Like most Americans, we were relieved that President Donald Trump’s potentially cataclysmic pledge to kill off Iranian civilization Tuesday night did not proceed as the president’s unacceptably violent rhetoric had threatened.
A ceasefire, even a fragile ceasefire, coupled with negotiation is far preferable to the bombing of civilian infrastructure, Iranian drones hurtling toward Haifa and the potentially catastrophic human consequences of taking out power stations that fuel Iranian hospitals, which are giving care to patients who have no responsibility whatsoever for the brutality of the theocratic Iranian regime.
Even that ceasefire proved narrow and fragile almost immediately. As it took effect, Israeli forces launched heavy airstrikes on Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon, reportedly killing more than 100 people, a stark reminder that much of the region remained very much at war.
It was hardly surprising both sides declared victory, generally a prerequisite of any deal or compromise. And we’re not about to waste time parsing the relative merits of such propagandist declarations. On either side.
As far as we can tell, Iran still is ruled by a theocratic regime. Perhaps the new, younger crew will be more reasonable and moderate, as Trump has asserted. We hope so, but we have no evidence of that.