The joint US-Israeli military operation against the Iranian regime is just and imperative. After drawing clear red lines over the continued mass execution of Iranian civilians, the pursuit of nuclear weapons and continued support for global terrorism, President Donald Trump has made the judicious decision that the Ayatollah could no longer be permitted to act with impunity. With God’s help, our troops will be able to fulfill this mission safely and secure an outcome that keeps all Americans safe.

This action by itself is an important step towards removing the threat posed by this evil regime, and a natural follow up to the joint US-Israeli mission to degrade Iran’s nuclear program, Operation Midnight Hammer. However, kinetic strikes alone are not sufficient. America will never be safe as long as this fundamentalist, anti-American dictatorship remains in power.

President Trump understands this, and has called on the Iranian people to take advantage of this unique chance to take back their country: “The hour of your freedom is at hand… For many years, you have asked for America’s help, but you never got it… Now you have a president who is giving you what you want.” It’s difficult to understate the historic implications of that statement — a move that is as strategically necessary as it is morally appropriate. It affirms the central truth that there will be no chance for peace or stability in the region until the Ayatollah and his entire rotten regime are gone for good, and the Iranian people are given the chance to determine their own future.

We have nearly five decades of experience to confirm that the Islamic Republic is an entirely irredeemable governing entity. Terrorism, oppression and vicious hatred of America, Israel and the West are part of its DNA; and its fundamentalist, millenarian vision is incompatible with peaceful coexistence with the civilized world. America — and the world — will never be safe if this regime survives in any form.

For those who blanch at the mention of “regime change,” let’s be clear: the Iranian dictatorship is not just any authoritarian state. The United States government has often had to make deals with governments we find abhorrent, yet whose cooperation is necessary to protect our interests. As Jeane Kirkpatrick famously argued in her landmark essay “Dictatorships and Double Standards,” protecting America’s interests requires stakesmen to be able to distinguish temporary partnerships with unsavory governments from appeasing enemies of the United States.

From Day 1, the Islamic Republic’s position on America has been clear: They hate us and would like to see us obliterated. From the Americans taken hostage in the earliest days of the Islamic Revolution; to the years of funding and orchestrating terrorist attacks against American civilians and military personnel; to the weekly chants of “Death to America;” to funding the proxy forces wreaking havoc throughout the Middle East; to partnering with our adversaries to undermine us in every theater — the Islamic Republic has been a consistent, highly dangerous enemy of the United States, and to all who desire peace in the Middle East.

There can be no resolution to this problem until this regime is consigned to the dustbin of history. That doesn’t mean the US should conquer Iran or install some kind of puppet government; it means attacking each pillar of the regime’s power in order to make its continued survival impossible, while creating the space for Iran’s organized democratic opposition to come to the fore and form a new government.

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That transition can only come from the Iranian people — and thankfully, there is an expansive national movement ready to do just that. Indeed, the Iranian people have made their preference abundantly clear in repeated waves of resistance stretching back to the beginnings of the Islamic Republic. They do not want a theocracy — they want a republic that is free, democratic, and accountable to the citizenry. This is the only viable path to neutralize the threat from Iran and integrate it into the community of nations.

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The benefits of such a shift would be truly historic. Terrorists would lose their primary sponsor; America’s adversaries would lose a key outpost; incredible economic opportunities would develop; and the highly-educated Iranian population could emerge as a natural partner for the United States.

We’ve taken the first step toward a future in which this uniquely destructive and truly evil dictatorship can no longer hold the world hostage. But we can’t resolve this problem if we don’t finish the job. Supporting a free Iran isn’t just the right thing to do; it is a strategic necessity that will make the world a far safer and more prosperous place. May God bless our servicemen and women as they carry out this noble endeavour, and may the Lord give the people of Iran the courage to embrace this chance for freedom.

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