Gerard Baker, in the October 1, 2024 Wall Street Journal, made this observation: "Israel has in 12 months done nothing less than redraw the balance of global security, not just in the region, but in the wider world." But today's leaders in the Western world do not understand. And, like Biden, they are fearful. Baker: "In Europe, they have gone even further, as usual, rewarding Hamas and Hezbollah by nominally recognizing a nonexistent Palestinian state and prosecuting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on bogus war-crime charges."
In an Op-Ed in the September 17, 2024 WSJ, Walter Russell Mead discussed a report issued by the Commission on the National Defense Strategy. The report was written by eight "experts" appointed by both parties from the House and Senate Armed Services committees. With unanimous opinion, the Commission wrote that the US currently faces the "most serious and most challenging" threats since 1945, including a real risk of "near-term major war." Said the Commission: "...the U.S. military lacks both the capabilities and the capacity required to be confident it can deter and prevail in combat."
Mead does not lay all the blame on Biden, stating that there has been a generation of failed leadership. Mead: "Even more appalling than the report is the general indifference with which it has been received," citing Mitch McConnell as an exception. But the WSJ title of their September 23, 2024 editorial observed: "How Freedom Faded on Biden's Watch." After citing numerous foreign policy failures by the Biden-Harris Administration, they conclude with this: "All of this and more adds up to the worst decline in world order, and the largest decline in U.S. influence, since the 1930's."
But does our President even have a clue? The WSJ: "Yet Mr. Biden continues to speak and act as if he's presided over an era of spreading peace and prosperity." Additionally, Biden "has proposed a cut in real defense spending each year of his Presidency, which may be his greatest abdication." The Journal: "The first task will be restoring U.S. deterrence, which will require more hard power and political will." And that, my dear readers, will require a U.S. leader who does not fear the threat, and if necessary, the use of military power.
I am well aware that there is a segment of the Republican Party that wants nothing to do with "foreign" wars. A fair number are even isolationists. I am not of that mind. But I am of the mind that believes in peace through strength. Peace does not come about through weakness and trying to appease the evil actors in the world. Such weakness and appeasement only increases the likelihood of war. The other issue is whether we side with our allies, or defer to our enemies. Biden's actions have mostly sided with our ally Israel, but his words have deferred to Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.
"Mr. Biden has undermined the U.S. ability to deter adversaries because he fears any escalation, ceding the advantage to Iran, Russia and China. Israel can't afford such indulgence. It's survival is at stake." (From the 9/30/24 editorial in the WSJ.)
At the very beginning of my blog, in 2009, I wrote a post called "Iranian Nukes." (It was written on 9/26/09 and posted on 11/26/09 - the date my daughters set up the blog for me.) That post was followed shortly thereafter with "Iranian Nukes, Part II," posted 2/21/10. Then, on 3/11/2012, I posted "What To Do About Iran?" That post gives the opinions of multiple commentators. As you can see, the issue of how to deal with the nuclear program of the religious fanatics who rule Iran has been going on for quite some time.
When George W. Bush was president, I advocated for a joint strike force of the U.S., France, the U.K. and Israel, conducting an aerial assault on Iran's then much less developed nuclear facilities. I felt that such a unified force would send a message to Russia and China to stay out of it. But, while many U.S. presidents have said they would not allow Iran to get nukes, the reality has been quite different.
Which is why I agree with the 10/3/2024 editorial in the WSJ: "If Mr. Biden won't take this opportunity to destroy Iran's nuclear program, the least he can do is not stop Israel from doing the job for its own self-preservation." After all, says the Journal: "Israel has made its biggest military and strategic gains when it has ignored such U.S. advice" to stand down. Amen to that.
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