By Ray Cardello for April 20, 2024, Season 25 / Post 50

Listening to the experts analyze the Israeli attack on Iran on Friday morning, you could hear one common thread, and it was not complimentary of the Biden Administration. The assessment is that Biden has no military or diplomatic acumen, which is also true for his team. Biden has America involved in two wars involving our allies. There has been no wavering on Ukraine as Biden cannot be more supportive. He has gone back to the well many times for funding for Ukraine, and many will say with conviction that he has a vested interest in Ukraine funding as a percentage is kicked back to him and the Democrats. There is no end in sight for the Ukraine/Russia conflict, nor a quest for more funding.

Israel is a different story for Biden. He initially declared unconditional support for Netanyahu and Israel after the October 7 attack by Hamas. Still, things changed quickly as the political climate in America shifted support to Hamas, Palestine, and a break in our longtime support for Israel. The protests on college campuses in support of Hamas and Palestine and against Biden’s support of Israel has forced Biden to make the political shift rather than show a spine and continue support of Israel. Biden would rather turn his back on Israel in exchange for the vote of the young protesters and their supporters.

Israel’s actions this week speak volumes about how they view Joe Biden. Biden has been calling for restraint and no retaliation by Israel against Iran, which attacked Israel last weekend. Netanyahu would make no comment saying he would yield to the American wishes. The Israel attack on Iran Friday was a message to both Iran and America. Israel will defend itself, as she should. The Israel attack was small and strategic. They sent drones into Iran’s nuclear region, telling Iran we can hit you where and when we want. Israel did not notify Biden before the attack.

Biden has announced a new round of sanctions on Iran because of their direct attack on Israel. This is not Iran’s first attack against Israel, as they have been attacking using their proxies, but this attack was the first to emanate from Iranian soil. These sanctions are insignificant and do not negate the favorable actions that Biden took on Day 1 to reverse stringent sanctions placed on Iran by Donald Trump. Trump had put a stranglehold on Iran by freezing Iranian money in American banks and preventing Iran from selling oil to Russia, China, or Iraq. These actions cut off significant sources of cash needed by Iran for its nuclear program and to support terrorism. Biden restored all of these primarily because they were Trump’s decisions. Biden and Blinken both claim that Trump facilitated Iran’s nuclear program by voiding the Iran Nuclear Agreement. That is an outright lie. Trump shut off the funds and the agreement, which was condoning Iran achieving a nuclear warhead. Biden negated both of those. He has freed billions in a combination of relaxed sanctions and oil income from our adversaries. Biden and Blinken are playing a game of projection and gaslighting. Now, those are two games this administration is proficient.

Sanctions is a powerful but complex word. A political hack like Biden uses it to make an impact, as most people perceive sanctions to cripple a country and its economy. There are many levels of sanctions, and those used by Biden on Iran are minor and will have little impact on the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world.