Former Undersecretary for Defense Robert Wilkie framed Saturday's U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran as a long-running conflict with a new opening for internal change, telling Newsmax that "[t]his has been an almost 50-year war" and that the moment amounts to a "sea change."
Wilkie, also a former secretary of veterans affairs, told "Saturday Report" that "[t]his is a civilizational struggle" and said it has shaped his view of Iran since childhood.
Pressed to place the moment in the longer arc of U.S.-Iran tensions, Wilkie said, "So, yes, this has been an almost 50-year war."
He echoed President Donald Trump's framing in his own terms, saying, "And this is, as the president said, it is a historic struggle."
The attack he discussed came as the United States and Israel launched a coordinated strike on Iran on Saturday.
Iran retaliated after the strikes by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.
When the discussion shifted to what Wilkie called the scale of the moment, he said, "This is a 'sea change,'" meaning a profound transformation.
"And unlike the past, we are now setting the table where the Iranian people can finally remove this cancer," he said.
"This reverberates across the globe. What the president has done is really re-alter the global balance of power," Wilkie continued.
"And ignore any nonsense coming from the U.N. or from Paris or some of those blinkered capitals in Europe."
He then tied Iran to broader threats, saying, "This goes beyond Iran into Russia."
Wilkie pointed to Ukraine to make his case.
"I mean, last night, according to the British, about 290 drones attacked Kyiv," he said.
"Guess what? All those drones came from Iran."
Wilkie then referenced China's role in the region.
"This is China's foothold in the Middle East that is rapidly disappearing," he said.
"And we have an opportunity to do what we haven't done since 1979 and let the Iranian people get rid of these theocratic fanatics."
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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