If former president Donald Trump is to be believed — and on matters of war and diplomacy, his record now speaks louder than his rhetoric — Israel and Iran have agreed to a “complete and total” ceasefire, to be staged in, once ongoing missions are concluded.To those inclined toward peace at any price, this is a moment to celebrate. And fair enough. Every day that rockets are not falling on Tel Aviv, and the lights stay on in Tehran, is a better day than the one before. War is cruel, expensive, and unpredictable.But let’s not deceive ourselves: the real news is not the ceasefire. The real news is the war — and how it ended. Not with an exhausted stalemate, not with a UN peacekeeping mission, and certainly not with European mediation. It ended because the United States, under the familiar leadership of a second-term Donald J. Trump, reminded the world what American power looks like when it is unapologetically deployed in defence of civilization..Let’s be blunt. Iran started this when it first aspired to nuclear weapons and declared its national objective to be the destruction of Israel. But the Iranian regime also misjudged the resolve of its enemies and the willingness of a newly re-elected Trump to back Israel with more than hashtags and hollow statements. Over the years, Tehran's proxies fired first — Hezbollah, Hamas and lately the Houthis. But it was Israel — and then, decisively, the United States — who fired last.We don’t yet know the full extent of the damage done to Iran’s military or nuclear infrastructure, but the fact of the ceasefire tells us what we need to know: it was enough. Iran blinked..This is no small thing. For years, Western leaders played a diplomatic shell game with Tehran, treating the regime like a misunderstood regional power rather than a theocratic bully with global ambitions. Under Obama, they showered it with cash and begged for compliance. Under Biden, they fell back into the same bad habits. Only Trump — love him or loathe him — said what needed saying and did what needed doing. And by the way, maybe we need to stop saying things like 'love him or loathe him' in order to obtain grudging permission to acknowledge the success of something he did. Iran will not have nuclear weapons; that's Trump's doing and for that, he deserves love undiluted by nervous condescension..So, Trump's ceasefire matters not merely because the war stops, but because it restores deterrence. Just as the leaders of the USSR did 40 years ago, the ayatollahs today know the price of aggression. And perhaps more importantly, so do their friends in Beijing and those in Moscow who have inherited the Soviet mantle.Israel, for its part, fought with characteristic resolve. It has no illusions about the nature of the Iranian threat. It never did. But what it lacked — until now — was the sense that its most important ally would have its back when the stakes were highest. That question has been answered.Of course, the usual suspects will now resume their miserable themes. The peace process crowd will reassert themselves. Pundits will question whether Trump’s unambiguous actions will provoke further escalation. (Although following the Iranian attack on an empty base in Qatar, by whom, and against whom now looks unobvious.) In Washington, the Democrats will try to persuade us that Trump ignored the 1973 War Powers Powers Resolution, that Congress should have approved his actions before he took them. Lawyers can debate that but since its passage, US presidents of both parties have paid it little heed. And the courts? Not a peep. And never one to miss a photo op, Democrat gadfly Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez thinks there are grounds for impeachment..But let’s not miss the point. What Trump just demonstrated — again — is that peace comes from strength, not from wishful thinking. And that when you carry a big stick and are willing to use it, your enemies pay attention.So yes, congratulations are in order. To Israel, for defending itself without apology. To Iran, for having the sense to stop when it did. But most of all, to the United States — and yes, specifically to Trump — for still being ready to stand firm against the worst governments in the world. It always was, but for a while, we were starting to wonder.The ceasefire is welcome. So is the message it sends — that the West will no longer be pushed around by regimes that chant “Death to America” while enriching uranium. And that is what really matters.The war lasted 12 days. The implications will last much longer.
