Trump Can Still Turn His Iran ‘TACO Tuesday’ Into A Win

On the day before President Trump threatened to annihilate Iranian “civilization” on what he called bridge and power plant day (Tuesday), I said on a podcast that I really hoped it wouldn’t become a TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) Tuesday.

The worst thing anyone, especially the leader of the world’s primary superpower, can do is make huge threats and then appear to cave. And, even if hyperbolic, Trump’s threats were certainly the biggest, most gruesome in modern history.

But just hours before his deadline to Iranian leaders expired, Trump announced, along with Pakistani mediators, that the U.S. and Iran had achieved tentative agreement to have a two-week ceasefire. The ceasefire would allow the two sides to negotiate a final agreement to end the war.

Immediately, people either sighed relief or attacked Trump for backing down. It also became clear that the ceasefire terms were not black and white, especially as Iran had released a 10-point plan in Persian to appease its supporters back home that was different than the English translation given to the United States.

Among the major points of contention were Iran’s claim that it would demand tolls be paid by ships crossing the Strait of Hormuz, and that it would continue enriching uranium to near-weapons grade. Whether Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon was part of the deal also remained a question.

First, let’s point out that this is supposed to be a ceasefire to figure these issues out, not an end to the war. So, there is still hope that Trump will demand and get a clearer, much better deal. Leaving the Strait under de facto Iranian military control should be a nonstarter, as should Iran continuing to enrich uranium.

Iran also demanded the U.S. lift sanctions, which should also be off the table. Meanwhile, Iran should have no say on Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah. Lebanon isn’t part of Iran, as much as Tehran has tried to make it so.

Any permanent or semi-permanent solution that can justify this brief but intense war in the first place must keep Iran from weaponizing uranium and leave the Strait of Hormuz open to all shipping without any Iranian say.

It also shouldn’t shackle Israel’s ability to fight Iranian terrorist proxies on its borders. And despite the ceasefire, fighting, while significantly reduced, has not totally stopped.

Secretary of Defense Hegseth claimed that the attacks continued because of poor command and control in Iran, with some commanders out of reach due to communications issues.

But after Tuesday’s fragile ceasefire, another strand of criticism has emerged from the camp of Iran hawks: that the United States should have stayed the course and enacted regime change. Any ceasefire with Iran is a fool’s gambit, not worth the paper it’s written on.

And no, killing Iran’s top leadership, as nice as that is, isn’t regime change.

Despite this ill-conceived ceasefire, Trump can still turn this war into a win, say my fellow Iran hawks such as former Trump National Security Advisor, turned Trump critic, John Bolton makes.

While I have mixed feelings about Bolton nowadays, I tend to agree with him here. At least in part.

As Bolton wrote in The New York Times:

Last year’s Houthi lesson [a meaningless ceasefire when they attacked shipping in the Red Sea] applies directly to Iran today: Negotiating with these enemies will not yield a durable result. Their cease-fires last as long as they find it convenient. And what applies to maritime blackmail applies a fortiori to Iran’s nuclear weapons and terrorism blackmail.

There are two key lines for the United States to pursue at the same time: We must use the considerable momentum of the military to eliminate Iran’s ability to seize control not just of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz but also of the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait — and we must simultaneously continue to destroy the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

While regime change under current conditions may be beyond reasonable reach in the short term, continuing to destroy the regime’s power structure and repression apparatus (as I have repeatedly urged) — as well as its military, and especially nuclear capabilities — is not.

As Bolton adds:

Rather than preparing for a huge “final blow” exit, we should not create any more self-imposed deadlines but should instead pursue more targets at a rate of our choosing, especially searching for nuclear manufacturing sites and storage facilities we have missed to date. Ongoing military attacks are the best way to continue to thoroughly destabilize the regime, allowing Iran’s opposition and potential defectors to exploit its crumbling authority and, with persistence and some luck, eventually collapse it.

Trump must win this war. Anything other than clear victory will be an uber-expensive loss, and make Trump and the U.S. appear weak, no matter how well our military performed. And it will simply kick the Iran can down the road, yet again, as all prior presidents — whom Trump has rightfully mocked — have done.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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