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Foreign Policy
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How Stupid Do They Think We Are?
The Biden administration has made innumerable missteps, lied to the American public repeatedly and done a ghastly job of managing “refugees” allowed into the country—why in the world would they think we’d welcome an influx of Palestinian refugees now?
Let me explain the purported reasons that the administration thinks this is a sensible idea followed, in some cases, by the reason it’s not:
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This week Dennis is casting a very wide net and reeling in stuff that… well, stinks like dead fish. From jury selection in the Trump criminal trial in NY to the new CEO of National Public Radio to the SCOTUS arguments on the J6 convictions to the foreign policy of the Biden Administration… it all smells to high heaven.
And we’re taking a deep dive into the mess Biden is making of the Middle East with Richard Goldberg, who served as the Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the White House National Security Council under President Donald Trump.
Dealing with Iran, circa 2015
I find myself flummoxed by the misconceptions of Iran and the government that rules it. Many imagine the Persians to be backward Middle Eastern rubes, or think the President of Iran is somehow a moderate, or find themselves fooled by the debates and tensions that seem to fill the country. As I see it, the simple truth is that Ayatollah Khomeini was a political genius.
In the early 90s, the Soviet Union fell. In the early 2000s, the Color Revolutions swept numerous states. In 2010, the Arab Spring began to set the Arab world to tinder.
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What Would be a Productive Israeli Response?
I’m generally pretty hawkish about Israel responding to its enemies — about responding to militant Islamic theocracies and genocidal maniacs (but I repeat myself) in general, in fact. But Israel has choices, and I wonder if, in this case, the best choice might be to continue with the current effort of destroying Hamas, and t0 leave the response, or at least the visible response, to Iran for another day.
I think Iran has demonstrated its current lack of ability to seriously harm Israel. Let that message sink in, and let Iran’s dependents live with the realization that Iran has invited eventual Israeli retaliation through an unprecedented yet embarrassingly ineffectual act.
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Does Iran Know What It’s Doing?
I wonder who’s running the show in Iran? Who’s running the show in the U.S.? Iran’s attack on Israel is the oddest combination of actions and comments that I think I’ve ever seen.
First, they alerted their neighbors that they were going to attack Israel. But some of those countries were probably delighted to have advance warning, such as Jordan, who fought against the Iranians when they sent their drones and missiles.
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Counterattack?
I do not support a counterattack on Iran. Last night was a catastrophe for the Ayatollahs. They lost major face in terms of their display of military power. It was a ridiculous display of impotence. >300 missiles, ballistic missiles and drones – each celebrated with wall art as a demonstration of Iran’s ability burn Israeli cities and crush the Israeli military and they hit a single base and hurt a single child.
This is showing that they *can’t* issue a direct attack. Their allies just got left out to dry.