The money sentence: “After nearly a full term in office, the Biden administration boasts not a single proactive foreign policy idea.” From Ted Snider at antiwar.com:
On January 28, the event the U.S. had expected and long dreaded happened. Drones launched by what President Biden called “radical Iran-backed militant groups” struck a U.S. outpost in Jordan on the border with Iraq, killing three American service members and injuring 34 more.
There have been more than 150 attacks by Iran-backed militias on American forces in the region since October 7. But this one is different. It is the first time American troops have been killed in the strikes, and the Biden administration has said that if an Iran-backed militia strike kills a US troop, the U.S. may strike inside Iran.
Sunday’s fatal strike did not move U.S. intelligence agencies to change their assessment that Iran does not intend to start a wider war with the attack in Jordan. Nonetheless, Biden’s advisors agree that the fatal strike “will require a different level of response.” In front of a choir of senatorial calls to “Hit Iran now. Hit them hard” and that Biden would be “a coward unworthy of being commander-in-chief” if he didn’t, Biden vowed that “we shall respond.”
When the Houthi of Yemen began targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea, the Biden administration issued a similar promise to respond. “Let our message now be clear…. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue.” The U.S. has followed through on the threat to respond by striking Yemen eight times, though Biden has acknowledged that the response is not working.
And it’s not. On January 27, the Houthi hit a U.K. registered tanker with a missile; the next day, a British war ship had to deploy a missile to shoot down a Houthi drone that was targeting another ship. The Houthi say they targeted the ships in response to the U.S. and U.K. response.
But but muh foreign policy genius?
How do they even know if it came Syria, Jordan?
Interesting that it took place where three borders meet, sort of like Four Corners in Commierado with Utah, Arizona, New Mexico lines.
Saw a comment of the day that this is all part of the Sino-Russian weaken and bleed out strategy.
Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the
enemy’s plans; the next best is to prevent the junction
of the enemy’s forces; the next in order is to attack the
enemy’s army in the field; and the worst policy of all is
to besiege walled cities.
Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s
troops without any fighting; he captures their cities
without laying siege to them; he overthrows their king-
dom without lengthy operations in the field.
With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of
the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph
will be complete. This is the method of attacking by
stratagem.
Sun Tzu, The Art of WAR