Less than a week after President Donald Trump’s 60-day deadline for Iran to make a deal on its nuclear weapons program, neither Iran nor the media recognized the Trump-Netanyahu Good Cop-Bad Cop game being played out over the skies of Iran. Good cop Trump set the trap with his 60-day “Let’s make a deal” farcical talks with the Iran negotiators, knowing full well that without bad-cop pressure from Netanyahu’s forces, a deal would not happen.
Then, when the time ran out, Trump was shocked, shocked that the Israelis had attacked poor Iran so savagely. However, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio immediately announced that the U.S. had no part in the Israeli attack, while also offering that Iran could not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. Iran could have agreed to eliminate its nuclear programs and save their regime, but its leaders tried to return to the negotiations with new demands. That train has left the station!
The Ayatollah may soon wake up one morning with an unexpected, unwelcome occupant in his bed. And his underground nuclear facilities will soon have to make room for America’s bunker buster bombs delivered at the command of Good-Cop Trump.
Destroying this evil regime should be the first step in establishing the foreign policy goals of the Trump Administration and ensuring the longevity of Israel’s continued existence. Three objectives should guide the U.S. and Israel as they work together in dismantling this common enemy. These are to eliminate all phases of Iran’s nuclear programs, to dismantle Iran’s military-industrial complex, and weaken the regime sufficiently for it to be overthrown by internal forces. A by-product of the above would be the elimination of Iran’s program of terrorism by proxies.
Iran is the weakest member of the recently formed Axis of Evil, with its two co-conspirators, Russia and China. Iran has been exporting its Islamic revolution throughout the Muslim world after the Shah of Iran lost power in 1979 to the religious Muslim Shia sect under Ayatollah Khomeini. Dating back forty-five years to the Embassy Hostage Crisis, Iran has been America’s major adversary in the Middle East, with responsibility for the lives of hundreds of American military men killed in the region. The demise of Iran as a major power in the Middle East is long overdue.
Israel normalized relations with several Sunni Arab countries in 2020 with the signing of the Abraham Accords. With Iran neutralized as the primary revolutionary catalyst for Islamic discontent in the Middle East, the Abraham Accords could be expanded to include Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, and other neighboring countries. The area will be a safer place, and the Axis of Evil weakened with the loss of Iran.
America can then concentrate more effort on ending Russia’s war with Ukraine and thwarting China’s threat to Taiwan. Seeing the U.S.’s strong action against Iran should cause leaders in both Russia and China to use more caution in pursuing their expansionist objectives. Oil sales fuel Russia’s economy, and China’s economy is highly dependent on oil imports from both countries. The flow of oil from both Russia and Iran to China passes through geographical ocean choke points subject to the control and benevolence of the U.S. Navy. Guided by President Trump’s foreign and geopolitical policies at any given time, Trump has greater leverage as he negotiates with their adversarial leaders in efforts to forestall the expansion of their corrupt empires.
Vladimir Putin’s current situation in his war with Ukraine is not enviable. At home, his population is aging and declining. His wartime economy is financed with oil revenues. His expected three-week war with Ukraine is now in its third year. He is in a stalemate with a much smaller army who are using locally made drones to control the movements of his soldiers. His army has suffered 1,000,000 killed and wounded soldiers living in World War I-style trenches. His heavy bomber force was decimated by a fleet of drones released from trucks secreted deep into Russian territory.
No winning strategy is available.
When finished in Iran, Trump Administration negotiators should make Putin an offer that he cannot refuse – perhaps showing him pictures of the destruction Israel rained on Iran. Then Trump can concentrate his efforts on entertaining Xi Jinping.
TW3
June 19, 2025
John Whitmore Jenkins
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