Biden Administration Needs a Real Iran Policy

The world is becoming more unstable of late. Witness the collapse of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the march of Russian troops into Ukraine, the increasing threats China poses to its smaller neighbors, and the potential of an escalating regional war in the Middle East. An alliance formed by China, Russia, and Iran is on the march – with Western power seeming to blanche at the tough choices ahead.

Iran as a declared enemy

This trio’s long game is the collapse of the West, represented primarily by the United States. The chief export of Iran, the belligerent Islamic regime that forms its third leg, has been terror and misery across the Middle East. Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq have morphed into its vassal states in the last decade, and Hamas has taken queues from the mullahs in Tehran, where its leaders were recently feted.

Iran is the sworn enemy of every American – just ask them. Iranian school children wake up each morning and are made to chant “Death to the USA, death to Israel.” The regime has escalated its aggression in recent months; its proxies in Yemen, Houthi warlords, have at times ground global trade to a halt by attacking ships in the Red Sea. It launched a direct attack on Israel this month using killer drones and long-range missiles. And American blood has been spilled, with Iranian-backed militias bombing U.S. military sites in February, attacks that killed three U.S. service members and wounded 40 others.

Iran knows its enemy, has named its enemy, and is attacking its enemy.

The Biden administration refuses to acknowledge this enmity

The Biden administration, on the other hand, seems content to ignore this uncomfortable problem, and at times treats the Iranians more like friends.

Take the administration’s response to the killing of three American service members: the White House broadcasted loudly and in advance that retaliatory strikes would occur, but not until “weather conditions” allowed, giving our adversaries ample time to hide out. Subsequently, the White House has assured both the media and our enemies that the U.S. is seeking to “de-escalate” a conflict that continues to escalate unabated.

Worse still, the Biden administration has given Iran direct access to funds that go toward attacks against us and our allies, by continuing to renew sanctions waivers affecting Iran. This past week, bipartisan majorities in Congress passed a series of bills related to Iran, including ones targeting Iran’s access to funds and support for global terror – but the Biden administration has cut in exactly the opposite direction by renewing these waivers.

Idiocy and nihilism

It appears that our intelligence officials even helped Iranian leaders evade harm by tipping them off before an attack by another adversary, ISIS. The U.S. shared a highly classified intelligence warning before the January bombing marking the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, whom the U.S. killed by drone strike under President Trump. That attack claimed the lives of at least 84 people – but many members of Iranian top brass were notably absent from the event, potentially due to the tip. Our government went out of its way to save the Iranian regime from harm.

What do you call somebody who, when repeatedly threatened with violence, warns their adversary that somebody else is coming up behind them?

An idiot – with a death wish.

The Biden administration has displayed both idiocy and nihilism in its treatment of Iran. We are consistently broadcasting the limits of our engagement to the enemy, while actively granting them more resources with which to attack us.

The death wish stems from the progressive worldview, which at its end game is self-hating. Its fundamental belief is that America is unbearably tainted by our past sins, so to fight for ourselves would be to perpetuate these sins. At its extreme, it says that since America is bad, the people who attack us – no matter how brutal – must be good.

Iran has too many friends among the American people – and government

In his piece for The Liberal Patriot arguing for an Iran policy reset, writer Brian Katulis says that this “blame America first” crowd “agrees with the Iranian regime’s worldview that America does more harm than good… voices in this camp call for America to withdraw from the region and pull back from the world.” These voices are well-represented both in Washington, where the State Department has regularly hosted anti-Israel “listening sessions,” and across the Democratic grassroots.

The “America Last” viewpoint can be witnessed at its inevitable conclusion most especially on college campuses and on social media, where an alarming number of over-educated and under-learned Gen Zers have discovered that “Osama Bin Laden was right,” and have celebrated Houthi warlords.

Anyone concerned about Iran – its growing attacks on our military, the civilizational threat its regime and proxies pose to us – should demand a real Iran policy from President Biden and his advisors. At minimum, this should include a significant policy shift (a halt in sanctions waivers), a rhetorical shift away from projecting the limits of our engagement, and support for Iranian dissidents who are risking life and limb to fight for their own freedom. Those demanding this shift should include not just Republicans in Congress, but the many Democrats who have helped pass bipartisan anti-Iran bills, our military, our business leaders, and voters who wish to prevent further escalation and destabilization.

Admit that we’ve been wrong

It is hard to admit you have been so utterly wrong and to change course – particularly in an election year.

But the costs of continuing to coddle Iran are far higher: namely, escalating casualties across the globe, among them U.S. citizens, and a projection of weakness that is weighing down Biden’s already-dismal election odds. The long-term damage will be even worse as our country and our allies face growing bloodletting and shrinking confidence in our ability to defend ourselves in the chaotic years ahead.

It’s time for a real Iran policy from the Biden administration, one laser-focused on deterrence, for the sake of our nation’s security and global stability.

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.