Quote of the Day
For decades, the mullahs have killed not only women they deem dishonorable because they are unveiled, but also homosexuals. They systematically murder their own people whenever they speak their minds; they murder dissidents — most recently, apparently more than 30,000 of them in a matter of days. With the same ruthlessness and efficiency, the regime in Tehran organizes violence internationally. Together with its terror networks, from Hamas to Hezbollah to the Houthis, the mullah dictatorship is perhaps the most effective and cruel source of terror in the world. They operate in European societies in particular, deliberately spreading hatred and violence in ways that erode our liberal constitutional order and strengthen extremist movements.
The aggressor in Iran — one that poses an existential danger to us — has for years been systematically pursuing nuclear weapons. Nothing — no agreement, no appeal for peace, no presidential handshake — has so far been able to stop it.
For four and a half decades, Western politicians have hesitated to take effective action against this terrorist state, which murders its own people and destabilizes open societies. It was in our European and democratic interest that America and Israel have finally taken joint action to weaken the Iranian regime. Whether the goal is regime change, the removal of 400 kilograms of enriched uranium, simply reducing the hydra-like network of the mullah elite, accelerating an overthrow through popular revolt, or a combination of all these elements — I cannot judge. Some say a first important objective has already been achieved. Iran has been set back by years. We have gained at least one thing: time.
Now Europe needs to stand with the U.S. to make use of it.
Mathias Döpfner
March 31, 2026
Opinion | Why Europe is wrong to think Iran is ‘not our war’
The Islamic extremists of Iran have been telling the world they would destroy Israel for decades now. Never actually saying they would use nukes, but the words hinted at it. And as they created longer range and more accurate missiles and drones in great quantities at some point you have to take them seriously. One can certainly make the case that Iran was serious and if allowed to rearm would again enable their proxies and expand their reign of terror.
If only in geography it is closer to being Europe’s war than ours. And they have had their share of Muslim terrorist attacks over things as innocent as cartoon drawings of Mohammad.
The blocking of the oil transportation affects them far more than the U.S. And the whole Iran/Russia collaboration is more of threat to Europe than the U.S. The French have been talking about getting involved in a war with Iran since at least 2007 (only the last link is still valid). But talk is cheap and at this point it would seem it is only talk.
And like France from 2007, Döpfner call for action is probably nothing but talk as well.
I’m shocked, SHOCKED to discover Europe talking and not doing!
Wait, when was the last time the DIDN’T do that? A few of them helped in 1991 against Iraq….. anybody got something more recent?
24 years flying A-10s in the military and I appreciate your views. I have lots of stories about fielded Iranian forces operating in Iraq and Syria. The fact is the elimination of Saddam destabilized the Middle East. Iran has only gotten worse. People I know and love are screaming it is all about Israel. I disagree. This is in our interest at so many levels. Eliminating below market oil for China. Inhibiting global terror. Giving the Persian humanitarian crisis a chance to resolve. It goes on and on. Thank you for not falling for the divisive rhetoric.
Iran has not been able to play nice for nearly 50 years. Getting away with murder makeshift you less likely to commit murder. Right? If only.
Did this terror state cross anyone’s line in the sand? It seems that 47 years after they violated the US Embassy and kidnapped Americans that they finally pissed someone off.
I remember a navy patrol craft during the Obama years that was captured and US servicemen paraded around for propaganda purposes. What did we do then? Fuck all.
I remember that. But there’s no way at all the Obama administration’s response could possibly have emboldened the Iranian leadership, right? *smh*
If only in geography it is closer to being Europe’s war than ours.
If we’re talking geographic terms, it’s closer to being Europe’s war than ours, and it’s MUCH closer to Israel’s war than Europe’s. Even India has a greater proximity-related interest than we do, and they’re not under “direct” threat.
That said, all of those nations are our allies, with varying types and levels of mutual defense agreements between us.
European leaders hiding behind “not our war” rhetoric are burying their heads in the sand and pretending there’s no problem. The Ayatollahs in Iran are a threat to everyone who doesn’t agree with them … which is everyone, including other Muslim-run nations (they have the whole Shi’a/Sunni schism to run with, too). And Iran just tested ballistic missiles capable of reaching Berlin and Paris.
If that’s not a wake-up call, I don’t know what is. Maybe if/when one of those missiles actually gets launched at Berlin or Paris.
“Not our war”. eh?
On which continent have there been more trucks crashed into crowds of people at Christmas markets? If we had honest statistics, we would know more accurately, but It’s not as if the Muslims are giving Europeans a pass here.
One of the problems with fighting a totalitarian regime is that they don’t care what horror or deprivations their civilian population endures so long as the totalitarians maintain their grasp on power. The Ayatollahs know that since Vietnam the the US is adverse to taking a significant number of casualties in a drawn out ground conflict, occupation, etc. Their entire strategy is not to “win”, but to “not lose” by surviving and still being able to wield control over their disarmed population. The US gubermint gifted billions of dollars of military hardware to the Afghani Taliban not long ago.
