Is Biden Teeing Up an Iran War for Trump?
President Joe Biden has less than a month in office, but that might be enough time to leave a very big mess on President-elect Donald Trump’s desk. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan presented Biden with plans to bomb Iranian nuclear sites before the end of his term “in a meeting several weeks ago,” Axios reported on Thursday. A source told Axios that Biden’s inner circle believes that he has both “an imperative and an opportunity to strike” now.
The same day, former Biden administration official Richard Nephew published an essay in Foreign Affairs arguing that “the case against military action is not so neat” anymore and that the United States “may have little choice but to attack Iran—and soon.” Nephew had once been a harsh critic of Trump’s attempts to pressure and threaten Iran. Now, like many other Democrats, he seems to be shifting from a dove to a hawk.
The Biden camp is following a path trod by the first Trump administration. Throughout Trump’s last year in office, his own inner circle talked about “military action to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons if Trump were to lose the election,” The New Yorker reported. A week after he lost the election, Trump asked for military options, The New York Times confirmed. The final discussion happened exactly four years ago—on January 3, 2021—when Trump’s advisers agreed that it was “too late to hit them,” according to The New Yorker.
In other words, the president starting a war that close to the end of his term would be severely overstepping his mandate.
At the time, Biden and his supporters called Trump a reckless warmonger. In January 2020, Biden accused Trump of “bringing us dangerously close to starting a brand new” war. In November 2020, Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D–Ill.) cited Trump’s interest in attacking Iran as an example of him endangering the “smooth, stable transition” of power. In December 2020, columnist Tom Nichols wrote in The Atlantic that there was a “real danger” that Trump would try “saddling Joe Biden with another war in the Middle East.”
Ironically, Biden’s advisers are now using the reduction of Iranian threats to make the case for war. Over the past two months, Israel has worn Iranian-backed forces down in Lebanon, and rebels forced Iranian troops out of Syria, a pair of successes that Biden took credit for. But at a conference last month, Sullivan warned that Iran’s regional weakness might push it to develop a nuclear weapon. And in private, Sullivan has been arguing that the same weakness would “decrease the risk of Iranian retaliation” to a U.S. attack, according to Axios.
A victory that immediately leads to an even bigger war is some victory indeed.
Sullivan’s bet on a limited war—that Iran would not shoot back if shot at—would be an extremely risky gamble. And even Nephew, who has warmed up to the case for war, does not believe that bombing the Iranian nuclear program would be a one-time job. “To
Article from Reason.com
The Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent analysis, investigative reporting, and thought-provoking commentary. Championing the principles of individual freedom, limited government, and free markets, the site offers a diverse range of articles, videos, and podcasts that challenge conventional wisdom and advocate for libertarian solutions. Whether you’re interested in politics, culture, or technology, Reason provides a unique lens that prioritizes liberty and rational discourse. It’s an essential resource for those who value critical thinking and nuanced debate in the pursuit of a freer society.
