Donald Trump sets the template with Iran: make the problems theirs.
Everyone knows the expression that, at times, is attributed to Donald Trump: if you owe the bank a million dollars, you have a problem; if you owe the bank a billion dollars, the bank has a problem. This thinking needs to be applied to many of the world’s problems, including the continuing attacks from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese have an army that would have a hard time against the Harlem Globetrotters. They make the New Jersey Generals look like the Los Angeles Lakers. Their army, while armed with US equipment, is generally considered a joke, a group that could not fight a mob at Filene’s Basement. And for this reason, Lebanese politicians and leaders have pleaded poverty as to their ability to tame the Iranian Shia terror group. And while they often go on local TV and talk about Hezbollah’s damage to the country and the need to get rid of them, they almost never raise a finger to actually accomplish the same. This state of affairs must change—now. Removing Hezbollah must be Lebanon’s problem as well.
To date, the Lebanese mostly sit on the sidelines and watch Israel do its best to crush Hezbollah. The Iranian proxy has moved from its favorite weapon—anti-tank missiles—to guided drones. They killed an Arab employee of the defense establishment and his son, who were working as contractors with the IDF. They recently exploded drones near a Black Hawk helicopter removing wounded soldiers. On several occasions, they have detonated their UAVs near Israeli tractors, demolishing structures in Shia villages near the border. The Lebanese apparently intercepted a truck bringing 5,000 such drones to the local terrorists. Other such trucks made it through.
Israel must make Hezbollah a larger Lebanese problem. Infrastructure that benefits both Hezbollah and the general population, such as gas stations, airports, power plants and the like, needs to be destroyed. The Lebanese pay lip service to getting rid of the terrorists: on the one hand, they are happy that Israel is doing their dirty work, but on the other, they are not any great Jew lovers or Israel supporters. It’s time to make them a bigger part of the equation. They might actually see the value of having their army engage Hezbollah so as to save part of their decrepit country. If they want Hezbollah gone, they will have to play their role in making it so.
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One of the more surprising and pleasing pieces of news that recently came out regarding the Iran War was the deployment of an Iron Dome battery and dozens of Israeli soldiers to the UAE. The relationship between Israel and the UAE is strong, as both sides see an upside in their working together. FlyDubai runs eight daily flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai; from there, Israelis can take those massive Emirates A380 super-jumbos to the far ends of the Earth. The UAE does not hide its relationship with Israel and has made a point of treating visiting Jewish travelers with respect and dignity. Unlike Lebanon, the UAE understands how the world works and realizes that a future alliance with the US, Israel and other powerful actors will move its interests forward. While Iran and the Europeans join the history section of the local bookstore, the winners will be writing the future.
Making the other side own the problem is exactly what Donald Trump is doing in the current phase of the war with the Islamic Republic. Dozens of US refueling tankers are located in Israel, with some number airborne 24/7. But the hot war is on pause, as Pete Hegseth and Admiral Brad Cooper use the Navy to block transit into and out of Iranian ports. While the numbers vary widely, reports claim that Iran is losing hundreds of millions of dollars a day from lost oil revenue. The IRGC, now the only ones running the show, are filling up old tankers and old olive oil bottles to keep pumping before they have to cap their wells and effectively damage them forever. Having lots of assets overseas—including three carrier groups—is not cheap, but as President Trump noted to oil executives, the blockade is in some ways more effective than the bombing campaign. No salaries. Dead currency. Economic apocalypse. The Iranians own their own intransigence. Until they give in on nuclear, their future is dire.
The same approach should be used with ABC and Disney. Jimmy Kimmel is as funny as a dead eel, and he is simply a political hack given a TV time slot. His comment about the First Lady was disgusting and beyond mere comedy. But the issues of free speech and the government leaning into private companies are challenging. Is Donald Trump trying to censor free speech? Is his government, in asking for early TV license renewals from Disney, acting like the Soviets against a disfavored company? There is a much easier way to deal with ABC, which will force them to deal with Jimmy Kimmel and the Disney drive to destroy childhood with trans propaganda: list their sponsors. Make their sponsors famous and let people make their own conclusions as to whether to buy their products or go to their premises. The sponsors and Disney exist to make money; for ideological garbage like ruining Star Wars and Snow White, they’re willing to take some losses. But they can’t lose money forever. Make the sponsors famous. They’ll pull their Disney support faster than you can say, “The Seven Dwarves.” Don’t get stuck in the grass over free speech and Jimmy Kimmel being a loser. As with Iran, make the economics unattractive and then say, “Your turn.”
This was effectively the brilliant move made by Republican governors in the South when they sent some cohort of illegal aliens north. The lefties in the blue states and cities could write endless odes to the illegal aliens and their heartbreaking plight. Yet, when they showed up on their front door and asked where the shower was, the local mayors and governors freaked out. The beautiful people of Cape Cod, with open mouths and closed hearts, gladly got the non-locals out of town in 24 hours. The former mayor of New York was lost as to the source of billions in funding and housing/food/clothes/medical that he would have to supply people gifted to him by Governor Abbott of Texas.
And this approach should be applied wherever Democrats can be made to own the problems they like to pass off onto the general population. Make Democrats pay those reparations they never stop extolling; see where they will dig up the billions from people who never owned slaves to pay people who never were slaves. Make their daughters play ball with guys who will send them to the emergency room. Have their own kids made sterile through surgery and drugs, all in the name of some demented “trans” hallucinations. Republicans/patriots suffer when Democrats foist their ideas and policies like half-baked Covid mRNA vaccines on everyone. It’s time to return the favor and make them live as they talk. Let them suffer from their awful policies and poor governance. Drop illegal alien families right into their homes and neighborhoods. Take the homeless and plop them down on Rodeo Drive and throughout Beverly Hills. The Democrats can be ridiculous just as the Lebanese can sit and kvetch all day—because they don’t have to do anything. Time to make them live by their policies. Time to make them want to find solutions that they have ignored for generations.
Use the blueprint: make the other side suffer from the problem it foists on you. Let them look for solutions.
Editor's Note: For decades, former presidents have been all talk and no action. Now, Donald Trump is eliminating the threat from Iran once and for all.
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