{"id":25080,"date":"2026-04-14T13:07:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T13:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/?p=25080"},"modified":"2026-04-14T13:07:30","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T13:07:30","slug":"western-european-leaders-betray-the-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/14\/western-european-leaders-betray-the-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Western European Leaders Betray the West"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iran’s regime — not to be confused with its tormented people, many of whom have sacrificing their lives since 1999 trying to oust it — has, since its installation in 1979, threatened “Death to America” (“the Great Satan”) and “Death to Israel” (“the Little Satan”). <\/em>For 39 years running, Iran has boasted the prestigious label, conferred on it by the US State Department, of the “world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.” Iran, along with Qatar, is reportedly a principal financier of international Islamic terrorism as well as a leading agent of global destabilization.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Israel and the United States seem to have concluded, as US President Franklin Roosevelt had regarding the Third Reich in 1941, that, “When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime’s “a week to 10 days” must have sounded sufficiently like an “imminent threat” and a “clear and present danger” to have the Trump Administration decide that it would be preferable to neutralize the regime before the regime neutralized the United States.<\/em><\/p>\n

[The] “sunset clauses” in Obama’s 2015 JCPOA “nuclear deal”… would have enabled Iran legitimately to have as many nuclear weapons as it liked by October 2025. When Trump cancelled the JCPOA in 2018, that was the bullet he skillfully dodged.<\/em><\/p>\n

Other American politicians have wrongly accused the Trump administration of violating the arguably unconstitutional 1973 War Powers Act.<\/em><\/p>\n

There was no point in allowing Iran to become another North Korea. “You want to see the stock market go down?” Trump asked on Fox News. “Let a couple of nuclear bombs be dropped on us.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Most of these politicians in Europe never condemned decades of atrocities committed by Iran’s regime. On January 9, 2026 \u2014 at the very moment Iran’s regime was slaughtering more than 30,000 of its unarmed people on the streets \u2014 Starmer, Macron and Merz published a joint statement heroically expressing “deep concern.” That was it.<\/em><\/p>\n

The immigration to Western Europe of increasingly large Muslim populations, who never assimilated and seem quite devoted to a hatred for Israel and Jews — as well as for Christians — has contributed to a resurgence in antagonism toward Jews among political leaders seeking votes throughout Western Europe.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Western Europe is profoundly afflicted by a political and sociological death wish,” wrote Conrad Black last month. “The United States will not save them from that; only they can.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Israel \u2014 which most West European leaders in power seem to hold in contempt \u2014 is clearly the most reliable ally of the United States; it is these West European leaders who deserve to be held in contempt. Under their dismal and unprincipled leadership, and their wanton surrender to demanding newcomers, Western Europe as we know it may well be heading toward collapse.<\/em><\/p>\n

The entire Western world needs to take a clear stand.<\/em><\/p>\n

Iran’s regime — not to be confused with its tormented people, many of whom have\u00a0sacrificing their lives<\/a>\u00a0since 1999 trying to oust it — has, since its installation in 1979, threatened “Death to America” (“the Great Satan”) and “Death to Israel” (“the Little Satan”).<\/em><\/p>\n

“When you chant ‘Death to America!’ it is not just a slogan,” Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0in 2023, “it is a policy.” The year before, he\u00a0predicted<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

“Death to America will happen. In the new order I am talking about, America will no longer have any important role.”<\/em><\/p>\n

In 2008, Iran’s then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad\u00a0promised<\/a>\u00a0that Israel “will be wiped off [the map].”<\/em><\/p>\n

The so-called “moderate” former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, on “Al Quds Day,” December 14, 2001,\u00a0said<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

“The use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything…. It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime, after\u00a0creating<\/a>\u00a0its proxy terrorist group Hezbollah in 1982<\/a>, lost no time turning magnificent Lebanon into a failed state. For years, Iran has been among the\u00a0primary funder<\/a>\u00a0of Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as providing material support for Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Iran was also\u00a0deeply involved<\/a>\u00a0in planning the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023.<\/em><\/p>\n

