And there’s a good bit of evidence that the Iranian people are ready to change the regime and eliminate the hated theocracy that has oppressed them for almost 50 years.
Here in America proponents of regime change range from the thoughtful and well informed, like Fox News contributor Mark Levin, to warmongers like Senators Lindsey Graham and Thom Tillis, who have never seen a war they didn’t want to drag America into. And in a must-see program, Tucker Carlson and conservative all star Senator Ted Cruz debated the case for regime change in Iran.
The obvious concern is that the Graham and Tillis types will drag America into another “nation building” quagmire with no clear definition of victory and no clear endpoint for American commitment of blood and treasure.
The opponents of Israeli and American-led regime change point to the failures of American efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan as proof of the folly of such efforts, and they have a point.
What’s more, if America does join the campaign, then we have to assume that the theocratic regime will do what it can to bring the fight to us – not that they haven’t been at war against us since the moment they took power.
But once we get in, with regime change as a goal, then all restraints would be off the Islamic Republic’s military and covert operations commands, and we should expect they will do what they can to bring the war to our homeland, where they have prepositioned hit squads and terrorists ready to act.
That said, it is unthinkable that we and the Israelis would leave the current Iranian Shi’ite theocracy in control of the country to restart its nuclear weapons program, proxy wars and terrorism once the smoke from the current bombing campaign clears.
Because it is the Shi’ite theocracy, not the Persian people of Iran, who are behind the quest for nuclear weapons and Iran’s sponsorship of worldwide terrorism.
So, what’s the alternative if not American-led regime change?
The obvious third alternative is Iranian-led regime change, possibly with clandestinely furnished American arms and communications, and there is an Iranian National Council of Resistance that could be useful in that effort.
As Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the NCRI for the period to transfer sovereignty to the people of Iran, posted to X:
The war that broke out at dawn on Friday, June 13, 2025, marks the beginning of a critical new chapter — both in Iran’s internal crisis and in the broader dynamics of the region. Yet the central and ongoing conflict — unfolding over the past 44 years since June 20, 1981 — is the struggle of the Iranian people and Resistance against the ruling religious fascism. The only viable solution remains the overthrow of this regime by the people of Iran and the Iranian Resistance.
However, what forces NCRI might put on the ground to take power remain to be seen. Likewise, the Iranian Kurds have an armed militia, but their ability as an ethnic minority to attract support from the Persian majority is unknown, but assumed to be limited.
As we saw in Afghanistan, ethnicity matters in the Middle East and aging exiles brought in from the outside may lack credibility with those who have stayed and suffered under the theocracy.
So, what’s the bottom line?
All of this only matters if it ends with Iran’s theocracy removed from power. If it doesn’t, as Victor Davis Hanson observed, everything that’s been gained could be erased. “All of this chaos and all of this war will be for naught if Iran’s theocracy emerges intact from this war,” he said. Even more dangerous, he added, would be a scenario in which the country’s nuclear infrastructure survives or can be quickly rebuilt… if the war ends with the regime intact and a recoverable nuclear program, it won’t just be back to square one. It will be a disaster.”
However, if the regime is eliminated and peaceful democratic Iran established, imagine the downstream benefits:
Hezbollah quiescent
Hamas eliminated
The Houthis defanged
Iran’s international terrorist network dismantled
Russia’s major arms and drone supplier out of the picture
Shia insurgents throughout the Middle East defunded
World oil supplies stabilized with more supply and lower prices
In the modern age there has never been a more revolutionary moment in the Middle East, is America prepared to take advantage of it?
What do you think the Unted States should do? Tell us by taking today’s poll, we will post results and share them with the White House when the poll closes.
George Rasley is editor of Richard Viguerie's ConservativeHQ.com and is a veteran of over 300 political campaigns. A member of American MENSA, he served on the staff of Vice President Dan Quayle, as Director of Policy and Communication for Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12) then Vice Chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, and as spokesman for retired Rep. Mac Thornberry formerly a member of the House Intelligence Committee and Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee.
- Trump foreign policy
- Iran policy
- Israel
- Iran nuclear weapons
- Five new missile bases
- Steve Witkoff
- Tasnim News Agency
- Qassem Basyar missile
- Brigadier General Kioumars Heydari
- Dismantle nuclear program
- Obama Iran nuclear deal
- Full dismantlement
- Iranian enrichment
- JCPOA
