Biden must act
Stand with Israel against Hamas, Iran
On Oct. 7, the terrorist group Hamas unleashed a massive surprise attack against Israel, murdering at least 30 Americans and over 1,400 Israelis.
All Arkansans are united in horror, anger, and grief by these atrocities. But Hamas did not act alone—indeed, they could not have committed these atrocities without the assistance of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In light of these attacks, President Joe Biden should immediately reverse his policies and get tough on Iran.
Iran funded Hamas’ political organization in Gaza, assisted Hamas in manufacturing the rockets and drones that it launched at Israeli cities, and trained many of the Hamas terrorists who slaughtered innocent families. Worse still, The Wall Street Journal reports that Iranian officials—including Iran’s foreign minister—directly helped plot the Oct. 7 attacks.
Iran gave Hamas the money, the arms, the training, and the plans to commit mass murder against one of America’s closest allies. After Hamas committed these acts of evil, Iran’s Supreme Leader praised Hamas’ terrorism, writing “God willing, the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region.”
This Iranian-backed war against Israel should be a wake-up call for President Biden. It represents unmistakable proof that his administration’s policies of accommodation and appeasement have failed and only invited greater aggression.
Since Biden took office, Iran and its proxies have attacked American service members at least 83 times. Biden only responded four times.
In his very first days in office, Biden removed the Houthis, an Iranian-backed Yemeni terrorist group, from the United States government list of terrorist organizations. Shortly thereafter, the Houthis launched a major new military offensive against our partners in Saudi Arabia.
Also in his first 100 days, his administration announced that it would send hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Iran’s Palestinian allies, claiming that it would foster peace and stability in the region. The next month, Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorists launched over 4,000 rockets into Israel.
And Biden hasn’t stopped at military appeasement. Since taking office, he has helped unfreeze at least $10 billion in Iranian assets. And through his administration’s lax enforcement of sanctions, Biden has also helped Iran make an estimated $80 billion in oil profits since 2021.
Biden also agreed to unfreeze another $6 billion in Iranian cash. If this payment is approved, it would mean that Joe Biden handed nearly $100 billion to Iran in less than three years.
President Biden gave Iran every opportunity to reverse course and forge a constructive partnership with the United States. In my judgment, he gave Iran far too many opportunities to choose peace. Instead, Iran chose war. They should pay the price for that choice.
President Biden should permanently scrap the transfer of the $6 billion to Iran, implement crushing sanctions, and return to a policy of maximum economic pressure against Tehran. If Iran or its proxies attack American service members, Biden ought to respond with overwhelming force.
Most importantly, Biden must back Israel to the hilt in its war with Hamas. We must provide Israel with all the weapons, equipment, and ammunition it needs. And we must prevent any effort by the United Nations to end the conflict before Hamas is destroyed.
The Oct. 7 attacks showed us once and for all that the United States cannot appease the terrorists in Gaza or Tehran. Instead, we must seek their destruction as fervently as they seek ours.