A Reckoning With Iran is Imminent
Author: Greg Valliere
January 29, 2024
IRAN’S RADICAL MULLAHS may have finally over-played their hand. A deadly attack on U.S. troops by Iranian-backed forces in Syria this weekend will require an aggressive response by Washington, where the current mood of isolationism has its limits.
THE IRANIANS, FEARED AND HATED in much of the Mideast, have long been willing to support terrorists like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Huthis, but Tehran wants no fingerprints on its operations. Battlefield casualties? That’s for surrogates.
THE MOOD IN WASHINGTON has been increasingly anti-Iranian; both political parties in this city want retaliation for this weekend’s strikes, which killed three Americans and wounded 25. Hard liners like Lindsey Graham and John Bolton want regime change but the costs would be too steep.
WASHINGTON IS DIVIDED ON MOST ISSUES — perhaps one-quarter of Republicans oppose striking Iran — but the majority of conservatives are calling for retaliation, as are 80 percent of Democrats. So the political support for striking Iran seems to be solid — especially since Tehran is working feverishly on producing a nuclear bomb.
THE FOCUS NOW WILL SHIFT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN, who has been criticized for timid responses — mostly air strikes — after 150 attacks on U.S. forces by Iranian surrogates since Oct. 7, when the war began.
A WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL this morning concludes that Biden’s strategy — avoid escalation with Iran above all else — has failed. Biden will now have to strike back harder than if he had responded with devastating force the first time U.S. assets were hit, and every time since.
THE ALTERNATIVE is a growing American body count, the Journal says. Iran’s clients in Yemen are continuing to fire at U.S. warships in the Red Sea while holding a vital shipping lane hostage. Even if there’s an Israeli-Hamas truce, the Iranians will continue to stir the pot, with the increasing risk of more supply chain disruptions in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.
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