For 39 years running, Iran has boasted the prestigious\u00a0label<\/a>, conferred on it by the US State Department, of the “world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism.” Iran, along with Qatar, is reportedly a\u00a0principal financier<\/a>\u00a0of international Islamic terrorism as well as a leading agent of global destabilization.<\/em><\/p>\n

Iran’s regime is responsible for killing 241 American servicemen in the 1983\u00a0attack<\/a>\u00a0on the US Marines barracks in Beirut, as well as\u00a0hundreds of American soldiers<\/a>\u00a0in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. It has also orchestrated terrorist attacks and attempted assassinations within the United States, including the\u00a0September 11, 2001 attacks<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

For years, despite repeated\u00a0denials<\/a>\u00a0and proudly\u00a0evading international inspections<\/a>, Iran’s regime has been trying to acquire nuclear weapons. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff\u00a0detailed<\/a>\u00a0that Iran’s representatives had actually opened negotiations by\u00a0announcing<\/a>\u00a0that they had enough uranium enriched to 60% — days away from converting to the weapons-grade level of 90% — for 11 nuclear bombs “in one week, maybe 10 days at the outside.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Although the United States and Israel\u00a0carried out strikes<\/a>\u00a0on Iran’s main nuclear facilities in June 2025, Iran claimed that they still\u00a0control<\/a>\u00a0roughly 460 kg of 60% enriched uranium.<\/em><\/p>\n

Israel and the United States seem to have concluded, as US President Franklin Roosevelt\u00a0had<\/a>\u00a0regarding the Third Reich in 1941, that, “When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck to crush him.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The Iranian regime’s “a week to 10 days” must have sounded sufficiently like an “imminent threat” and a “clear and present danger” to have the Trump Administration decide that it would be preferable to neutralize the regime before the regime neutralized the United States.<\/em><\/p>\n

The war, launched on\u00a0February 28<\/a>, should have had the support of the entire Free World. It did not.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the United States, before the election of President Donald Trump, four sitting presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden \u2013 as well as countless officials from both sides of the aisle, had announced that Iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, but had never done anything about it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Worse, the Obama and\u00a0Biden<\/a>\u00a0Administrations, by trying to bribe Iran’s regime into slowing its nuclear weapons development, instead effectively\u00a0funded<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0enabled<\/a>\u00a0it — complete with “sunset clauses<\/a>” in Obama’s 2015 JCPOA “nuclear deal,” which would have enabled Iran\u00a0legitimately\u00a0to have as many nuclear weapons as it liked by October 2025. When Trump\u00a0cancelled<\/a>\u00a0the JCPOA in 2018, that was the bullet he skillfully dodged.<\/em><\/p>\n

The same kind of bribe had already backfired earlier with North Korea. In 1994, Clinton negotiated the “Agreed Framework” with North Korea to freeze and then dismantle its existing nuclear weapons program. Clinton then saw to it that Japan and South Korea\u00a0provided<\/a>\u00a0North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong II, with more than $4 billion — which he immediately seems to have used to complete his nuclear program. Nobody stopped him.<\/em><\/p>\n

It was only a few years ago that the Biden Administration was claiming that Iran represented a major danger. Then Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in October 2021 that time was “running short<\/a>“. Today, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who eloquently\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0against supporting Obama’s nuclear deal,\u00a0says<\/a>\u00a0that attacking Iran before it could attack the West constitutes “a war of choice, not necessity”.<\/em><\/p>\n

There was no point in allowing Iran to become another North Korea. “You want to see the stock market go down?” Trump\u00a0asked<\/a>\u00a0on Fox News. “Let a couple of nuclear bombs be dropped on us.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Other American politicians have wrongly accused the Trump administration of violating the arguably\u00a0unconstitutional<\/a>\u00a01973 War Powers Act.\u00a0Article 2(c)<\/a>\u00a0recognizes the president’s authority to deploy armed forces without prior Congressional approval following an “attack upon the United States… or its armed forces” for up to 60 days without Congressional approval, with a possible extension of 30 days. Iran possesses a long history of launching armed attacks against U.S. armed forces.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trump did not ask America’s allies for troops or even materiel. He merely\u00a0requested<\/a>\u00a0the use of military bases — some of which, such as Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, are shared by the UK and the US — or for fly-over rights.<\/em><\/p>\n

