The Moment Of Truth Is Upon Us
By
Leonard Zwelling
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/28/us/politics/biden-iran-drone-strike.html?searchResultPosition=1
There’s a moment that faces every doctor sooner or later. He or she is caring for a very sick patient and doing so all alone. The patient could be a newborn preemie. It could be a GI bleeder. It could be a gunshot wound. It could be a young college student threatening to commit suicide. These are all medical emergencies requiring great knowledge and good judgment on the part of the physician if the patient is going to survive. All of us physicians have been there. We had anticipated the moment and hoped we were up to the task when the moment arrived.
As the attached pieces from The New York Times on January 29 illustrate, that moment has come for President Biden when it comes to the Middle East and to foreign policy in general.
It has been revealed that some 12 members of UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine, the agency aiding the Palestinian people on behalf of the United Nations since 1949, participated in some way in the October 7 massacre that resulted in the deaths of over 1200 Israelis and the taking of over 200 hostages, some of whom are still in Gaza. The first article by Ronen Bergman and Patrick Kingsley notes that a dossier about this was provided to the United States from the Israeli government. The US has stopped its support of UNRWA as have several other countries. It’s not enough. If people employed by UNRWA aided Hamas, UNRWA has to be ended in its current embodiment.
The dossier names names. Israel used cell phone tracking to trace at least six of these employees in Israel on October 7 and the dossier indicates ten of the UNRWA workers were members of Hamas.
This is what Israel is up against. This is the reality of the Middle East.
But this weekend brought a new reality to President Biden when three US troops were killed by a drone in Jordan. Whether or not that drone was from Iran or another Iranian proxy does not matter. Bombing Houthis in Yemen will not get at the problem facing President Biden now.
Whether or not he likes it, the United States is at war with Iran. This blog has been consistent and adamant that this has been the case for months. All we hear from the Biden Administration is that they want to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East beyond Gaza. Forget about it. It is already here.
There is no containing the Iranian aggression, nor its connection to events in Ukraine and its potential spillover to China unless action is taken now. The United States is being tested by its many enemies with regard to its resolve to stop the ineluctable march of totalitarian regimes everywhere seeking to encroach upon freedom. This really is a battle of good vs. evil. It is not subtle as Secretary of State Blinken seems to think.
This is the moment of testing for the Biden Administration.
First, it is time to strike a definitive blow on Iranian soil. The Iranians need to know that their proxy wars in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq will no longer be tolerated. And Iran cannot get its hands on an atomic weapon. Mr. Netanyahu is right on this one. This must be prevented at all costs.
Second, make the deal on the southern border that will get funds flowing to Ukraine and Israel. For goodness’ sake, act like a President. Call the congressional leaders to the White House and hammer out the deal despite the fact that Donald Trump does not want this to happen and take away his major campaign issue.
Third, immediately station 200,000 troops in Taiwan. We must have a military presence there as well as bolster our support for Ukraine or President Xi will follow Putin’s lead and go after territory he believes belongs to him.
Mr. Biden can no longer avoid leading on the international scene. Only the United States can strike the necessary blow in Iran, support the Ukrainian’s fight for freedom, and prevent a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Like it or not, it’s up to us.
Is Mr. Biden up to this? Wake him up from his nap and ask him.
