Donald Trump is still trying to play tough guy around the world, and it is not working. The Iranian regime is an enemy of democracy and freedom. Iran has been a bad actor that sponsors terrorism for decades. The world would be a safer place if the regime were replaced by a form of government that reflected the will of the Iranian people.
All of that said, how Donald Trump has thus far been handling Iran makes the Bush lead-up to the invasion of Iraq look like a masterclass in military strategy.
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Instead of doing something while the protestors were being killed by the thousands in January, Trump claimed that the killing had stopped and started issuing threats in February.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency says at least 7,015 people were killed in the previous protests and crackdown, including 214 government forces. The group has been accurate in counting deaths during previous rounds of unrest in Iran and relies on a network of activists there to verify deaths.
The death toll continues to rise as the group crosschecks information despite disrupted communication with those inside the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s government offered its only death toll from the previous protests on Jan. 21, saying 3,117 people were killed. Iran’s theocracy in the past has undercounted or not reported fatalities from past unrest.
The time for the administration to act was in January, before the regime’s crackdown.
It turns out that Trump is backing down a month later.
Read more below.