lifetime. They’ve killed our soldiers, attacked our civilians and slaughtered Jews — all far beyond their country’s borders.
So why are so many Democrats — and Tucker Carlson types — calling the U.S. military actions “unprovoked”?
Perhaps unwise, maybe a mistake. We’ll find out. But “unprovoked”?
Just take the example of Iran’s proxy Hezbollah. Under Tehran’s direction, the group carried out some of the deadliest terrorist attacks in U.S. history:
—April 1983: A suicide car bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut killed 63 people, including 17 Americans.
—October 1983: In the single deadliest day for the U.S. Marine Corps since Iwo Jima, a truck bomb struck the Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 American service members.
1982–92: During the Lebanon hostage crisis, Hezbollah abducted 25 U.S. citizens, including CIA Station Chief William Buckley, who was tortured and killed.
—June 1996: A truck bomb at the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia killed 19 U.S. airmen. Forensic evidence later linked the attack to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Hezbollah al-Hijaz.
Iran’s military made improvised explosive devices that killed American soldiers in Iraq. Its Hamas proxies have killed at least 48 Americans — not to mention more than 1,000 Israelis slaughtered in a single October day in 2023.
Speaking on behalf of millions of Americans who haven’t lost their minds to partisan hatred, allow me to state the case clearly: Every day America is bombing the (expletive) out of whackjob Islamists dedicated to the mission of “Death to America” and wiping Israel off the map is a good day.
If nothing else, Iranian mullahs who are fleeing U.S. missiles don’t have time to beat women for showing their hair in public or throw gay people off buildings to their deaths.
How is this a bad thing?
Want to criticize Donald Trump? I’m down with that. I’ve got more issues with Trump’s behavior than a lifetime subscription to Reader’s Digest.
However, I’m not going to let that stop me from cheering like a Columbia University student at a “Free Palestine” rally when he uses the greatest military in history to put down America’s deadliest enemy.
From the time I was old enough to pick up a newspaper, I have been reading headlines about Islamist terrorists attacking innocent civilians: hijacking planes, bombing weddings, beheading journalists. I want to live in a world where my kids — or my grandkids, at least — will see those headlines only in history books.
That is not possible as long as Iran is exporting terrorism around the world.
Some smart people are asking: If Iran’s mullahs are toppled, what next?
Perhaps I am not as smart, but my simple answer is, “Who cares?” The argument that what follows could be worse is nonsense. Iran is already slaughtering its own citizens by the tens of thousands and sponsoring rape and murder beyond its borders.
What is “worse”? Iranian astronauts targeting synagogues on Mars?
Perhaps the fall of the mullahs means more chaos and violence inside Iran. I hope not, but I will happily make that trade to end their threat to the rest of us. It is not the rest of the world’s job to put up with terror attacks from Argentina to the U.K. because a group of radical psychos might turn on their own citizens.
On this topic, I am an unapologetic 100 percent America Firster.
From Jimmy Carter to Joe Biden, Democrats have lacked the brains and, er, testicular fortitude to confront Iranian evil. How foolish do you have to be to send pallets of cash to mullahs you know are going to spend it on Hamas and Hezbollah?
Thanks, Obama.
Iranian drones kill Ukrainians defending their nation from Vladimir Putin’s war machine. Iranian oil lubricates the gears of China’s communist regime. Iranian operatives have organized attacks on synagogues and Jewish communities around the globe.
And Democrats want me to denounce U.S. bombs falling on Iranian bunkers? They want me to protest missiles slamming into the mullahs’ nuclear weapons infrastructure?
To quote my not-favorite president, “These people are crazy!”
Americans have already been killed in our current assault on Iran, and that is terrible. But do you know what Tehran calls a day when Americans die at the hands of Iranian violence?
A day that ends in “y.”
If these tragic deaths lead to an end to the Iranian threat, that is a great day for the Middle East, a great day for the world and — most important — a great day for America. For my country. For my kids.
“Unprovoked?” “Illegal war?” Forget that noise. I’m going with “It’s about damn time.”
ABOUT THE WRITER
Michael Graham is the managing editor at InsideSources.com.
