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October 2, 2024 - 4:35pm
Iran must be “crushed” and America should tell Israel to “finish the job”, according to former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
Speaking at a Policy Exchange event in London with journalist Charles Moore, the former head of the CIA said “every peace-loving nation” should admit that “the problem lies in Tehran” and should stand with Israel “every step of the way” to defeat Iran.
“We should all be worried about getting dragged into another war in the Middle East — that’s why Iran has to be crushed,” said Pompeo, adding: “This is how you avoid a war in the Middle East.”
Asked by Channel 4’s Cathy Newman what he meant by “crush”, the Republican said this entails destroying Iran’s proxies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen while showing Tehran that the costs of its “terror campaign” exceed the benefits.
Pompeo also criticised what he viewed as President Joe Biden’s confusion, saying the US could not claim to have an “iron-clad” defensive relationship with Israel but also demand a ceasefire. “If there had been a ceasefire when President Biden demanded, [Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah would still be alive today.” He went on: “Most of the Hamas senior leadership would be alive today, there’d be 400 more Hezbollah terrorists threatening Israel today. Iron-clad? I don’t see how you hold these two thoughts in your head together.”
Pompeo’s comments come amid a significant escalation in the Middle East, with Iran firing almost 200 missiles at Israel on Tuesday night. Israel has undertaken significant successful military operations recently in Lebanon, notably planting explosives on hundreds of Hezbollah pagers and killing most of Hezbollah’s leaders. Consequently Iran vowed revenge, and after Tuesday’s barrage, Israel has done likewise with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Iran “has made a big mistake” and “will pay”. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “deeply concerned that the region is on the brink” and that Britain recognises Israel’s right to defend itself. Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed that British forces “played their part in attempts to prevent further escalation”.
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SubscribeWhat do people mean when they say this risks a wider Middle East war? Do we expect other Arab nations to join Iran in a war against Israel? I don’t see that happening, but maybe I’m wrong. I thought all the Arab nations can’t stand Iran.
The subject of Israel seems to attract the most simplistic and hyperbolic comments. Like for instance, Israel faces an enemy of millions of Arabs, because, naturally, according to their ignorant understanding, all Arabs hate Israel.
Yep, that is right. The more correct way to put it is probably the Sunnis can’t stand the Shi’ites.
Well, you have Iran supporting Houthi ‘rebels’ in Yemen and last year (?) they flew drones into Saudi territory and attacked an oil production facility.
That’s how this risks a wider ME war. Iran is already attacking neighbors other than Israel and It will continue to do so. And Sunni vs Shia islam conflicts can’t be ignored.
The stronger Iran gets, the more chaos it sows.
You are right about governments of Arab countries.
But public in these countries cheers on anyone attacking Jews and Israel.
Because these countries are dictatorships it doesn’t matter, yet.
Both sides regard the other as apostate. It’s unlikely that Netanyahu does anything in this conflict without talking to Muhammad bin Sultan first – whatever the latter may say for public consumption.
The Sunni states are as eager to see the back of Hamas and Hezbollah as are the Israelis.
Destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities would probably be a good start.
I’m genuinely confused as to why the total destruction of Irans’s nuclear capability would receive a downtick-unless you’re a member of a proscribed terrorist group.Seriously-wipe it out-level it-and reimpose the most draconian sanctions on trade.
If it wasn’t for Barack Obama they wouldn’t have that nuclear capability.
From the first year of the Iranian Revolution that brought the ghastly Ayatollah Khomeni to power in 1979. Iran has been a destabilising and increasingly truculent regime with a malign influence in the Middle East. In 1979 Ian seized US citizens from the US Embassy and held them hostage for 444 days, the first of countless acts of state-sponsored terror around the world. Since then Iran has perpetrated evil deeds directly and indirectly, by proxy, against Israel and the United States and the West generally. Over the intervening 45 years western leadership, undermined by a throughly biased United Nations and weakened by Left-Wing pursuit of human rights causes, has been too timid to deal effectively with the threat to world peace posed by Iran’s aggression and support for terror. Short of a World War 3 scenario I cannot think how the Iran regime can be tamed and subdued – permanently.
‘It may be that the only way to save a village is to destroy it’ in the ever-pertinent words of the US general during the Tet Offensive.
It is longbpast time to admit the obvious. The corrupt, theocratic imperialists in Iran have been waging war against the West since they came to power in the 1979 period.