The reactions of most Western European leaders were, in diplospeak, “disappointing ” —\u00a0dismissive<\/a>\u00a0and cowardly — and remain so to this day.<\/em><\/p>\n

Just hours after the elimination of Khamenei, French President Emmanuel Macron\u00a0stated<\/a>\u00a0that military operations against Iran were “dangerous for all” and had to stop immediately. While “deploring” Hezbollah’s terrorist attacks on Israel, Macron\u00a0urged<\/a>\u00a0Israel to cease its military operations in Lebanon and seems to want to save Hezbollah. Macron added that France would only “act to defend its allies<\/a>” \u2013 thereby evidently excluding Israel and the United States from France’s allies.<\/em><\/p>\n

A few hours later, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer declared he would\u00a0only support<\/a>\u00a0a “peaceful, negotiated solution.”<\/em><\/p>\n

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz\u00a0emphasized<\/a>\u00a0that “Germany is not a party to this war” \u2013overlooking, as Trump wasted no time\u00a0pointing out<\/a>, that the US, which has almost single-handedly been funding Europe’s defense since the end of World War II through NATO, was not a party to Russia’s war on Ukraine.<\/em><\/p>\n

When, on March 15, Trump\u00a0called upon<\/a>\u00a0European leaders to participate in the defense of the Strait of Hormuz, every last one\u00a0refused<\/a>, despite their being far more\u00a0dependent<\/a>\u00a0on oil and gas shipped through the Strait of Hormuz than the US.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trump warned European countries that failing to heed his call could have\u00a0consequences<\/a>. After NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte urged European leaders to reconsider their response, several, along with Japan, issued a\u00a0joint statement<\/a>\u00a0on March 19, expressing their “readiness to contribute.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Macron then “clarified” his position. France, he\u00a0stated<\/a>,\u00a0might\u00a0agree to intervene only after the “intense phase of the conflict has ended” \u2014 when French intervention would be useless.<\/em><\/p>\n

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius\u00a0stated<\/a>\u00a0that Germany would act only after a ceasefire was declared \u2014 when the battle was over.<\/em><\/p>\n

Starmer, while maintaining his refusal, organized instead a\u00a0virtual meeting<\/a>\u00a0with officials from more than 40 countries to find a “diplomatic solution” to the problem. To what surely must have been everyone’s incalculable astonishment, no diplomatic solution could be found.<\/em><\/p>\n

Macron, surpassing himself,\u00a0closed French airspace<\/a>\u00a0to American and Israeli military aircraft involved in military operations against Iran’s regime and Hezbollah. Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez, by\u00a0denying<\/a>\u00a0US military aircraft access to NATO bases in Spain from the first day of the war, had already made the same decision. Most disappointingly, Italy’s otherwise extraordinary Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni\u00a0refused access<\/a>\u00a0to the NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily. Austria, not to be left out, invoked its ostensible “neutrality” and\u00a0closed its airspace<\/a>\u00a0to American military aircraft.<\/em><\/p>\n

The United Kingdom is supposed to allow US bombers to use military bases on its territory at least for “defensive missions<\/a>“. Initially, Starmer\u00a0refused<\/a>\u00a0to allow American aircraft the use of the joint US-UK airbase Diego Garcia; he finally allowed access, after the airstrikes were pretty much over, but only for “defensive missions.” In Germany, until now, the Ramstein airbase theoretically remains available for use by the U.S. Air Force. Scandalously, NATO-affiliated or joint bases \u2014 for which the US covers the overwhelming\u00a0majority<\/a>\u00a0of operating costs and maintenance \u2014 were closed to US warplanes by the very countries that host them. “Allies” of the United States, obstructing its military operations, were forcing US warplanes to take long, costly detours.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trump, in return, is\u00a0reviewing<\/a>\u00a0America’s relationship with NATO.<\/em><\/p>\n

