Trump, Israel have Iran leaders shaking in their boots

Nearly 20 years ago, Henry Kissinger established the rules for decoding the push and pull of Iran’s foreign policy.Iran, Kissinger famously said, had to decide whether it is “a country or a cause.”His challenge revolved around the question of whether the ayatollah and his government were pragmatic in dealing with other nations, or militarily fanatical in a quest to spread their Islamic revolution. The ensuing years of regional terrorism, threats of war against America, Israel and Arab nations and oppression at home provide mountains of evidence that Iran is not interested in normal statecraft. Indeed, the history is so one-sided that the current despot, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, doesn’t even pretend to be concerned about anything other than Islamic supremacy. Yet much of the world, including recent American presidents and the usual suspects in Europe and the United Nations, have found it convenient to assert that the answer to Kissinger’s challenge remains elusive.Fortunately, America now has a president who is calling B.S.

on claims that Iran is anything but a terror state. Most important, Donald Trump is prepared to end the charade once and for all. His public position is that Iran cannot be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.That’s dramatic in itself, but his private bottom line is even more so. Revealed here for the first time, Trump’s position is that Iran’s leaders either destroy their nuclear facilities, or the US, likely with Israel’s help, will do it for them by taking military action. That’s his offer, and no other options are on the table, the president tells confidants.Certainly there will be no more agreements requiring international inspections that rely on Iranian honesty and compliance.Nor will there be any tolerance for Iran’s enriching uranium at levels that have no use other than nuclear bombs.The unicorn fantasy that Iran would use its enriched uranium for domestic energy only is a dead letter to this president. His ...