Iran turned the world upside down when its religious leaders took control of the country in 1979. To top it off, Iranians kidnapped 66 Americans and held them for 444 days. Since then, Iran’s theocratic government has been a troublemaker in the Middle East and a thorn in the side of the US.

During this dangerous and monumental time, Iran disrupted the Middle East by funding its violent proxies. Ultimately Iran dreamed of taking control of the region and converting Sunnis to Shia. It was a huge undertaking. To ensure success the powers that be built a huge army and attempted to produce nuclear weapons.

With this dubious resume it’s no wonder that seven US presidents have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to tame Iran’s ambitions. After many years of negotiating peace treaties and promises of a modern, non-military a nuclear program, the US decided to clean up the Iranian situation.

The Middle East is fraught with a wide array of countries that are Islamic, even though there exists great animosity between the two major religious sects. Many countries around the world have been baffled by the choices Iran makes, especially when the actions are murderous.

Iran called for the destruction of Israel. The US tried with little success to tame the more aggressive Middle East countries. Peaceful bargaining between the Islamic nations and Israel has been a non-starter since the end of WWII.

In recent years the moment that Iran would be able to build a nuclear bomb and deliver it to most parts of the Middle East has been on the minds of all Middle Eastern countries. Iran was getting close to producing its dream weapon. With it in its arsenal, Iran would have had the influence to disrupt its enemies to a much greater extent.

President Trump has been opining on the nuclear issue for most of his time in the White House. He has said recently that Iran was weeks, or days, away from completing nuclear missiles production. In the opinion of many, this fact is an acceptable reason to attack Iran.

Trump was unable to deal with the Iranians and so he unleashed US military against Iran, and purportedly destroyed Iran’s nuclear facilities. It has to be a great relief to Middle Eastern countries that the US stepped up and prevented another world war, so far.

And so, the US spent a few weeks attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities and strategic military targets, including missile production and assassinating the political leaders that governed Iran.

Iran is a large country with 90 million people. Does it have a right to build nuclear devices that could disrupt the Middle East? Most people around the world  would feel more comfortable if deadly and existential weapons were not in the hands of crazy leaders like the ayatollahs.

As expected, Democrats, Trump-haters and many ill-informed individuals are critical of the decision to go to war against Iran. The situation has been percolating for many years during which Iran tormented Sunni Arab nations and threatened the US with the development of a nuclear weapon.

Iran has used proxies to disrupt the Middle East since 1979. It funds violent activity by splinter groups; this has kept the region on edge for several decades. Iran is directly and indirectly responsible for terrorizing their neighbors in the Middle East on a recurring basis.

Unfortunately, the US has never had the guts to interfere decisively and put an end to the death and destruction orchestrated by Iran- until Trump was elected president.

The development of a nuclear capability has been the most important issue in dealing with Iran because it is existential. Based upon history, it appears that the US presidents who dealt with Iran since 1979 were content to downplay Iran aggression, so long as there was no imminent nuclear threat. For years, Israel, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, warned US leadership that Iran’s nuclear capability was inevitable, and the US should do something drastic to stem the tide.

Past negotiations with Iran were hampered because Iran lied about its nuclear program and refused to abide by the terms of several deals with the US. The bottom line is that Iran stalled and misled the US, enabling it to get closer and closer to producing a bomb.

Recent events also enabled Iran to develop and manufacture short, medium and long- range missiles which have been used this past week extensively. The Israelis are expert at shooting down missiles directed at civilian areas, but more important is that Israel will use up its current supply of weapons. Basically, Israel will soon be unable to shoot down missiles because its defense capabilities will be exhausted.

In 2026 the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb was great enough to convince Trump to join with Israel and stop the nuclear program once and for all.

The decision to move forward with an assault on Iran was the only logical alternative. Negotiating with Iran’s leaders was fruitless. They would agree to halt the nuclear program and violate terms the next day.

Proving the unpredictable nature of the Iranian government, the country shot missiles at Arab states within the region. It forced the targets of the attacks to side with the US. The elimination of the Iranian government was the only sensible thing to do.

It’s a shame that the Iran onslaught could not be stopped with negotiation. But it is impossible to negotiate with parties who do not live up to their word. The US had no choice but to move forward. The threat of a nuclear attack by Iran was close at hand. Such an event would completely destabilize the Middle East, and surely Israel would unleash its nuclear arsenal against Iran.

I understand that many Americans are anathema to military actions, dropping bombs on enemies and assassinations of leaders of other countries. But there were no other diplomatic choices. Iran ayatollahs were megalomaniacs and convinced that they should control the Middle East.

I hope America will come together and support the actions by the US and Israel. To delay will result in further death and destruction. Negotiating with the with a nuclear Iran would be a tough road to take.