We hear today the radical Islamist government in Iran is perhaps the greatest and most imminent threat to American national security; some even speculate the catastrophic war with the nation is impending and inevitable.  I assert the war is neither inevitable nor justified and an appeasement policy is tantamount to aiding and abetting the regime.

 Rather, what we must pursue are more crippling sanctions as well as uncompromising, meaningful support for the people to overthrow the tyrannical regime. We in the international community have witnessed unparalleled  tragedy and treachery in Iran in recent years.

From the vile denial of the Holocaust to the murder and repression of citizens in the streets of Iranian cities, the regime has systemically sought to destroy liberty, oppress peaceful demonstrations and  forcibly crush any form of dissent that would bring the nation back into the international community.

The Ahmadinejad government and hard-line ruling radicals of the Islamic establishment have engaged in a campaign of terror and cruelty nearly unprecedented in this century.

The brutality ranks among those murderous despots like Hussein, Qadaffi and Al-Assad. The fact that even our President, the supposed leader of the “free world,” chose not to show solidarity with pro-freedom, liberty-loving protesters in the streets of Iran in the “Green Revolution” of 2009-2010 is a testament to both Obama’s inept leadership and Ahmadinejad’s unparalleled terror. Our leader’s cowardice led to more Iranian extremism and a possible cataclysmic war in the future.

The British pre-war and World War II leader, Winston Churchill, said on appeasement, a policy of negotiation and engagement with one’s enemies, “An appeaser is one who feeds the crocodile hoping it will eat him last.”

I am inclined to agree with his wit and wisdom and suggest dealing with the Iranian government is akin to dealing with the Nazis in 1930s Europe.

Through appeasement, we can only postpone the moment until they either take radical military action or acquire enough material and technology to craft a nuclear weapon and  annihilate an ally, or even worse, Americans.

If not practice foolhardy appeasement and deal with the enemies, what can we do? Make war with the Islamic Republic?

No.  A war with this nation is not the right answer; we must not squander American life, limb and liberty in order to prevent the rogue state from further repression or acquiring a bomb.  

What can the solution be, then, to secure the rights of our allies, the Iranian people while toppling their government?

Our only choice on Iran is to create the greatest civil unrest in 50 years; something that has been unseen in the world since the 1960s.

Our leaders,  and every single leader in the free world, have a righteous moral obligation to stand up and support a peaceful insurrection by the citizens of Iran. The adage attributed to Abraham Lincoln rings true in this context and bests sums up my argument: “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”

Why would we waste precious lives on a war or delay tragedy by appeasement when we could turn a friendly populace into our friends by assisting them in subversion against their leaders?