I said it in 2016 but nobody wanted to heed the warnings.
Iran is the most dangerous threat in the Middle East, and it always has been. Ballistic missile capabilities with global reach.
Iran was a designated state sponsor of terrorism (the regime still is). While Washington was debating talking points back then, the Iranian leadership was on the ground in Iraq, acting as field commanders in active combat zones killing American Soldiers.
I said it then, and I will say it now: The region could not stabilize with Iranian leadership directing battles on Iraqi soil (never mind directing all their other surrogates—Hamas, HZ, Houthis).
We had a responsibility to draw that line, but we failed to (and like it or not, here we are again).
Everything unfolding in the Middle East today traces back to decisions that were never made and warnings that were never heeded. I was not wrong in 2016. It doesn’t mean what we’re doing now will work (I pray it does).
War is a very complex and very uncertain human endeavor. The truth does not expire. It just gets more expensive to ignore.
