The Topline
- The United States and Israel carried out airstrikes against Iran, killing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders.
- Iran retaliated with airstrikes in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
- President Donald Trump said the ongoing mission, called Operation Epic Fury, is targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile production, naval capabilities, and regime leaders, adding that Iranian citizens should prepare to take over the government.
- Last December, protests broke out across Iran in response to declining economic conditions in the country, leading to a violent crackdown by the Iranian regime. At the time, President Trump suggested a U.S. intervention may be in the works.
Switch sides,
back and forth
Enough is enough
For nearly half a century, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been picking fights as if no one would ever hit back. On Friday night, two countries finally did.
With the launch of Operation Epic Fury, the United States and Israel are doing the rest of the world a tremendous favour by delivering a direct military blow to the Iranian regime.
Iran has long been known for pursuing nuclear weapons. The U.S. and its allies have tried to keep the Iranian regime from anything resembling a bomb.
They tried diplomacy. The U.S. and its allies attempted various negotiations to keep Iran nuclear weapons-free. That is, until last June when President Donald Trump sent a strong message that he means business. He sent in U.S. stealth bombers to severely damage three Iranian nuclear facilities in a sneak attack.
And while reports at the time suggested Iran’s program was crippled following the bombings, the Trump administration recently warned that Tehran was once again on a path towards building a bomb.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Allowing a regime that regularly chants "Death to America" to acquire and subsequently launch a nuclear weapon would be a catastrophic failure of international patience.
That’s why Operation Epic Fury is the most decisive way to make sure Tehran finally gets the message.
Taking down the Iranian regime for good would be a massive step towards stability in the Middle East. Without the regime powering terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, those groups would become significantly weaker.
It would also liberate the Iranian people from the corruption, economic mismanagement, and repressive religious rules. In fact, when news of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death broke, Iranian Canadians celebrated – and for good reason.
Human Rights Watch describes Iran’s human rights record as one defined by state violence, mass executions, and the routine crushing of protest through arrests, torture, and sham trials. Women, minorities, journalists, and political opponents are treated as enemies of the state.
The people of Iran have suffered long enough. They deserve better. It’s about time we stopped negotiating our way out of Iranian threats and just stomp them out completely.
No plan, just bombs
Operation Epic Fury is yet another U.S. military operation ironically started by the man who desperately wants to be known as a peacemaker.
It’s an unnecessary war of choice, one that Democratic senators claim is illegal. Under the U.S. Constitution, only Congress has the power to declare war, but Trump failed to seek their approval prior to launching the operation.
But even if Trump had sought approval, his primary justification for this war – the "imminent" nuclear threat – is shaky at best.
Trump previously boasted that he had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear program during strikes in June. To now claim the regime is days away from a bomb is a blatant contradiction.
If anything, it’s reminiscent of the disastrous 2003 Iraq war, which also began with dubious intelligence . The parallels are hard to ignore. Thankfully, Canada stayed clear of that one.
And while the administration celebrates the death of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, what remains are terrorist groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda, and Hezbollah who likely all have their eyes on seizing power.
Therein lies the flaw in Trump’s strategy. Toppling the leadership without a long-term governance strategy opens the door for civil war, even more extremism, and mass migration for millions of civilians.
Furthermore, a conflict in Iran is the absolute last thing the global economy needs right now. If the Iranian regime disrupts shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz, one-fifth of the world's oil traffic could be blocked, causing energy prices to spike, putting more inflationary pressure on the cost of living for ordinary Canadians.
Perhaps that’s the reason why less than a third of American people are backing his actions. In a Reuters poll from Mar. 1, only 27 per cent of Americans approved of the strikes, while 43 per cent disapproved and 29 per cent were not sure.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes on Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, are now threatening the lives of millions more innocent people. Dubai, long considered a safe haven in a volatile Middle East, has already suffered considerable damage to its airport and some luxury hotels.
None of those countries asked to be dragged into a war between Iran and the U.S. In fact, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other Gulf states reportedly advised Trump against a U.S. intervention.
When all is said and done, the most likely result is the U.S. will declare a hollow victory and move on, leaving the Iranian people to survive in a devastated country, where terrorist groups will fight each other in hopes of filling a power vacuum.
Operation Epic Fury is not a favour to the free world. It’s a shortsighted decision that does nothing but pushes the world one step further away from safety.
