Biden’s Iran Policy Blamed For Hamas Attack On Israel
Hamas’ attack on Israel has reignited the US Republicans’ charge on the White House.
Hamas’ attack on Israel has reignited the US Republicans’ charge on the White House.
As the casualties soar and the US ‘adversaries’ smirk, critics of the Biden administration boil in anger and disgust.
“Nine Americans are dead, an unknown number are missing or held hostage, yet President Biden is nowhere to be seen and has nothing to say,” Senator Tom Cotton wrote on X. “He’s totally overmatched by events and paralyzed in a crisis, partly because his own foolish appeasement of Iran fueled a campaign of terror.”
Not surprisingly, Biden’s Iran policy is a common attack line.
The administration’s secret talks in search of an informal nuclear deal with the Iranian regime was never popular in Washington. Releasing $6 billion of frozen assets as part of the ‘prisoner swap’ was even less popular. And hiring someone with deep, longstanding ties with Tehran for a senior role in the Pentagon was almost universally disapproved.
But then came the unprecedented attack on Israel from a group supported by Iran, which took everything to the next level. More than 900 Israelis have been killed in the attacks.
“The Saturday attack was really an Iranian attack on Israel, using Hamas as a surrogate,” opined John Bolton on X. “The Biden Administration should get a spine and pin the blame on Tehran where it belongs.”
John Bolton is no friend of the ayatollahs, of course. He has been pushing for regime change in Iran for two decades at least. But this time his calls may find more willing ears than ever.
There’s no clear evidence that the Iranian regime had a direct role in the attacks on Israel. This is the official line –from both Tehran and Washington. But it seems to have convinced no one.
“The Biden administration hasn’t acknowledged Iran’s involvement in Hamas’s terrorism because it would be an indictment of the administration’s disastrous concessions to Iran,” Senator Cotton again.
And Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State, whom the Islamic Republic reportedly wanted to assassinate: “Make no mistake: this is at its core about historic efforts by Iran to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.”
Pompeo’s remarks could’ve been shrugged off as personal vendetta, had it not been echoed by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic himself.
“God willing,” he was quoted on his official X account, “the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region.”
Some believe the Iranian regime is hoping for another US military entanglement in the Middle East. One involving others, of course. It’s a smart plan. But any miscalculation could prove costly.
As Israeli forces gear up for what seems to be a large-scale ground operation in Gaza, the US is dispatching aircraft carriers to the region.
The Biden administration does not seem to be looking for military confrontation with Iran. But he may have to do something meaningful to fight off the constant accusations of ‘appeasement’ in an election year.
In the past few weeks, the ‘Iran influence scandal’ has further eroded Biden’s shaky approval rates. His administration has done little to address concerns about the US Iran Envoy, Robert Malley, whose security clearance has been taken away while the FBI investigates his ‘handling’ of classified information.
The Republicans see Malley as a promising pressure point. They have been pushing it for a few months now, and they are likely to push it harder after the attack on Israel.
“Biden’s Special Envoy Rob Malley hired and placed Iranian assets in government positions with access to classified information,” wrote Rep. Claudia Tenney on X, “Congress must investigate whether any classified information provided by these Iranian assets was used in planning this horrific invasion of Israel.”
