By Lewis K Uhler and Peter J. Ferrara - - Wednesday, January 15, 2020
ANALYSIS/OPINION:
Iran’s terrorist General Qassem Soleimani was in Baghdad in violation of international sanctions restricting him to Iran, directing Shia militias to attack the U.S. embassy. That raised the prospect of a renewed hostage crisis as in 1979, when Jimmy Carter was president, in which Soleimani participated as a youth. Or of Benghazi, where the American ambassador to Libya was killed and dragged through the streets.
But when U.S. intelligence intercepted a conversation between Soleimani and a local Iraqi militia leader riding in Soleimani’s motorcade, plotting further attacks on American diplomats, President Trump ordered U.S. hellfire missiles to rip them apart and burn them back to the hell they came from.  
Mr. Trump had the authority to do just that from the American people, when they elected him commander in chief under the U.S. Constitution, which supersedes any interference or second-guessing from Congress.  
Fortunately, successful domestic policies of Mr. Trump and conservatives in Congress have helped rebuild America in ways that assist foreign policy with Iran: 
• Oil and gas development in the United States over the last several years has made the U.S. number one in energy worldwide, undercutting Iran’s economy which is heavily reliant on oil and gas exports.
• Domestic tax reform has transformed the U.S. economy enabling us to invest more in and update our military, making Iran that much less of a threat. (Iran has about 80 million people — about one-quarter the size of the United States, an economy of about $1.3 trillion annually, versus the United States’s $22 trillion and a military that is Lilliputian versus ours.) 
• Mr. Trump is not remotely considering a land invasion of Iran. He is contemplating pursuit of a new deal with Irandiplomatically over the next year at least. That diplomacy is backed up with the threat of military force if necessary. 
• The lifeblood of Iran’s economy is its oil and gas industry. Iran has three major oil refineries. Those and the rest of Iran’s oil industry (oil wells and pipelines) can be completely destroyed by air attack, as Soleimani was. 
Mr. Trump’s sanctions have focused on preventing buyers from buying any Iranian oil. But Iran won’t even have any oil to sell after a U.S. Air Force attack. For good measure, the U.S. Navy can blockade all trade to and from Iran. Iran would be left to fight the U.S. military with the bows and arrows they can make from home.
If Iran still won’t agree to give up its nuclear weapons development program, the U.S. Air Force can take out all those nuclear weapons development facilities as well. The United States has bunker buster bombs that can destroy even underground facilities.  
Congress simply needs to stay out of the way of the commander in chief the American people have wisely chosen. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and company have instead decided to reverse the election that was held in 2016. That will all be over soon in the U.S. Senate.
Meanwhile, the president — and America — can help dissident Iranians retake control of their nation and restore it to peaceful Persia with a shah in charge.
• Lewis K. Uhler is founder and chairman of the National Tax Limitation Committee and Foundation. Peter J. Ferrara is a senior policy adviser for the foundation and teaches economics at Kings College in New York.