Pompeo: Iran and Putin Are Proof Positive That Biden’s Weakness Causes Foreign Aggression

Sadly, what many of us feared would happen has now occurred: Attacks by an Iranian proxy force this week on an American base in Jordan claimed the lives of three American soldiers and injured over 30 more.  Together with two Navy SEALs, who perished earlier this month following a mission to seize lethal aid being sent to the Houthis by Iran, five American soldiers have now lost their lives in a conflict Iran is intent on escalating further.  Losing these brave, upstanding, and worthy Americans is a tragedy – not only because good men and women are now dead, but because the conflict in which they lost their lives was entirely avoidable.

The Biden Administration’s appeasement of the Iranian regime has plunged the region into chaos and war, and now it is costing American lives. As I’ve said before – appeasement leads to war.  Only strength and deterrence create peace.  The Biden Administration must abandon its approach and restore deterrence with the Ayatollah using every means necessary, beginning by avenging the deaths of these brave Americans.

Following the attacks in Jordan, President Biden attempted to reassure the nation that his Administration would prevent further attacks by responding “in a time and manner of [its] choosing.”  But any conviction and resolve he intended to display went out the window almost immediately when his officials returned to the same tired, rote statements of weakness that have defined this Administration’s posture toward Iran.  National Security spokesman John Kirby stated repeatedly, “We are not looking for a war with Iran. We are not seeking a conflict with the regime in a military way.”  Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reiterated the President’s stated commitment to respond, yet that message was almost immediately undermined by his own spokesperson, who said, “We certainly don’t seek a war and, frankly, we don’t see Iran wanting to seek a war with the United States.”

It’s incredible.  Since Iran’s proxy, Hamas, attacked Israel on October 7th, Iran has mobilized every resource at its disposal to continually escalate conflict with the United States.  It has attacked our military bases over 160 times during that span, which is why three American soldiers are now dead.  Iran has armed the Houthis and helped them coordinate their strikes in the Red Sea, which is why two Navy SEALs are now dead.  Iran clearly believes that it is at war with America – yet this Administration seems to live in a fantasy world where armed conflict doesn’t exist.

The Obama and Biden Administrations’ foreign policy “strategy” has resulted in failure: Putin annexed Crimea, ISIS established a caliphate, and Iran was enriched by a broken deal.  Now, Afghanistan has been retaken by dangerous radicals, Putin invaded more of Ukraine, Israel was attacked by Iranian-backed terrorists, and even commercial shipping is threatened in the Red Sea.  All the while, China has grown more emboldened and powerful – something I spoke about in testimony to Congress earlier this week.

It cannot be debated that Obama and Biden’s policies, defined by weakness and appeasement, have utterly failed.  In their zeal to “park” Russia and make a deal with Iran, they only encouraged more aggression.  You can see this happening now: Every time Kirby or NSA Jake Sullivan state that their Administration is not “seeking a conflict” with Iran, they telegraph to the Ayatollah and his proxies that this Administration lacks the resolve to fight, win, and deter conflict.  That encourages our enemies to take more and more, not back down or seek a deal.

In the Trump Administration, we understood a fundamental truth: The United States’ adversaries will only seek peace if they know they cannot profit from war.  We didn’t want war. As a former soldier, war is the last thing I would ever want.  And war was avoided because we took strong action.  Team Biden’s intellectual, high-minded visions of economic cooperation with Iran ignore the fundamental reality that for decades, the Ayatollah has called America the “Great Satan,” and wishes our destruction and Israel’s.

Notions that Putin will back down in the face of U.S. and European solidarity – too often expressed on paper rather than hard power – ignore the reality of Putin’s vision to build back the Soviet Union.  We recognized these realities in the Trump Administration, and we took the steps necessary to deter these actors by applying maximum pressure on Iran and convincing Putin that an invasion would fail and cripple his regime.  Our goal was not to “manage escalation” or constantly respond to incoming threats; our goal was to keep them from happening in the first place. To win.  As a result, we had four years of relative peace.  The last three years have been the exact opposite.

We are long past the point of arguing about theory or approach, though.  Five Americans are now dead due to Iran’s terror, fueled by Biden’s indecision and weakness.  Thirteen more died in Afghanistan due to his same failures.  Each of these deaths was an absolute tragedy, and each could have been avoided.  To ensure the safety and security of all Americans – including the lives of our men and women serving abroad – we must elect leaders in 2024 who, like the Trump Administration in 2016, will clean up the messes left by Obama and Biden.

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