The strike on Iran is something that all conservatives and Americans can morally get behind. One of the beauties of the conservative movement is that it is, truly more than the left, large, diverse and inclusive.
All viewpoints are weighed.
Leftism is a means to power and elitism.
Conservatism is a means to a better end.
We may argue how to get there but once we get there we see and acknowledge what works and what did not. Case in point, the American led invasion of Iraq in 2003 is now discarded in large part by the conservative movement.
So, what makes this strike against Iran any different from the dreams a neocon?
While the remnants of neo-conservatism supported this strike, President Trump's actions differ in vastly different ways from that philosophy.
First, unlike Iraq, it was Iran’s nuclear capability was much more documented.
A nuclear armed Iran would cause geopolitical consequences too terrible to contemplate, whether one is a Christian Zionist who supports Israel or "simply" a person who cares about the national security of
America and other nations with regards to Mideast oil and arms sales implications.
Simply put — It's America first.
Second, U.S. President Donald Trump gave a public chance for the Iranian regime to save face.
He has done this with many despots realizing, as President John F. Kennedy did, that there is a way to offer a way out for a dictator without rubbing that dictators face in dirt.
President Trump is genuinely interested in peace.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for those who in the days right after Sept. 11, 2001 were talking about attacking Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11, while there was still hope of survivors being pulled from New York's World Trade Center.
Further, those same officials allowed no real way for Saddam Hussein to save face, a trait JFK knew about Nikita Khrushchev in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 and is paramount in the Arab world.
The third reason this strike was not neoconservative is that President Trump is not trying to own everything. He sees that there is a real opposition movement to the Iranian regime and more so, a clear leader exists in Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shan of Iran.
The U.S. was fond of saying "Afghanistan for the Afghans" but failed to do so once the war became "Big Army" and bureaucratized.
This was evidenced with the selection of the American corporate based Hamid Karzai as the leader of Afghanistan in late 2001/early 2002, shortly after the fall of the Taliban, as opposed to King Zahir Shah; the one man who brought Afghanistan together during his rule from 1933-1973.
This is not the case with Iran.
President Trump has seen the cries of the Iranian people.
He has heard their plea and has provided the necessary help, both in attacking Iran's nuclear capability, political power structure, as well as understanding that there is a clear choice for a successor who commands a large measure of support at this time.
(To his credit, the son of the Shah has said that he does not want to have the near absolute monarchy his father had but rather a Constitutional one in a democratic Iran.)
President Trump understands that having a largely Christian army trying to cover an entire Islamic land usually ends in disaster.
Such a scheme does not succeed for regime change unless such an army is going to stay for generations and be exceptionally well trained in civil military operations (part of the reason the Afghan War was at its most successful when the number of troops, in the beginning, was small but quite specialized and essentially living with the Afghan people).
President Trump has done his part. He may have to attack Iran again one day if its people do not rise-up.
But the clear choice on the way forward is theirs and not the neocons, and thankfully so.
Views expressed in this article are those of the author and not any government agency.
Larry Provost has written for Townhall, Fox News, The Baltic Times and InFocus (Jewish Policy Center) and has appeared on several television outlets, including "FOX News @Night with Shannon Bream." He holds degrees from several colleges and is a veteran of the World Trade Center search and rescue, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He and his wife are adoptive parents. Read more Larry Provost Insider articles reports — Click Here Now.