Trump’s High Wire Act

www.americanthinker.com

Those of us who have been around a while remember Karl Wallenda. For decades, Wallenda was the face of the Flying Wallendas, thrilling millions with his high-wire journeys across canyons and from one high-rise building to another. No one ever questioned his bravery, though the judgment of one who walks on a wire high above the ground without a safety line or net was certainly up for debate.

President Donald Trump has been walking a tightrope in his negotiations with the terrorist state of Iran. He wants peace in the Mideast, certainly for his own legacy, but even more so for the world's citizens. I question neither his bravery nor his judgment.

What would be the ideal solution for the problem of Iran? Well, a Rapture-like event resulting in the vaporization of all evil individuals residing in that terrorist state would be great. A worldwide event of similar result would be even better, although any surviving Democrats in the United States would be enraged at the thinning of their ranks.

Wishing for storybook solutions is, of course, utter folly. What President Trump has attempted to do is spare the civilian population of Iran, many of whom want nothing to do with the terrorist regime running their country. He does not want to be remembered as a tyrant willing to destroy an entire country’s population and infrastructure to get what he wants -- an Iran willing to be a peaceful member of the world's collection of nations.

The MOU -- Memorandum of Understanding -- signed by the U.S. and Iran lays out the expected behavior of Iran going forward. Will the Iranians adhere to the memorandum? I wouldn’t bet a dime, or even an extinct penny, on them behaving. If and when they transgress, I hope they are met with disproportionate force. They will have brought it on themselves.

Most Israelis wish we had finished the job and bombed Iran back to the Stone Age. They need to remember a couple of things. Number 1: The United States is Israel’s greatest ally. It might be said we are their only true ally, as the Mideast states signing on to the Abraham Accords have done so at Trump’s urging and sometimes arm-twisting. Those agreements may be good for them, but they were not a natural reaction of those States to conditions in the region.

The second thing that Israel must remember is that Donald Trump is the POTUS (President of the United States) and not the POTEW (President of the entire world). Does he want to help Israel? Of course, he does, and he has, as no other world leader has ever done before. He has destroyed Iran’s nuclear program, a program initiated explicitly to destroy Israel, and severely damaged its entire military capability.

Has he eliminated any possibility that they could rise again in an evil-Phoenix fashion and once again threaten the world’s safety? No, he hasn’t. Had he done so, Israel would undoubtedly be ecstatic. I’m not suggesting any bad intentions on the part of the State of Israel. Iran has been nothing but abominable towards the Jewish state. But had Trump finished the job by completely destroying Iran, he would have been seen by the world as a tyrant, forcing his will upon them, no matter what they truly desired.

The President feels a great debt to his country, even as he forges his own legacy. Is he worried about the midterms? I’m sure they are in the back of his mind. But I believe he is more concerned with his successors. If he overplays his hand, the media and disloyal opposition would portray him, his party, and any chosen successor as tyrannical. Staying true to form, they might even call them Nazis.

If a progressive Democrat is elected as our next president, or at any time in the near future, all of Trump’s efforts in the Mideast will have been in vain, and Israel will be isolated, likely ultimately destroyed. For now, if the Iranians force his hand by failing to comply with the agreement, further military action should be blamed on them. Trump will not have put his boot on the Iranian’s neck; they will have willingly brought their neck to his boot.

Karl Wallenda died on March 22, 1978, after falling from a wire between two towers in San Juan, Puerto Rico. His death was attributed to high winds and an improperly secured wire upon which he was walking. We can only hope that political and media winds do not do the same to President Trump as he performs this political high-wire act. And let's hope all his wires are secure. A peaceful world depends on it.

Bill Hansmann is a dentist and dental educator with over fifty years in the profession. He continues to teach and write political blogs and semi-mediocre novels while living with his wife and cats in Georgia.