Tensions between the United States and certain Iran-backed factions, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, have been on the rise since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. President Biden and Iran have each engaged in strikes against enemy targets across a host of countries from Pakistan to Yemen. And even as the U.S. and Iran both officially reiterate that they are not seeking a hot war, hostilities between them continue to grow.
Straight Arrow News contributor Newt Gingrich says that President Biden has taken an approach of appeasement towards Iran and warns that the Iranian regime is deadly serious about its threats against Americans. Gingrich indicates the U.S. should send a more direct and decisive message to Iran.
President Biden’s policy of appeasement and weakness in the Middle East is going to run a very big risk of a much larger war. Let’s be really clear. When we read about the Houthis, for example, trying to set up a blockade of the Red Sea, firing missiles at ships, when we look at Hamas, in the area south of Israel, when we look at Hezbollah, in Lebanon, the area north of Israel, we look at events in Syria, when we see missiles being fired into Iraq to try to kill Americans — all of this is the Iranians.
The Houthis aren’t building their own missiles, they’re getting weapons from Iran. Hezbollah is not a danger by itself, [it’s a] danger because it’s funded, trained and equipped by Iran. The Iranians are in Syria. The Iranians are sponsoring the groups in Iraq that are trying to kill Americans. Basically, the Iranians know that they are in a long, grueling, gray war with Americans. They don’t want it to get too hot.
They remember vividly that when Ronald Reagan reacted, he destroyed half of the Iranian Navy in nine hours — they didn’t do anything for the rest of the Reagan administration. So they know that if the U.S. does get angry enough, it can be very, very decisive.
But they’re also measuring the personality and the character of Joe Biden.