How about parachuting in 15 million 5.56 caliber rifles with magazines and ammunition all around Tehran over a week long period and then let the Persian people decide if they want to continue with the current Moslem dictatorship or if the want to try something different?
I have thought that would be a great plan. Supply arms and maybe some training using SOF, CIA or Mossad and unleash them. The recent years have been a case study in what happens to a disarmed society.
I think they just tried that? Somone moved in 100’s, 1000’s? of starlink pods. (Not a small operation.)
And got what, 30,000 hunted down and murdered?
I’m thinking taking down Iran is going to be more 3D chess than anyone in government can muster.
Just saying.
“Supply arms and maybe some training using SOF, CIA or Mossad and unleash them.”
“I think they just tried that?”
No. Did you miss the part where the 30K people they murdered were NOT armed? That the whole thing was peaceful and unarmed, not an armed action at all?
Now, that’s not to say that there was no influence from intelligence agencies, etc. Beats me on that.
But the specific thing he was talking about was ARMING them, and no, that was obviously not tried.
OK, so if I buy into your premise. How clueless do you have to be to go after the murderous/state sponsor of worldly terror, IRGC-Quds force unarmed? (Even without asking how much of the whole narrative/numbers given is all BS propaganda.)
And at this point who inside Iran are you going to trust? Dropping SOF people in there is just looking to give Iran a bunch more hostages.
The stated goals of this extremely expensive ignorance are lost to us now.
The problem is our empire of hubris can’t admit it lost already. (As if there was truly a way to win in the first place.)
And now Iran is completely free to economically squeeze any country in the west that aligns with us and uses oil.
The only thing that’s close to being a surety is that the “Mango emperor” will no double down on the stupid.
“The problem is our empire of hubris can’t admit it lost already”
If this is losing, I’d hate to see winning.
OK, no, I wouldn’t HATE to see it.
“The stated goals of this extremely expensive ignorance are lost to us now.”
Have you checked what the actual “stated goals” even are? Let me answer that for you: either no, you haven’t, or you are lying about what they are.
Instead of writing up a bunch of stuff, let me just quote Rubio when he responded to this same BS:
“Here they are. You should write them down.”
“Number one, the destruction of their Air Force. Number two, the destruction of their Navy. Number three, the severe diminishing of their missile launching capability. And number four, the destruction of their factory so they can’t make more missiles and more drones to threaten us in the future.”
“All of this so that they can never hide behind it to acquire a nuclear weapon. That was our objective from the beginning. That remains our objective now.”
See, easy. Helping the Iranian people or improving Israel’s position in the Middle East would ALSO be nice, but neither of those are actually the objective.
“And now Iran is completely free to economically squeeze any country in the west that aligns with us and uses oil.”
Because they TOTALLY wouldn’t do anything like THAT before, no no no. What planet do you live on???
I get that Orange Man is Bad (calling him “Mango Emperor” is not actually any different), but that’s no reason to start sounding as unhinged as John around here, OK?
“Number one, the destruction of their Air Force. Number two, the destruction of their Navy. Number three, the severe diminishing of their missile launching capability. And number four, the destruction of their factory so they can’t make more missiles and more drones to threaten us in the future.”
“All of this so that they can never hide behind it to acquire a nuclear weapon. That was our objective from the beginning. That remains our objective now.”
1) They never much of an “Airforce” outside of their drone/missile program.
2) They never had much of a navy outside of those small fast boats.
3) NOBODY outside the Iranians knows how much of that has been destroyed. All speculation.
4) You couldn’t reduce them to the stone age the way we’re going and achieve that. Especially with China, Russia, and N. Korea stating that they will be helping from now on.
As for nukes. I thought we took that one off the board last year?
Who needs a nuclear weapons against a country the size of Rhode island?
Ever heard of “thermal baric bombs”?
Russia has them the size of Hiroshima. Just fuel and air. Just creates a downward/outward pressure wave that flattens everything. Walk back in the next day.
And what happened to Trump saying they need to negotiate and open the strait of Hormuz?
Regime change, anyone? Weren’t you just talking about that?
Those aren’t stated goals? Those are gone now.
Mango emperor. Yup, when your hubris causes you to act outside of “America first” interests?
You get all the bile I used on Joke Biden and more.
And thanks for proving up on the “Empire of Hubris” for me. As you can’t seem to see the damage that’s being done to us on the world’s stage.
But Ya, Rah, Rah, Go team Isreal!!!!! Oops, I mean team USA! Ya, go team America! That’s it!
We haven’t accomplished anything.
Don’t believe? Give it a couple years.
“But Ya, Rah, Rah, Go team Isreal!!!!! Oops, I mean team USA!”
