TGIF: Trump's Words Cannot Be Unseen

The stain won't come out.

Even if Trump’s and Netanyahu’s vile war of aggression against Iran ends with a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Middle East and a cessation of Israel’s criminal onslaught throughout the region, this sorry episode has deeply changed things for the worse; they are unlikely to change back anytime soon. This ought to be Trump’s (and Netanyahu’s) poisonous legacy. We’ll focus on Trump.

On April 7, he posted,

A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.

This revolting blood-soaked mass of vomit informed Iran—more than 91 million people in a country two-and-a-half times the size of Texas—of the consequences of its government's refusal to bow to him. He has the required weapons, let’s recall. If you have a strong enough stomach, think what it would mean to annihilate a civilization. Parent discretion advised. By the way, threatening noncombatants counts as terrorism.

We shouldn’t have been surprised. In recent days, he (and Secretary of Offense Hegseth) seemed to enjoy sadistically describing the violence they have inflicted on the Iranians. Trump had already threatened to bomb Iran back to “the stone ages.” (Who puts that in the plural?) Luckily, he backed off his monstrous warning for the flimiest face-saving reasons. But his vaunted ceasefire is an obvious farce, and we may see the warning renewed.

What I want to emphasize is that the American people and the rest of the world saw the president of the United States threaten to destroy the 2,500-year-old Persian civilization. More than half of the Iranian population is ethnic Persian.

It’s my policy not to compare anyone to Hitler, but I’ll say this: Trump’s threat was Hitlerian. Further, anyone who stuck by Trump after that post exhibited the same disgusting reverence that many Germans felt for Hitler. “I tell you,” said Hermann Goering, “if the Führer wishes it then two times two are five.” “Formerly, we were in the habit of saying: this is right or wrong: to-day, we must put the question accordingly: What would the ‘Führer’ say?” said Hans Frank, the Nazi minister of justice. (Quoted in Leonard Peikoff’s The Cause of Hitler’s Germany.) Fortunately, Trump’s outrageous and criminal conduct has driven some once-loyal supporters away, but far too many remain, apparently ready to die for him if the opportunity appeared. Some will never let go. Let’s not forget that during his first campaign, Trump said he wouldn’t lose support if he shot someone on Fifth Avenue. He’s right.

Now that everyone has read or heard his horrifying promise to bring about the extinction of a civilization, it cannot be unread or unheard. Trump cannot (and certainly will not) take it back. This is a game-changer. Many years will pass before his sickening words are forgotten. A U.S. president declared that he would commit literal genocide if he did not get his way. (Ironically, his major demand was the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran had closed only after Trump launched his unprovoked attack.)

If Trump finishes his term without legal consequences, civilized people throughout the world will remember not only that a monster occupied the White House, but that the country let him get away with his crimes. If Trump is not impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate (big Democratic midterm wins will be necessary), America will bear the shame for a long time.

No advocate of reason and individual freedom views Iran’s theocratic government favorably. Religion is bad enough, but when you add political power, watch out! Yet that should not stop us from being inspired by the thousands of Iranians who gathered (some at government urging) around the power plants and bridges that Trump had threatened to destroy as part of his civilization-killing “excursion.” Leave it to Trump to tell NBC News, setting a record for chutzpah, that the human chains were “totally illegal.” “They’re not allowed to do that,” he said. Perhaps those gatherings were what prompted Trump to back off. Imagine the worldwide impact of videos showing American and Israeli bombs and missiles hitting crowds of noncombatants protecting civilian infrastructure sites?

In light of all this, isn’t it time to reconsider having a government capable of waging offensive war?

PS: As it became clear that the ceasefire was less than solid, Trump was back in his usual gear:

All U.S. Ships, Aircraft, and Military Personnel, with additional Ammunition, Weaponry, and anything else that is appropriate and necessary for the lethal prosecution and destruction of an already substantially degraded Enemy, will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with. If for any reason it is not, which is highly unlikely, then the “Shootin’ Starts,” bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before…. [O]ur great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest.

TGIF—The Goal Is Freedom—appears on Fridays.