Tough Trump deterrence will prevent the endless wars inept Biden risked
On Jan.3, 2020, the Trump administration conducted a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, killing Iranian Maj.-Gen.
Qassem Soleimani.Soleimani had a long record of waging surrogate wars against Americans, especially during the Iraq conflict and its aftermath.After the Trump cancellation of the Iran nuclear deal, followed by US sanctions, Soleimani reportedly stepped up violence against regional American 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.So Iran launched 12 missiles that hit two US air bases 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, while more damage was done to the bases than was initially disclosed.Nonetheless, this 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.Yet in a second Trump administration, rethreading the deterrence needle without getting into major wars may become far more challenging.The world of today is far more dangerous than when Trump left in 2021.An inept Biden administration has utterly destroyed US deterrence abroad through both actual and symbolic disasters: the Chinese dressing-down of US diplomats in Anchorage; the humiliating skedaddle from Afghanistan; the brazen flight of a Chinese spy balloon across the US; the invasion of Ukraine by Russia; the Oct.
7, 2023 massacre of 1,200 Israelis; the serial Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea; the visible restraint of Israel 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...