On the menu today: President Trump reminds the world that the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group is heading toward Iran and “it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary.” Of course, this is more than two weeks after Trump told the Iranian people, via Truth Social, “Help is on its way”; in the meantime, the regime in Tehran has continued its brutal and deadly crackdown with impunity. In other important news, do not attack Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar. In other, other important news, do not trust Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez. Read on.
Trump to Iran: ‘Come to the Table’
Yesterday in the Corner, I noted that President Trump’s message to the Iranian protesters —“Iranian Patriots, KEEP PROTESTING — TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS!!! Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price . . . HELP IS ON ITS WAY. MIGA!!!” — had marked its two-week anniversary.
Even more time had passed since Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt that, regarding the Iranian regime, “They’re doing very poorly and I have let them know that if they start killing people, which they tend to do during their riots. They have lots of riots. If they do it, we’re going to hit them very hard.”
In that interim, the Iranian regime has continued its brutal crackdown, killing scores of Iranian citizens. The Wall Street Journal reported that Human Rights Activists in Iran, a U.S.-based nonprofit, estimates that the regime has killed “more than 5,500 protesters and that it had an additional 17,000 under investigation based on evidence including photographs of bodies and testimony from its network of trained human-rights documentarians inside Iran.” The Guardian quotes Iranian exiles who believe the death toll is past 30,000. The opposition-affiliated Iranian news site Iran International reported Sunday that internal documents of the regime calculate that more than 36,500 people were killed.
Back on January 15, President Trump surprised many when he declared, “We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they’ve said the killing is stopped and the executions won’t take place.” Obviously, whatever the president had been told by “very important sources on the other side” was absolute nonsense, designed to mislead him about what was actually happening in Iran.
Shortly after 7 a.m. this morning, President Trump posted on Truth Social:
A massive Armada is heading to Iran. It is moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose. It is a larger fleet, headed by the great Aircraft Carrier Abraham Lincoln, than that sent to Venezuela. Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary. Hopefully Iran will quickly “Come to the Table” and negotiate a fair and equitable deal — NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS — one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence! As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn’t, and there was “Operation Midnight Hammer,” a major destruction of Iran. The next attack will be far worse! Don’t make that happen again. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP
I note that the president is no longer discussing Iran in the context of the people’s protests against the government. He apparently wants the Iranian regime — a legendarily duplicitous and untrustworthy regime that began its reign by taking American diplomats hostage — to “come to the table” and “make a deal,” and agree to renounce nuclear weapons, a program that the president’s previous strikes severely damaged. Recall that the Iranian regime has broken almost every treaty it has ever signed.
A few readers objected to yesterday’s Corner post, contending that I did not have the right to write about Trump’s failure to keep his pledge that “help is on the way” without also writing about what Trump should do.
The January 12 edition of the Morning Jolt was titled, “How to Help the Iranian People.”
In that edition, I cited open-source intelligence from Treadstone71 to point to the locations of the Iranian security forces in Tehran most involved in cracking down on the protesters:
The Tharallah Central Security Headquarters acts as the IRGC’s elite domestic security command.
27th Mohammad Rasoul Allah Division (Tehran) — A mechanized and urban combat division. Formed during the war, now specializes in riot control, rapid deployment inside Greater Tehran, and crowd suppression.
20th Ramazan Armored Brigade (Hassanabad, S. Tehran) — An armored brigade with T-72 tanks and BMPs for deterrent power. Located at the capital’s southern perimeter.
The 27th Division is based near Pasdaran Avenue and has long been tied to the Vali Asr Garrison in north-central Tehran. Satellite imagery confirms an active motor pool, hardened vehicle depots, and regular nighttime movement patterns consistent with riot drill deployments. The 20th Brigade is located near Hassanabad, clearly visible via military polygon footprints on Google Earth, with wide training grounds and blast walls. Imagery shows staging areas for APCs and tanks, as well as regular movement between the base and south Tehran.
I did everything short of providing the street address and GPS coordinates for the missiles.
All of this is beside the point that when the president of the United States announces, on a platform visible to the world, that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY,” then that help must be on its way and it must arrive in a timely manner. It is not merely his own credibility at stake; it is the credibility of the country. Allies and enemies alike need to know that when the American commander in chief says something is going to happen, it will happen. Otherwise, allies start doubting that the United States is reliable, and enemies start wondering whether the president is bluffing and whether they can escape the consequences of bad actions.
A lot of people don’t like the contention that the president is growing too erratic, mercurial, and capricious to perform his duties. The easiest way to dispel that notion is for the president to be clear, specific, consistent, and to say what he means and mean what he says. The other day, our Dan McLaughlin referred to “chaos government.”
