Jefferson Wouldn’t End Iran War Immediately

Letter to Romans: Trump has more in common with Jefferson than libertine Dems would admit. Both presidents believed in a limited federal gov’t & fought foreign pirates & terrorists mostly with diplomacy & economic pressure, until war was only option …

The WSJ’s “The Democratic Hormuz Alternative” panned Trump’s political opponents over “his” Iranian War, especially Maine’s wannabe Senator Troy Jackson’s recent call to “Just get out” of the Middle East. Asked an incredulous editorial board, “And let Iran charge terror tolls?” Further mocked the editors: “Take Hormuz—please! With apologies to Henny Youngman, that appears to be an emerging Democratic message on Iran. In a TV debate .. Iowa’s Dem Senator Josh Turek was asked about letting Iran control the strait. What does Mr. Turek consider an acceptable ending to the war?” ‘As soon as possible,’ he replied. Twice he said, ‘Immediately.’” As the editors noted, “Both parties have heard the public dissatisfaction with Mr. Trump’s erratic conduct of the war … But Iran is still firing on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, because it wants to turn the international waterway into a toll route to earn billions of dollars for its terror empire.”

Are Turek & Jackson ok with that? When faced with a similar dilemma with the Barbary Pirates in 1805, No. 3 like No. 47, sent American warships & troops across the Atlantic to confront the violators of what would become international law’s “freedom of the seas” mantra to this day. The North African thugs had similarly attacked merchant shipping, seized cargo, enslaved captured sailors & extorted tribute from Western powers. Under Presidents Washington & Adams, the US paid those “tolls.” Jefferson refused, however, & had a better idea. He didn’t begin by launching a full-scale invasion of North Africa, but after “talks” failed, deployed a relatively small naval force & US Marines to Libya until the pirates relented. Sound familiar?

Davd Soul