Joe’s Mideast Tinderbox
The Middle East is aflame — and looks to remain that way for some time, if not get worse. This is the world President Biden has produced. Most worrisome: Iran’s on the cusp of nuclear breakout. Our feckless prez expended huge amounts of time and energy early in his term trying to resurrect his former boss Barack Obama’s disastrous nuclear deal.
The result: Iran’s now ramping up production of enriched uranium to near-weapons grade and is thisclose to having enough stockpiled to assemble at least a few nukes.
Biden fecklessness also played a role, at least indirectly, in the Oct. 7 Hamas atrocities by empowering Iran, a key player behind the attacks. Hamas itself might have sensed increasing daylight between the US under Biden and its greatest regional ally.
The president continues to give the terrorists hope with ugly statements like his recent whopper that Israel is bombing indiscriminately. The cadre’s wholehearted rejection this week of any peace offer is another consequence: Hamas leadership has sussed out that Biden’s backing of Israel is limited and is betting he’ll turn against the Jewish state yet, forcing it to stand down prematurely.
Israel faces an existential fight, one that forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pledge more action until Hamas is destroyed. The fighting won’t likely end soon.
Jerusalem’s also now facing direct threats from Iran, after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Commander Sayyed Razi Mousavi was killed in an airstrike in Syria.
To say nothing of the recent humiliation the US suffers in the Red Sea and the endless attacks on our military assets across the region. There, the Iran-backed Houthis have made the area unsafe for commercial-ship traffic. Yes, the US launched “Operation Prosperity Guardian” to protect such shipping. But how credible is that deterrence?
Iran’s making direct threats there, too, promising “the closure of the Mediterranean” unless we desert Israel. Iranian proxies have also been striking at US military targets, causing dozens of severe injuries.
Biden at last ordered a meaningful retaliation against Iraq’s Hezbollah after the Iranbacked terror group injured three US troops in a drone attack. But it’s too little, too late. Fact is, the Middle East is on fire. Biden’s horribly misguided approach to the region was like pouring gasoline on a tinderbox and then inviting our enemies to light the match.