Source: Trump Must Pivot to Find Way Out of Iran Quagmire

March 17—President Donald Trump must take a deep breath and pivot away from the Christian Zionists and messianic Israelis who have backed him into a corner with their military crusade against Iran. This is the opinion of a source with more than 50 years’ experience in the region who says that Trump must resist his inclinations to "double down" on the idea that difficult foreign policy problems can be solved militarily, and avoid any new escalation that could lead to mass American casualties and virtually end his Presidency.

The Source’s Assessment

"Trump can spin things however he wants," said the source, "but this war was not fought to protect American interests. There has not been a serious effort by the Iranians to develop a nuclear weapon since 2003, and the assassinated Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had issued and confirmed a fatwa against the development or use of a nuclear weapon. Trump needed to listen to religious scholars, not the Christian Crusaders like Pete Hegseth, to understand that when the leader of one of the largest Muslim sects makes a religious finding, it has a much more permanent and powerful meaning than the ravings of a preacher talking about Armageddon and the Rapture in a Sunday sermon. He could have consulted Pope Leo XIV on such matters.

"So, the Iranian bomb threat is a hoax, created and promoted by those Christian Zionists like Hegseth and the messianic Zionists like [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi Netanyahu to manipulate stupid Americans and others into fearing ‘the nuclear-armed Evil Empire,’" the source continued. "The threat can therefore be dealt with diplomatically, and that is precisely what Trump was doing with [Special Envoy] Steve Witkoff. [Presidential son-in-law] Jared Kushner is there to show Trump's personal support for his negotiators. And they worked a deal with the Iranians. A workable deal that dealt with the question of enrichment, as well as the stockpile of enriched uranium, which would be turned over to a third party, likely Russia, after it was removed from underground tunnels near or in nuclear facilities destroyed in the 12 Day War, with U.S. inspectors present."

A Deal That Might Have Worked

"One might ask, 'well, isn't the fact that the Iranians enriched this uranium to near bomb-grade levels proof that they were preparing to make a bomb?'" the source continued. "No, but they were trying to gain some leverage points in the negotiations, as they were also doing by insisting that it was their right to enrich uranium. Trump, the master negotiator and dealmaker, above all people, should understand this.

"That Friday before the war started, Witkoff came back with a deal which needed the technical details worked out," the source said. "I have checked this with several people. There was an acceptable deal. So why didn't Trump take it and declare victory? Because Bibi announced that he would not accept the deal because it did not deal with the Iranian missile program and that he had made the decision to bomb Iran on Saturday. And this is where things went off the rails."

"Trump should have threatened Bibi and demanded that he sign off on the nuclear deal and let him, Trump, negotiate something on the missiles later. All he needed to do to end Netanyahu's political career was say that the crazy Prime Minister will not support a workable deal with Iran and wants to go to war—that and halt all shipments of anti-missile technology and weapons to Israel. The greatest threat to the safety of Americans in the region and worldwide is not the regime in Tehran. It is Bibi Netanyahu in Jerusalem."

A War Not in America’s Interest

"But Trump was cowed by Bibi and he decided to join in the attack," said the source. "An attack that was not in the interests of America, but of Israel. Trump has tried to spin things and make it seem otherwise. He even sent Witkoff, who is totally loyal to the President to a tee, to go on national television and lie that the Iranians were threatening to use the enriched uranium to make 11 nuclear bombs, to say that we had to go to war now. But as his foes, and now even many of his supporters like Joe Rogan and Ann Coulter say, the war is not making Americans safer and Iran posed no real threat to the United States that could justify an attack. The words these, and other MAGA supporters, use to describe the war is 'insane' and 'betrayal.'"

"Trump should have listened to his military advisors who told him that the air war would not collapse the regime in Tehran, that killing Iranian leaders and even the Supreme Leader would not collapse the regime and would even strengthen it, and that a ground invasion would cost more lives than any war since World War II and might not succeed in overthrowing the regime," said the source. "You would be fighting a well-trained and well-armed Revolutionary Guard Corps fighting force, which, when backed by its reserve non-uniformed Basij, numbers close to 2 million."

The Missed Chance for Reform and a Way Out

"The irony of all this, as myself and several others with experience in the region knew, the Iranian regime was likely to collapse or fundamentally change—evolve might be a better term—on its own over the next year, with the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei forced out, not to be replaced by his son, but someone more willing to make reforms and more pro-western," the source reported. "The Iranian people are remarkably pro-American and they will remain so, if this war can be ended soon. They were even pro-Trump before this. They are not antisemites. Iran has one of the largest Jewish populations in the world and they are not discriminated against.

"Also, any strategic thinker would have understood that Iran would close the Strait of Hormuz if they were attacked," the source continued. "[Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] Gen. Dan Caine warned the President that this would happen, so no one should have been surprised. The use of pipelines enables the diversion of about half of the region’s oil away from the Strait, but it appears there has been insufficient preparation to prevent major disruptions beyond that. That disruption is Iran's most powerful weapon, as it puts pressure to end the war.

'Is there a way out?' asked the source. 'Yes, if Trump avoids further escalation, such as a proposed invasion of Kharg Island to control all of Iran's oil output. Trump did not appear to have any clear, effective goals in this war. And that Bibi's only goal was and is to degrade Iran into a failed state, killing as many Iranians as possible, with bombing raids serving no real purpose other than to 'mow the lawn,' as some Israeli strategists have called the policy. Trump needs a peace deal brokered by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and the Gulf States. It starts with a ceasefire—total and complete, as Pope Leo XIV and other religious leaders have called for. Then, it includes the signing of the nuclear deal, and along with it, staged sanctions' relief. Then, I believe that Putin and the Gulf States need to organize a regional peace conference in which there will be discussion of regional development strategies that will also provide aid in rebuilding Iran from the devastation of the war. These must go farther, with a regionwide plan to create water resources through nuclear-powered desalination, as well as the construction of improved infrastructure and development corridors. Israel can and should participate in this. The Schiller Institute with its Oasis Plan has been promoting this concept for decades.'

The Need for Dialogue Over Force

"Iran must be treated with respect for its sovereignty and its 3,000-year culture," the source concluded. "That is the key to everything—the need to promote dialogue and understanding among different cultures. A dialogue of civilizations as opposed to the 'clash of civilizations' promoted by the geo-politicians. We are all citizens of one humanity. We cannot use war and military power to resolve our differences. This can all work as long as Trump, among others, gives up his belief that 'might makes right.' That has never been the case and has led us into this present crisis."

The next 72 hours can be critical in this process, the source indicated, stating that he does not know which way it will go, but "I am an optimist by nature."