On January 3, 2020, the Trump administration conducted a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, and killed Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani.
This from frontpagemag.com.
Soleimani had a long record of waging surrogate wars against Americans, especially during the Iraq conflict and its aftermath.
After Trump cancelled the Iran Deal, followed by U.S. sanctions, Soleimani reportedly stepped-up violence against regional American military bases—most of which Trump himself ironically wished to remove.
A few days later, Iran staged a performance-art retaliatory strike against Americans in Iraq and Syria, assuming Trump had no desire for a wider Middle East war.
Recall, Iran launched 12 missiles that hit two U.S. airbases in Iraq. Supposedly, Tehran had warned the Trump administration of the impending attacks that killed no Americans. Later reports, however, suggested that some Americans suffered concussions and more damage was done to the bases than was initially disclosed.
[T]his Iranian interlude seemed to reflect Trump’s agenda of avoiding ‘endless wars’ in the Middle East while restoring deterrence that prevented, not prompted, full-scale conflicts.
Now, a second Trump administration—in a world made far more dangerous by the suicidal gestures of The Obiden Regime—may have difficulty reestablishing deterrence.
The policy of bringing America to its knees under which The Obiden Regime operated destroyed U.S. deterrence abroad through both actual and symbolic disasters:
– the Chinese dressing down of U.S. diplomats in Anchorage,
– the humiliating skedaddle from Afghanistan,
– the brazen flight of a Chinese spy balloon across the U.S.,
– the invasion of Ukraine by Russia,
– the October 7, 2023, massacre of 1200 Israelis [and citizens of various other countries,
– the serial Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea,
– the visible restraint of Israeli from fully replying to Iranian missile attacks on its homeland, and
– renewed bellicosity on the part of both North Korea and China toward American allies such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
A radically reformed Pentagon and a revitalized military in his second term will enable Trump to begin to reestablish a valued deterrence.
No doubt, though, Trump will be tested and American forces will be required to destroy something and/or kill someone to begin to effectively reestablish the deterrence The Obiden Regime by-design squandered.
Moreover, the U.S. is battered by an unsustainable $37 trillion national debt and a nonexistent southern border that has allowed 12 million illegal aliens to enter with impunity.
Trump will have to speak clearly and softly while carrying a club. And for the first few months of his administration, he will be tested as never before to make it clear to Iran and its terrorist surrogates, China, North Korea, and Russia that aggression against U.S. interests will be swiftly and quietly met with disproportionate and overwhelming repercussions.
Trump remains a Jacksonian. But such deterrence entails warning from time to time the reckless and adventurous abroad that our allies have no better friend than America and our adversaries no worse enemy.
Final thoughts: Trump’s selection of J.D. Vance as vice president was a great start. His cabinet and staff selections also will go a long way toward setting the proper tone that America will not be pushed around. His prompt action to put down communist/globalist crime syndicate sedition will also help establish a meaningful deterrence at home and abroad.
