President Biden has repeatedly warned Tehran that America will defend Israel against Iranian attack, and the U.S. made good on its promise Saturday night, both shooting down drones and missiles and coordinating the broader allied response. But why didn’t Iran heed his warnings in the first place? The editors of National Review have an answer:
Since October 7, whenever Biden has been asked about the possibility of Iran getting involved in the fighting, he has simply said “Don’t,” without offering any explanation of what would happen if it did. What Iran has seen from the U.S., sadly, has been weakness. For months, Iran has had its proxies fire at U.S. military assets in the region and harass shipping lanes. Aside from a few symbolic retaliatory strikes, the Biden response has been muted.
More recently, what Iran has witnessed has been Biden and other U.S. officials berating Israel for its response to the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Biden has chastised Israeli actions as “over the top” and its bombing as “indiscriminate.” He has cited Hamas casualty figures uncritically and warned Israel against finishing off the terrorist group in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, threatening to condition aid to Israel. And he has tried to pressure Israel into ceding more and more ground in cease-fire talks. . . .
Biden’s actions sent a clear signal to Iran’s leaders that the U.S. had abandoned Israel and that it was now free to launch the type of attack that it had resisted doing for over 40 years.
Any action by the Biden administration to prevent Israel from doing what must be done after months of warning Iran “Don’t” would only further embolden Iran, leading to more frequent and ambitious attacks, and inviting the very regional conflict Biden is desperate to avoid. Instead, Israel must have our unwavering support for a devastating response against Iran.
Read more on National Review: https://www.nationalreview.com/2024/04/the-failure-of-bidens-doctrine-of-dont/