By Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — History has a way of repeating itself. In 1962, I was a young boy of nine when the Soviet Union decided to place nuclear missiles in Cuba. It was a scary time at school; I could remember the old “duck and cover” as we rehearsed hiding under our desks and covering our heads just in case of a nuclear attack. The “Duck-and-Cover-Drill” was a plan originally initiated by President Harry S. Truman in the 1950s. Nobody really believed the duck-and-cover exercise would help, but it did offer a modicum of psychological comfort, which was better than no comfort.
Just six years earlier, Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev while addressing Western ambassadors at a reception at the Polish embassy in Moscow on November 18, 1956, threatened, “We will bury you!” I can still remember film clips of Khrushchev slamming his shoe on the table at the United Nations in 1960.
Kennedy was a new president, and he was tested. Kennedy gave Khrushchev some wiggle room, and he placed a naval blockade 800 miles off the coast of Cuba; he later reduced it to about 500 miles. Through diplomacy, the US removed its nuclear missiles from Turkey, as a gesture of peace. The Russians accepted this arrangement and backed down.
Now, I know many of our readers truly dislike President Trump. But give the President his due—regardless how you may personally feel. The President put Iran on notice after it attacked two military bases in Iraq. Fortunately, the soldiers were prepared for such an eventuality. There is also evidence Iran was not interested in exacerbating the tensions—especially since the US sent a nuclear submarine and had a squadron of Stealth jets ready to attack Iran.
Fortunately, as with the Russians in 1962, the Iranians blinked.
Perhaps the most important development that occurred was the statement that President Trump gave to the Iranians. He was measured in his tone; he did not come across as being full of bluster. Trump gave the Iranian government a respite to consider what kind of future did they want for themselves. Single-handedly, the President showed the kind of leadership in uniting the NATO members that we have not seen in over 60 years. He further promised the world that the United States would never allow Iran to develop a nuclear bomb under his watch. The President also stated that an attack against any NATO country is an attack against all its members. Although Israel is not a part of NATO, it is clear the President has Israel’s back.
Within 48 hours, everyone breathed a sigh of relief—especially in the Israel, and in the United States.
After watching the news commentators on television, many politicians blamed this near catastrophe on President Trump and his reckless decision to take out Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian Major General in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) who remained in power from 1998 until his death in 2020.
How important was Soleimani in the grand scheme of things? To use an analogy from Star Wars, think of Ali Hosseini Khamenei as akin to the Evil Emperor, the Soleimani, akin to Darth Vader. Under his watch, there are scores of thousands whom he had killed from Afghanistan to the Jewish community center in Buenos Aries, Argentina, back in 1993.[1] Hundreds of Israelis died from the wars they had with the Hezbollah, for which he played a central role as a mastermind. Soleimani was responsible for the death of thousands of people in Iraq, Syria, and in his own country, which executed over 1600 of his fellow Iranian citizens who marched peacefully against the mullahcracy of Iran.
Unlike anti-Semites who talk a good game against Israel and the Jews, Soleimani backed his rhetoric with decisive action. In a German interview back in 2016, Soleimani threatened, “If the leaders of the Zionist regime make a mistake then the Islamic Republic will turn Tel Aviv and Haifa to dust.” Soleimani was not a man of peace, but a man who dedicated himself to the expansion of the Iranian Revolution throughout all of the Middle East.
If you had the ability to prevent Hitler’s genocidal war against the Jews and civilization, what would you decide to do?
Sometimes, I think the liberal wing of our country never seems to learn from history.
Thank God, the President chose to get rid of this genocidal terrorist.
Tens of thousands of American soldiers were maimed by this evil genius during the Iraqi War.
Instead of allowing Soleimani and his minions to destroy the American Embassy in Iraq—the President acted immediately—unlike President Obama and Hillary Clinton who chose to do nothing for the Benghazi Embassy in Libya.
As Larry Provost, a U.S. war veteran put it, “Still, war with Iran may come but if it does, it will be Iran’s awful choice. If that day does happen, and the prayers of most Americans are that it does not, we can be confident that President Trump would spare no effort into ensuring the greatest chance for victory by the United States. ” [2]
President Trump showed a steely determination to take Iran head on—if need be. The policy of appeasement that has been in place throughout the Carter, Reagan, Bush I, Clinton, Bush 2, and Obama administrations only managed to succeed in accomplishing one goal: kick the can of Iran down the road.
Sometimes a show of strength is the best cure for preventing a war. I hope the President and Europe keep the economic pressure on Iran until the regime of evil collapses.
In the meantime, the Arab world throughout the Middle East is celebrating; as are the dissidents in Iran whose colleagues died at the hand of Soleimani.[3]
[1]https://ejpress.org/60976-2/ https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/iran-is-still-a-threat-1.8353494 https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Dont-mourn-Soleimani-613224
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Rabbi Dr. Michael Leo Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista. He may be contacted via michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com