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ALPERN AT LARGE - The situation in the Strait of Hormuz is emblematic of the Kabuki theater (“we want peace, but THEY don’t want peace!”) that should make it clear that a resolved Western world won’t tolerate an end to the Iran conflict until there is regime change in Iran.
It’s so very convenient to just blame Israel, blame those Jews, blame Netanyahu, blame Trump, etc. but it’s just neither accurate nor true. Some of us read and remember history, some close our ears and scream, “Blah, blah, blah! Nothing to see there in Iran, and it’s not our problem!”
Then October 7th, 2023 happened, and then 40,000 Iranians were slaughtered in January of this year, and while much of the world collectively shrugged their shoulders a lot of folks steeled their hearts and said, “This is what ‘Never Again’ means.”
Contrary to what many Western leaders, and many world organizations, have implied by their lip service to all the events of what’s happened over the past several decades, Jews and Christians are supposed to just die and shut up about it in order to “preserve the peace”.
Ditto for ANYONE of ANY religion—civilians aren’t supposed to just die miserably and live without hope just so a few globalists and isolationists can do the “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” dance.
1. Did former President George W. Bush waste the good will of the West on a personal war with Iraq and a futile nation-building exercise?
Certainly—and it may surprise many to learn that those who despise former President George W. Bush the most are those who are the majority of the GOP base.
2. Have we learned that “strong men” are needed in the Middle East to keep its more radical fringes in harsh control, lest the majority be overrun by an Islamism that most modern Muslims don’t want or respect?
Certainly—Egypt threw out its Muslim brotherhood, and Mohammed bin Salman (a.k.a. MBS) threw out the Saudi elements supporting al-Qaida, but both Egypt and Saudi Arabia are following the model of quashing the civil rights of those seeking to kill and dominate the majority in the name of Islam…
…in order to preserve the lives and right of the majority who want an economic future and quality of life of tolerance and prosperity with local and regional neighbors.
Not certain if we shall call the leaders of Egypt and Saudi Arabia “enlightened despots,” but they sure won’t hesitate to perform violence on those who wish an even greater violence on the general majority. The lesson of the Shah of Iran being pulled down that sent the Persian people into Hell isn’t lost on the Arab World.
And the Arab world is moving ever closer to a new power/energy/military alliance with the U.S. and Israel in ways that many in the U.N. and NATO don’t yet understand (even if those Arab nations aren’t too delighted with Israel as a neighbor or a friend, but recognize Israel’s doing the dirty work against Iran for the Arab world’s survival).
3. Is Western Europe realizing it’s going to align with (or choose to rival) a new strong pro-West alliance based in the U.S., its allies in the Western Hemisphere and the Middle-East (including Israel)?
Certainly—while Beirut used to be the “Paris of the Middle-East”, Paris is now the “Beirut of the European continent.”
Scary as hell, but the “Pas de Juifs” (“no Jews”) signs are showing up in increased number throughout France, and both England and Spain are choosing to throw its Jews under the bus and in harm’s way in order to appease a new Muslim majority voting bloc.
After all, Muslim populations are exploding in the West and the Jewish population is shrinking, so that the latter entity had better “watch its hiney”.
And ditto for those awful, terrible, intolerant Christians.
4. Are the peace-loving and peace-proclaiming U.N. and papacy letting Christians, Persians, and Jews alike be ignored and left to be slaughtered in order to demonstrate that “they care” and fulfill some uncertain and dangerous agenda?
Certainly—the Palestinians in Gaza (meant to be a proto-Palestine, but turned into a terrorist state), by and large did not and DO NOT and will never want a two-state solution with Israel, but somehow their plight got blamed on the victims of 10/7/2023 who just want to be left alone.
And the silence of the U.N., and dare I say Pope Leo, about the roughly 40,000 Iranians in January of THIS YEAR (!) is deafening.
Ditto for those women’s rights activists who turn the other way when Iranian female protestors are gang-raped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard before being executed, because only virgins go to Heaven in the theocracy of those modern-day S.S.-type hardliners.
The Strait of Hormuz is one that should remain open, and President Trump (as odious and boorish and horribly-trash-talking as he is) will say and do what he can to keep the markets mollified, yet he’s counting on the blockade of the Iranian ports to bankrupt and change the leadership of an Iran that should have been confronted decades ago.
We are in a Dire Strait, of which the Strait of Hormuz is but a parable of sorts, and this Dire Strait an example of what we let happen because of a West-hating, guilty-Left, and irrational theology that has predominated too long in what USED TO be the civilized world.
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
