The Middle East Is in Deep Trouble—and So Are We

By Susan Quinn, Ricochet.com

How many times did the Obama Administration lie to us during Obama’s Presidency? Most of us have probably lost track. But did you realize that they lied at least 14 times about the JCPOA?

President Trump removed us from this abomination of a deal and instituted sanctions on Iran for their duplicitous activities on the JCPOA; unfortunately, the Biden Administration has reversed his actions and even worse, are using most of Obama’s original team to complete the deal with Iran. These activities will not only jeopardize peace in the Middle East, but create an existential threat to Israel and most importantly, put our own national security at risk. The arrogance and naivete of Biden’s team is pathetic at best, and treacherous at worst. We are all in deep trouble.

The Biden Administration has decided that Iran is a better choice for leading the Middle East than the Saudis. They’ve demonstrated their intentions in a number of ways. Although Secretary of State Blinken has stated that the U.S. must “toe a harder line” in the JCPOA negotiations, our actions have confirmed the opposite. (This excellent article explains what is occurring in the “negotiations,” and the reasons.) A key player for the U.S. team is Robert Malley, who was on Obama’s team, and seems to be driving the Biden strategy. Biden’s people agree not only that Obama’s original agenda must be completed, but they have already agreed to a number of concessions in principle. Abbas Aragchi, Iran’s lead negotiator in Vienna, indicates the following:

The American negotiators, he claimed, had already agreed in principle to remove sanctions on Iran’s energy sector, automotive industry, financial services, banking industry, and ports—to eliminate, in other words, all of the most significant economic sanctions ever imposed on Iran. Recent statements from Biden administration officials give us no reason to disbelieve Araghchi, and the smart money is now on a full resurrection of the JCPOA in relatively short order.

So why do the Obama/Biden administrations back Iran in a way that will assist its leadership role in the Middle East? According to Robert Malley:

The president’s ‘ultimate goal’ Malley wrote, was ‘to help the [Middle East] find a more stable balance of power that would make it less dependent on direct U.S. interference or protection.’ That is a roundabout way of saying that Obama dreamed of a new Middle Eastern order—one that relies more on partnership with Iran.

So, Obama believed that with the leadership of Iran (the only Shia nation in the Middle East that hates the Sunni states, and is busy supplying terrorists worldwide), we are likely to be able to pull back in our involvement, at least militarily. And of course, Obama progressed in his plans through lies, deception, and confusion, and Biden’s people are continuing in the same vein. Their efforts will compromise the power of the Sunni states as Iran continues to grow in power.

How will Biden be able to conduct this “Realignment” (a term that Michael Doran has used)? Who will stop them?

Israel is tied to the U.S. which supplies the Iron Dome; Netanyahu is not about to jeopardize that critically important supply line. Progressivism is less than enamored of its relationship with Israel:

Contemporary progressivism is, shall we say, less than enthusiastic about Zionism. One of its cherished goals is to reduce American support for Israel, and the Realignment helps it realize that ambition—but it does so slyly. It refrains from making its anti-Zionism explicit for fear of stirring up opposition to the project among the largely pro-Israel American people. But by upgrading relations with Iran, the Realignment perforce downgrades the Jewish state.

The U.S. is also putting pressure on Saudi Arabia to end its war with Yemen. The Biden administration has already removed the Houthis from the terrorism list. These efforts are intended to downgrade the Saudis’ status and pressure them into dealing with Iran.

The U.S. has also re-instated supportive steps for the Palestinians: restarted the funding for the United National Relief and Works Agency (which has demonstrated repeatedly its anti-Israel positions); it denies the existence of the Abraham Accords; reiterated the plight of the Palestinians and ignored the attacks by the Gazans; and returned to describing the “disputed” Palestinian territories as “occupied.”

Biden’s people, at this stage, are indifferent to the Iranians developing a nuclear weapon; its efforts are secondary to the grander scheme of transforming the Middle East.

Do all of these decisions affect the US and our national security?—

The tilt toward Iran in Yemen also has sinister implications for America’s rivalry with its greatest competitor in the world today. China and Iran recently signed a 25-year ‘strategic partnership’ that funnels hundreds of millions of dollars into Iran, helping Tehran expand its nuclear power program, modernize its ports, and develop its energy sector. The deal also includes greater cooperation on defense and the transfer of Chinese military technology. Meanwhile, Beijing is upgrading its naval base in Djibouti, building a dock that can accommodate aircraft carriers 20 miles from Yemen across the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which controls the approaches to the Suez Canal from the Indian Ocean. With each passing day, the prospect of a Chinese-Iranian alliance capable of dominating the strait increases.

Of course, we are not hearing about these decisions, and when the Biden people are forced to address them, they speak in vague and confusing terms. If they were taking legitimate steps, I think we would hear much more.

The primary article I referenced in this post concludes with this statement:

Now that we can see past the cute tricks that hide the Realignment’s true goals, we can state its four strategic imperatives in plain English: First, allow Tehran an unfettered nuclear weapons program by 2031; second, end the sanctions on the Iranian economic and financial system; third, implement a policy of accommodation of Iran and its tentacles in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon; and fourth, force that policy on America’s closest allies. If the United States follows those commandments, then a kind of natural regional balance will fall into place. The United States, so the thinking goes, will then finally remove itself from the war footing that traditional allies, with their anti-Iran agenda, have forced on it. Thereafter, diplomatic engagement with Iran will be the primary tool needed to maintain regional stability.

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To say that these steps taken by the Biden administration are baffling would be an understatement. What in the world causes them to believe that the Iranians are at all interested in working with the U.S.? Why are we choosing to work with an organization that blatantly supports terrorist organizations? Are we abandoning Saudi Arabia because it has the possibility of forging a new future with Israel? Do they believe that the Iranians can achieve their goals through peaceful, diplomatic means? What would lead the Biden administration to believe those goals are not only achievable, but the Iranians care about working with us?

This situation demonstrates arrogance, ignorance, and naivete at its worst. And the world, not just the Middle East, will pay the price.