Macron, visiting Japan on April 1,\u00a0tried<\/a>\u00a0to persuade Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to stop relying solely on Washington. Macron then went to South Korea, where he\u00a0urged<\/a>\u00a0“middle power” countries to unite against the US and China. He appeared to see no difference between the United States, a democracy fighting against a monstrous regime, and China, a totalitarian country that supports Iran’s regime.<\/em><\/p>\n

On April 2, France, along with Russia and China — Iran’s allies —\u00a0vetoed<\/a>\u00a0a UN Security Council resolution, drafted by Arab states and supported by the US, that condemned Iran’s actions against the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf and called for the use of force to unblock the Strait of Hormuz. The next day, France\u00a0obtained<\/a>\u00a0a “separate agreement” or tacit permission through diplomatic channels for a ship belonging to a company, CMA CGM, owned by French-Lebanese businessman Rodolphe Saad\u00e9, to pass through the Strait.<\/em><\/p>\n

For decades, Western European countries have been\u00a0living for free<\/a>\u00a0under the umbrella of American defense. Instead of spending money on armies to ensure their security, Europe’s leaders have built\u00a0costly welfare states<\/a>\u00a0and promoted\u00a0the idea<\/a>\u00a0that virtually all conflicts can be solved by\u00a0appeasing the enemy<\/a>\u00a0and yielding to his demands. This idea gained even more momentum after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the “holiday from history,” when\u00a0military budgets<\/a>\u00a0throughout the West declined even further. Meanwhile, Western European leaders had begun to speak of American presidents defending the United States with contempt.<\/em><\/p>\n

The immigration to Western Europe of increasingly large Muslim populations, who\u00a0never assimilated<\/a>\u00a0and seem quite devoted to a\u00a0hatred for Israel and Jews<\/a>\u00a0— as well as for\u00a0Christians<\/a>\u00a0— has contributed to a resurgence in antagonism toward Jews among political leaders seeking votes throughout Western Europe.<\/em><\/p>\n

While all Western European leaders expressed their horror after Hamas’s massacres on October 7, 2023, many quickly\u00a0accused Israel of cruelty<\/a>, when, in fact, its military was acting not only in its own defense but also to eliminate threats against\u00a0Europe<\/a>. Some leaders even falsely\u00a0accused<\/a>\u00a0Israel of “genocide<\/a>” when in fact it is actually Hamas, in Article 7 of its\u00a01988 Charter<\/a>, that calls for the annihilation of all Jews \u2013 similar to the criminal spirit of the blood libels so common during the ugliest moments of Europe’s past.<\/em><\/p>\n

Most of these politicians in Europe never condemned decades of atrocities committed by Iran’s regime. On January 9, 2026 \u2014 at the very moment Iran’s regime was slaughtering more than 30,000 of its unarmed people on the streets \u2014 Starmer, Macron and Merz published a joint statement heroically\u00a0expressing<\/a>\u00a0“deep concern.” That was it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Trump used a single word to characterize the leaders of West European countries: “cowards<\/a>.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“Western Europe is profoundly afflicted by a political and sociological death wish,”\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0Conrad Black last month. “The United States will not save them from that; only they can.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The prospect of “civilizational erasure” was also raised by the\u00a02025 US National Security Strategy<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Israel \u2014 which most West European leaders in power seem to hold in contempt \u2014 is clearly the\u00a0most reliable ally<\/a>\u00a0of the United States; it is these West European leaders who deserve to be held in contempt. Under their dismal and unprincipled leadership, and their wanton surrender to demanding newcomers, Western Europe as we know it may well be\u00a0heading toward collapse<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0egretnewseditor@gmail.com\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran’s regime — not to be confused with its tormented people, many of whom have sacrificing their lives since 1999 trying to oust it — has, since its installation in 1979, threatened “Death to America” (“the Great Satan”) and “Death to Israel” (“the Little Satan”). For 39 years running, Iran has boasted the prestigious label,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47471,"featured_media":25081,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[198,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-slider","category-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47471"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25082,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25080\/revisions\/25082"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/egretnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}