Iraq’s Shadow Over the Iran Debate

From WSJ:
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Iraq’s Shadow Over the Iran Debate
Peggy Noonan
June 19, 2025 6:13 pm ET
The fiery Tucker Carlson interview with Sen. Ted Cruz is the perfect
distillation of the split among conservatives on Iran. And that split is
all about the unhealed wound of Iraq.
..
Everything harked back to the Iraq war. Two parts said it all. The first
has been all over social media:
Mr. Carlson: “How many people live in Iran, by the way?
Mr. Cruz: “I don’t know the population.”
Mr. Carlson: “At all?”
Mr. Cruz: “No, I don’t know the population.”
Mr. Carlson: “You don’t know the population of the country you seek to
topple? . . . How could you not know that?”
Mr. Cruz: “I don’t sit around memorizing population tables.”
Mr. Carlson: “Well it’s kind of relevant because you’re calling for the
overthrow of the government.”
Mr. Carlson challenged Mr. Cruz on the ethnic mix of Iran. Mr. Cruz
seemed uncertain. Mr. Carlson: “You don’t know anything about Iran.”
The second part hasn’t been so noticed.
Mr. Carlson noted Mr. Cruz supports “regime change.” “What does regime
change look like in Iran?
Mr. Cruz: “Somebody else in charge.”
Mr. Carlson: “How do you get there?”
Mr. Cruz: “Look, that ultimately has to be a popular uprising from the
people.”
Mr. Cruz, a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, was glib, as is
his way, and didn’t seem to have thought things through. Mr. Carlson was
hectoring and inconsistent. But it was all about Iraq.
..
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