All Jew hate all the time. It messes with your ability to do basic logic.
“As for nukes. I thought we took that one off the board last year?”
Did a lot of damage to the program. How much? Hard to say for sure. And of course, they went right back to it.
They didn’t learn the lesson the first. Time for a stronger lesson. Iran with nukes is BAD.
“Regime change, anyone? Weren’t you just talking about that?”
Practically speaking, all the actual leaders from before are dead, new ones are in place. We’ll see if they are more willing to quite the BS.
But otherwise, no, they’ve been fairly explicit that “regime change” was never on us – it would be GOOD if the Iranians would rise up and actually change their regime, but we’re not going to do that. Been explicit from the beginning. Pay attention.
“And thanks for proving up on the “Empire of Hubris” for me. As you can’t seem to see the damage that’s being done to us on the world’s stage.”
I don’t give a ______ about “the world stage”. The only time we hear about “the world stage” is when we’re doing something half-way decent and horrible people want to stop us from doing it. When we’re doing stupid, self-destructive stuff, the people who complain about “the world stage” are all happy and telling us what a good job we’re doing.
“Yup, when your hubris causes you to act outside of “America first” interests?”
I and many others have REPEATEDLY stated the America First reasons for this, the reasons WE are actually using. That YOU are unwilling to believe those reasons because of your mindless Jew hate doesn’t mean that we are doing it for Israel.
That Israel ALSO benefits is nice, as they suck less than all the other countries in the middle east by a lot, but that’s not the reason. Heck, Trump has been talking PUBLICLY (like, on TV, the clips are available, I’ve watched some) about Iran needing to dealt with SINCE THE 80s, and his reasons were always about the US.
“Ever heard of “thermal baric bombs”?”
It’s “thermobaric”, and yes, I’ve been aware of them for decades. No thermobaric bombs the size of even small nukes exist – that would change the entire geopolitical… everything. Please get off the drugs.
“I and many others have REPEATEDLY stated the America First reasons for this, the reasons WE are actually using. That YOU are unwilling to believe those reasons because of your mindless Jew hate doesn’t mean that we are doing it for Israel.”
You and nobody else have ever explained or given any reasonable answers as to why we have ever been doing anything in the middle east. They have nothing we have ever needed.
Absolutely I’ve heard all the crap. But that’s all it’s ever been. There has never been any true logic or reason to any of it.
As for me hating JOOOOhs.
Your wrong.
I just couldn’t give a crap less about them. (Just like they do me). Their government is what I’ve been criticizing.
They get the same distain I have for anyone that would steal our money and get our people murdered for fun and profit.
Just like Trump, drug cartels, (both legal and mexican), bankers, and the military industrial complex to name a few.
Maybe you could try examining the facts without the prejudice for once?
All we have done in the last 6 years is tell the world we are “agreement incapable”, diplomacy and international standards of behavior are for suckers, and as Henry Kissinger said.
“To be an enemy of America can be dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal.”
And you don’t think any of that matters?
You’re as clueless and bigoted as Joe Biden.
“You and nobody else have ever explained or given any reasonable answers as to why we have ever been doing anything in the middle east.”
I have, many times. OIL. It’s the most strategically important resource on the planet.
I get that you refuse to deal with that reality. The thing is, your opinion (and mine) does not matter. That is the reason.
“Maybe you could try examining the facts without the prejudice for once?”
Yes, yes, as most racists today, accuse everyone else of your problem.
If Israel were populated by any other people group but Jews, they would be the world’s jewel of the middle east. They make every other country in the middle east look like the oppressive dictatorships and theocracies they are. **IN COMPARISON** to the rest of them, Israel is amazing and wonderful. (Yes, Israel has plenty of flaws, just as the US does.)
This is not hard stuff. Line up the simple facts about governance, rights, and treatment of citizens by the government in various countries of the area, and there is no contest. The other countries in the area don’t even score on the same scale.
That doesn’t mean they are perfect or even all that good compared to perfection. Humanity is flawed and broken, and Israel is not remotely immune to that. All I ask is that you judge them by the same scale as you judge everyone else, then tell me who is actually better.
The US would rate there, for me. Off hand, I can’t think of any others. England years ago, but not anymore. Same with Canada, perhaps. An argument could be made for Hungary or maybe Iceland? Several Europeans countries would at least not be horrible but still don’t have the freedoms the citizens of Israel do. Taiwan, perhaps? Surely there’s a few small players I’m not thinking of that don’t suck… Oh, there’s been some resurgence of sanity in South America, a few of them are actually doing pretty well all of a sudden. That’s nice to see. And without the constant dangers Israel or Taiwan face…
“All we have done in the last 6 years is tell the world we are “agreement incapable”, diplomacy and international standards of behavior are for suckers”
Our two major parties are so insanely different now that yes, we are not trustworthy to keep agreements anymore. I hate it, but one party gets into power, undoes stuff the previous one did and does the opposite things, then it switches and the same thing happens the other way. Not sure what to do about that (and the domestic problems are worse).
