Gen. Wesley Clark to Newsmax: 'What's Next Is Regime Change'

This is the time for Iran to "renounce its aims to destroy Israel, or it will be replaced," retired Gen. Wesley Clark told Newsmax on Monday.

"I think the United States did a very, very good job militarily – I think the military performed flawlessly, but that's what our military does; that's what we always do – at least since 1980 under the Carter administration, when we tried to rescue the Iran hostages," Clark, the former NATO supreme allied commander, told Newsmax's "Wake Up America."

"Now, the problem now is what's next, and what we're seeing this morning from the Israeli strikes is what's next is regime change. And honestly, this is what is needed."

President Donald Trump has repeatedly rejected the failures of past American regime change wars, but in the case of Iran it has been the "bully of the Middle East" for too long and now must change or be destroyed, as Trump told the nation in his address Saturday night.

"The president didn't want to say it out loud," Clark told co-hosts Marc Lotter and Sharla McBride. "It does complicate negotiations. It may not happen, but the Iranians now are faced with the reality that they're up against superior military power that's directed against them – and no-holds barred on this.

"The missiles that they're shooting are under attack. The nuclear arsenal that they were trying to prepare is at least delayed, maybe permanently destroyed."

The relentless onslaught by Israel has now taken aim at government leadership in the capital city of Tehran on Monday, effectively forcing "unconditional surrender" – as Trump famously called for last week – or death to this Iranian regime.

"There's a lot of combat power massed in the region against them, and the Iranians have to decide. Will they retaliate?" Clark continued. "Will they renounce their desire to destroy Israel and attack the United States?"

The "writing is on the wall" and the U.S.-Israeli forces have "escalation dominance" that just spells a matter of time to the end of Iran as they know it.

"If they don't do this, if they do retaliate, more military pressure," Clark said. "The Israelis with the United States will have escalation dominance, and then it's just a matter of time.

"The Iranian regime either breaks or is replaced by smarter people inside Iran who see the writing on the wall and say, This is foolish; let's get out of it."

Trump and Israel have made the right call at not taking out Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who will just want to die a martyr at this point, according to Clark.

"Well, I think it's smart not to take out the ayatollah," he said. "You know, he'd be very happy to be martyred. That's not a smart move. And that's why, as President Trump said, he's not attacking him yet, and shouldn't."

Instead, the Israeli attacks will weaken the regime to the point it can just be taken over from within, much like Afghanistan was by the Taliban just hours after former President Joe Biden's unconditional withdrawal.

"I think the right move is to degrade the ability of the Iranian government to control its own people," Clark said. "So the strike on the prison this morning, very important strike on the Revolutionary Guards headquarters, very important. Now some regional strikes in various cities around Iran on police headquarters, Basij headquarters would be the next step in putting the pressure on."

Create the vacuum for power and allow for regime to happen organically, Clark concluded.

"There are groups that can come forward – groups outside of Iran, groups inside of Iran, but they're cautious, and so they've got to see that the regime is mortally wounded," he said.

"What they don't want to do is jump out there and then get in a civil war and be destroyed.

"You know, there was an effort in 2009, President Barack Obama didn't take advantage of it. He then moved into trying to solve the problem with negotiations, but this is the opportunity to really have the regime either renounce its aims to destroy Israel, or it will be replaced."

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