Don’t Attack Ilhan Omar
Don’t attack Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar physically. You can criticize, jeer, mock, chastise, ridicule, castigate, denounce, or boo her. You can (and should!) vote against her. You can donate to her opponent. You can form a political action committee and run ads criticizing her and encouraging her constituents to vote for another candidate.
You can form a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) nonprofit that conducts communication campaigns to influence public opinion, policies, and legislation, rather than directly supporting candidates, so long as you don’t explicitly endorse or say, “Don’t vote for Ilhan Omar.”
(Note that dislodging her from her seat in Congress will be a tall order. In 2024, Omar won the primary with 56.2 percent and the general election with almost 75 percent. Her district includes the entire city of Minneapolis and scores a D+32 in the Cook Partisan Voting Index. It is the eleventh-most heavily Democratic House district in the entire country.)
Under the laws of our constitutional republic, you have a wide range of options for publicly expressing your displeasure with the representative.
You can argue, accurately, that she is a strong contender for the title of dumbest member of Congress. You can point out her past contention that the U.S., Israel, the Taliban, and Hamas are morally equivalent. You can point out that she described 9/11 as “some people did something.” You can point to her repeated use of antisemitic tropes in her furious denunciations of Israel and contention that Jews have dual loyalties. You can point to the evidence that she married her brother for fraudulent purposes.
You can argue, persuasively, that Omar is a perfect example of the kind of immigrant that America does not need.
But you can’t physically attack Ilhan Omar.
And you definitely can’t spray some as-yet-unidentified substance at her:
A man sprayed an unknown substance on Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and was tackled to the ground Tuesday during a town hall in Minneapolis, where tensions over federal immigration enforcement have come to a head after agents fatally shot an intensive care nurse and a mother of three this month.
The audience cheered as the man was pinned down and his arms were tied behind his back. . . .
Minneapolis police said officers saw the man use a syringe to spray an unknown liquid at Omar. They immediately arrested him and booked him at the county jail for third-degree assault, spokesperson Trevor Folke said. Forensic scientists responded to the scene.
Police identified the man as 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak. It was not immediately clear if Kazmierczak had an attorney. The county public defenders’ office could not immediately be reached.
Omar continued speaking for about 25 more minutes after the man was ushered out by security, saying she would not be intimidated.
There was a strong, vinegarlike smell after the man pushed on the syringe, according to an Associated Press journalist who was there. Photos of the device, which fell to the ground when he was tackled, showed what appeared to be a light-brown liquid inside. There was no immediate word from officials on what it was.
Video of the attack can be found here.
The term “vinegarlike smell” in the AP report made me start wondering if the attacker was attempting to use some sort of acetic acid:
Acetic acid is also known as ethanoic acid, ethylic acid, vinegar acid, and methane carboxylic acid. Acetic acid is a byproduct of fermentation, and gives vinegar its characteristic odor. Vinegar is about 4-6% acetic acid in water. More concentrated solutions can be found in laboratory use, and pure acetic acid containing only traces of water is known as glacial acetic acid. Dilute solutions like vinegar can contact skin with no harm, but more concentrated solutions will burn the skin. Glacial acetic acid can cause skin burns and permanent eye damage, and will corrode metal.
The low concentrations most people encounter in vinegar and other foods are harmless. At higher concentrations that could be encountered in a laboratory or factory, acetic acid is a strong eye, skin, and mucous membrane irritant. Prolonged skin contact with concentrated acetic acid may result in tissue destruction. Inhalation exposure to high concentrations of acetic acid vapors causes irritation of eyes, nose, and throat. People with high occupational exposure can develop conjunctivitis, bronchitis and pharyngitis, and erosion of exposed teeth (incisors and canines).
ADDENDA: A detail in the Wall Street Journal’s coverage of Minnesota this morning: “The biggest notable change thus far is that both sides appear to be talking to each other, and the city’s street protests have been relatively muted — at least for now.” Maybe everyone is stepping back from the brink?
One week ago, I wrote in the Corner regarding Venezuela: “It feels like the Trump administration was willing to bet a whole lot of its metaphorical chips on Delcy Rodríguez being more cooperative and aligned with U.S. interests than Maduro was. That always seemed like a long-shot at best, and the early returns are not promising.”
This morning brings a not-so-reassuring report from Reuters: “U.S. intelligence reports have raised doubts about whether interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez will cooperate with the Trump administration by formally cutting ties with U.S. adversaries, four people familiar with the reports said in recent days.”