How many times did Iran’s proxies attack U.S. military bases in Iraq, Jordan and Syria before January 28? The unbelievable answer is 160.
How many times did the U.S. respond to these attacks? The unbelievable answer is 0.
Biden finally retaliated against the Iranian proxies on February 2 for the death of three American soldiers and thirty-four wounded on January 28. That is when a proxy drone attacked Tower 22, which is a remote outpost of 350 soldiers and airmen, in northeastern Jordan.
Unfortunately, it took our esteemed commander in chief six long days to order a meaningless attack against eighty-five “targets” at seven locations in Syria (four) and Iraq (three).
The U.S. Air Force undoubtedly lost the element of surprise that day, and achieved a tactical victory of dubious significance.
It appears that Biden’s weak warning last October to Iran and Hezbollah of “Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,” which was reminiscent of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain (1937-40), clearly failed to work.
Appeasement did not work then, and it does not work now.
The same will surely be said of Biden’s overly optimistic and unrealistic sanctions and criminal charges brought against the fanatical Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its most elite unit the Quds Force a few hours before the February 2 attack.
As Biden stated during a press conference in the aftermath of the January 28 attack, “we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner [of] our choosing.”
Unfortunately, Biden’s chosen “time” for retaliation was extremely foolish and ineffective because he waited almost a week, thereby allowing the IRGC at these eighty-five “targets” to skedaddle and hightail it back to Iran.
It is highly probable that only a small contingent of Iran’s proxy forces, who were willing to become holy martyrs on behalf of the Supreme Leader and Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei remained at these bombed out sites.
Sadly, Iran has continued to arm its proxies throughout the Middle East. By all indications their proxies have not been intimidated in the least by the U.S. retaliatory airstrikes.
So, what or whom exactly did the U.S. bomb on February 2? I suspect that it was nothing more than depleted ammunition dumps, vacant buildings, abandoned bunkers and empty warehouses.
However, according to Tehran the strikes may have resulted in 39 enemy combatants and civilians killed.
Biden’s timid military strategy is not going to solve our problem with Iran, which is going to be a nuclear power in the next five or ten years. There is no reasoning with these fanatical Shiite clerics.
We may not be at war with Iran, but Iran is at war with us. This has been true since 1979.
I do not have to be a West Point or ROTC graduate to figure that out.
The radical theocratic government of Iran is our primary enemy in the Middle East, and the world’s largest sponsor of state terrorism. Unfortunately, Iran can only be defeated by the Iranian people.
We can only help them by destroying the government’s infrastructure, ability to make money and bankrupting them. The Iranian proxies of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis only exist because Iran directly advises, trains and finances them.
Therefore, the U.S. must directly strike Iran, but not necessarily declaring war with a ground invasion.
I fully agree with Lindsey Graham’s strategy on how to defeat or neutralize Iran. He specifically advocated the destruction of an oil refinery at Kharg Island for starters while others have advocated the destruction of an Iranian drone factory or a Red Sea spy ship, which is presently actively aiding the Houthis.
What Biden has done militarily since February 2 against the Iranian proxies has been foolish and ineffective. Killing a senior Iranian proxy commander in downtown Baghdad on February 7 was a prime example.
The U.S. needs a knockout blow, which will “defeat” Iran in its ability to make money and finance terrorism.
Pursuing the same incremental strategy in the future will continue to be essentially a waste of time and tax dollars. Iran views the president’s present strategy as nothing more than annoying pinpricks because they know that the U.S. under Biden does not have the will to defeat them.
Iran also knows that Biden is in serious cognitive decline as evidenced by special counsel Robert Hur’s “scathing” report on February 8.
Since our debacle in Afghanistan on August 30, 2021, Communist China has been watching our feckless military response to Iran and elsewhere like a hawk to gauge a possible invasion of Taiwan in the near future.
Israel has also been closely watching, but for a different reason because a nuclear Iran would be an existential genocidal threat. However, the rest of the world has been watching because a nuclear Iran could easily start World War III.
– Robert L. Maronic