No, they haven’t waged war against the West. Remember when the mullahs took power in Iran it was to throw out the corrupt, US-supported Shah in a revolution widely supported by the population. Since then too Iran has not attacked the West even once, and they are far from imperialists. They have their faults, but their attacks against the West have been to throw off western rule rather than to conquer territory.
Absolutely, the Shah was a brutal dictator. That doesn’t make the mullahs the good guys. Denying their expansionism over the last 20 years is nothing but wilful ignorance. Far lefties are so tiresomely predictable. You can’t even call it thinking.
Pompeo’s idea is a good one. Except that it can’t be done. Iran isn’t Iraq or Afganistan. It’s a big country with unsavory but supportive friends. If Pompeo said he’d use a-bombs to destroy it, that would at least make it possible. But he left out the only possible means to make his dream a reality.
Pompeo is an inveterate, ridiculous bloviator. With highly vulnerable military assets sprinkled liberally all over the place, and being wholly dependent on foreigners to fund the ballooning deficit, few powers are at the same time so utterly vulnerable and so totally unable to protect themselves as the US.
The Pentagon obviously knows this. Ironically, we need to hope the Pentagon is able to hold the line.
Iran has a right to self-defence.
Iran is now following the Western prescription “escalate to de-escalate”.
Except that the weak minded folk at the UN & the White House don’t subscribe to this tenet-there’s is more “surrender”
I’m not sure you can make such a blanket statement about the UN. After all, Antonio Guterres has been declared persona non grata in Israel.
After attacking Israel through Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis (not to mention their aggression against Saudi Arabia), Iran has a ‘right to self defence’? What grotesque contortions you nominal liberals put yourself through.
The final confrontation between good and evil has begun…pitting those who adhere to the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God” against those who do not; the false religion of human intellectual arrogance, Marxianity, posing as a political ideology in an utterly incongruous alliance with a political ideology, Islam posing as a religion…with both seeking to destroy the United States so as to destroy Israel.
It really is that simple.
Both evils have a major problem given the God of Abraham/Sinai, Yeshua and 1776, yes 1776, has empirically evidenced existence with the convergence Matrix and is fully engaged; a God that will make His presence known in no uncertain terms very soon
Go to Xwitter @Adler Pfingsten and read the articles “2026” and “A Viable Two State Solution”. Doing so will be well worth your time.
Ok, so Donald Trump is “evil”. I know that much. Remind me who is “good” again?
So his idea to prevent a war in the Middle East is to start a war in the Middle East?
Against Iran, Hezbollah, and perhaps Houthi-controlled Yemen.
The Sunni states and the Shia who dislike the Ayatollahs are unlikely to join in; Syria is probably not, as they’re in shambles, and Russia is busy.
Well you certainly don’t deal with cancer by only removing little parts of the tumor, which is what the insane nuclear deal was like. There is already war in the Middle East and now we have another chapter in the prologue to WWIII.
Yes but which war is being avoided in this scenario?
Yes-its not that difficult to analyse?Or maybe life is eternally binary?
Not good, not good at all and, tragically, could all stop in an instant……..but instead and no one knows why anymore( or’s that bothered) they’d rather continue the violence …….subject their people to more misery, destruction and damned to the dark ages. Won’t end well….for any of us and that’s why it has to stop.
Perhaps you are not aware that this conflict has been going on for 5,000 years? Thinking it could all stop in an instant is only suggesting complete nuclear annihilation at this point.
What nonsense and typical of those demanding compensation by their inability to discern context. This is 2024 not 3000BC
All the lads who enjoyed trips to Epstein’s Island, now pushing for the US to fight another war for Israel. Sad
Functionaries like Pompeo have, in their Ukraine (arm the occupied) and Israel (arm the occupier) policies, managed to push together Iran, Russia, China, North Korea and most of the ‘stans into a single amorphous but contiguous antiwestern bloc. A triumph of own goal diplomacy unrivalled since the last world war.
Israel’s assault on the leaders of pro-Palestinian groups, whilst technically impressive, will (alongside the slaughter in Gaza) perhaps attract 0.25 per cent of young Muslim men worldwide aged 16 to 35 to enlist in some more emphatic fashion than protest. Thats about one million young men. Well done guys. Looking forward to that?
And you have there identified the genesis of the problem. To all Muslims it is Muslims first and last regardless of the rights or wrongs of the situation. They are simply incapable of seeing it any other way.
And the same goes for Jews. After all, they are blood brothers.
To the down voter.
I would be interested to hear your view
Are you honestly ignoring 5,000 years of history with a straight face?