But the second part? Yes, that is just plain accurate, has been… forever. “International standards” are to ignore or subtly support horrible, HORRIBLE things, to send strongly-worded letters about actual genocide while still doing business with such places, to be absolutely racist about all kinds of things at the industrial level, etc., etc. “International standards” aren’t a joke, they are a TRAVESTY pretending to be “the way things are done”. It’s BS. It’s the same stuff I said about “the world stage”.
“I have, many times. OIL. It’s the most strategically important resource on the planet.”
Didn’t you just type that Rubio said we were there to destroy Iran’s army, navy, air force, and missiles? And make sure they can never get a nuke to blast Isreal with?
But as for oil.
Wrong!
We have NEVER needed a drop of middle east oil, ever.
And Isreal might truly be the proverbial “Diamond in a goat’s butt” of the middle east shitholestan nations. But that’s not a reason for us to be there.
The only reason we’re anywhere near the place is to be able to export our inflation through enforcement of the petro-dollar.
And it has shit to do with anything else.
And since Trump just gave all that away? Double the reasons not to be there.
Yes, it is Europe’s war. Or at least the war is being waged upon it.
We all know that Iran and islame in general are a bunch of snakes. They will sit down and have a nice pork chop dinner, drinks afterward with you, then turn right around and murder your whole family for the fun of it.
Why would anyone in the world with 2 brains cells rubbing together want to have a thing to do with the whole lot of them???
It’s not like we haven’t known about these assholes since the Marine Corps hymn about the “Shores of Tripoli”.
So, who’s big idea was it to move half of them into western civilization over the last 47 years? Aren’t the traitors that did that a bigger concern than Iran right now?
And despite all the bluster and BS about what we’ve done or what Iran will be able to do after we run out of money-blood-treasure and tire of being over there.
Iran/islam/terrorist around the world are going to have a death grip on 20% of the worlds oil supply.
And their going to squeeze western economies nutz to the point nobody will be able to harm them ever again.
5 weeks, hundreds of billions in treasure ago Iran was negotiating. The strait was open to all.
Anyone thinking they’re going to give up their new revenue stream? Paid in Yuan to Iran’s account at the bank of China.
We just gave them gross royalties out of the western worlds economy.
And if Europe don’t like it? They can always collapse with millions of islame’s jadhi’s in their soft underbelly.
The only 3D chess move left to make is to say F-it. Were out. Middle east, NATO. Not our problem anymore.
Then bring it all back home and make America first.
I mean, it ain’t like the cartels aren’t murdering us wholesale. (up to a 100,000 a year)
And been at it how long? ‘Bout 47 years now?
First the traitors, then the invaders. Then maybe we can start to worry about anyone else.
That’s the funny thing about war and peace though: Peace requires all parties to commit to it, war requires only one.
The Ayatollahs in Iran have been at war with the world for decades — something about wanting to bring their conquering savior to the Earth by kicking off Armageddon, destroying Israel, and having all other nations fighting each other; it’s all in their book — but most nations haven’t yet clued into that fact.
Yup. All that crap about the 7th Mahdi, or some such BS.
Ya, I think the jews have pretty much the same crap about their “Messiah” coming and destroying and enslaving all Isreal’s enemies.
And if you study Islame you’ll find big Mo’ was just teaching illiterate Arab goat herds a new, radical, murderous version of Judaism.
In fact, the east European jews wanting to go back to Isreal is pretty much trying to full-fill all that BS.
So, there is that.
“And having all the nations of the world fighting each other”
So, why we over there going for it?
And here comes the Jew hate again.
I notice you weren’t able to explain why I’m wrong though.
Very similar religious/government structures.
Judaism and Islam.
Ever met twins that hate each other?
That’s them.
And as most of the time with you, your trying to dodge facts in favor of your own prejudice.
Able, yes.
Going to waste my time on it, no.
Call me whatever you like, accuse me of whatever you like. Not going to bother trying to debate someone out of their racism. It’s a waste of time 99% of the time, because it isn’t based on logic but emotion.
Ya, well at least I don’t sound like a mossad chat-bot.
And after Oct. 7? It’s obvious Bebe hates jews a lot more than I do.
What to do about Iran and muslim terrorism can be considered a “litmus test”.
Anyone who can’t or won’t “get it”, who refuses to accept that Islam is a savage violent pseudo religion and that Iran is it’s number one practitioner is a defective person. Someone who shouldn’t be allowed to drive, vote or breed. Iran has been openly telling the west for DECADES what they wanted to and were planning to do. And still MILLIONS of morons refuse to believe they are a threat much less a threat that must be dealt with.