Trump taking serious risk of betraying Iranian public

Robert Spencer is let down that POTUS Donald Trump backed away from taking serious military action against Iran's totalitarians so far:

The Iranian people trusted him. They kept protesting, even as the inhuman guardians of the Islamic Republic mowed them down in ever-increasing numbers, as many as 20,000. They renamed streets after him. They knew that he would send the help he promised. They knew he would help them see the end of the bloodthirsty and demonic regime that has murdered so very many Iranians since 1979. They knew they finally had someone who heard their cries. Someone they could count on.

Yet by Wednesday afternoon, something had changed. Trump said: “We have been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, it’s stopped, it is stopping. And, uh, there’s no plan for executions, or ex— an execution, or executions. So I’ve been told that on good authority, we’ll find out about it.”

There was no reason to believe this, and it was unclear whether or not Trump himself believed it. The Islamic Republic is built on terror and preserves itself through terror, for as an Islamic government, it follows the Qur’an’s guidance for how to deal with its opponents: “strike terror in the enemies of Allah” (8:60). The Islamic Republic will keep killing protesters as long as there is an Islamic Republic. [...]

Unless this is a strategic feint, as many have claimed, and the promised attack is still in the works, apparently the Islamic Republic will continue as well, hiding its murders behind closed doors instead of parading them before the world. Trump’s promise of help has so far proven hollow. His encouragement of the protesters only ended up getting 20,000 of them killed.

Even worse, there are reports that Trump called off an attack at the last minute at the behest of Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, three Sunni states that have long counted the Shi’ite Islamic Republic of Iran as an enemy, but whose solicitude for the well-being of the United States should not be taken for granted.

Although it may be strategic, of course it's not good if Trump's hesitating. If the 2nd world war had been literally handled this way, it would never have been won.

Now, recent reports note that Texas senator Ted Cruz supports military action as a last resort, and the USA military does seem to be making preparations for war, as they no doubt realize they can't just back away now. Even so, issuing statements that don't get followed through as quickly as assumed is not a good idea, and only damages morale.