By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-14 13:34:11 | Updated at 2024-11-21 22:47:56
1 week ago
Victor Davis Hanson: Restoring Deterrence Will Prevent Endless Wars
American Greatness ^ | 14 Nov, 2024 | Victor Davis Hanson
Posted on 11/14/2024 5:28:31 AM PST by MtnClimber
Trump must remind Americans only by deterring enemies can he prevent endless wars.
On January 3, 2020, the Trump administration conducted a drone strike near Baghdad International Airport, killing Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani.
Soleimani had a long record of waging surrogate wars against Americans, especially during the Iraq conflict and its aftermath.
After the Trump cancellation of the Iran Deal, followed by U.S. sanctions, Soleimani reportedly stepped up violence against regional American bases—most of which Trump himself ironically wished to remove.
A few days later, Iran staged a performance-art retaliatory strike against Americans in Iraq and Syria, assuming Trump had no desire for a wider Middle East war.
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So, Iran launched 12 missiles that hit two U.S. airbases in Iraq. Supposedly, Tehran had warned the Trump administration of the impending attacks that killed no Americans. Later reports, however, suggested that some Americans suffered concussions, while more damage was done to the bases than was initially disclosed.
Nonetheless, this Iranian interlude seemed to reflect Trump’s agenda of avoiding “endless wars” in the Middle East while restoring deterrence that prevented, not prompted, full-scale conflicts.
Yet in a second Trump administration, rethreading the deterrence needle without getting into major wars may become far more challenging. The world of today is far more dangerous than when Trump left in 2021.
An inept Biden administration has utterly destroyed U.S. deterrence abroad through both actual and symbolic disasters: the Chinese dressing down of U.S. diplomats in Anchorage; the humiliating skedaddle from Afghanistan; the brazen flight of a Chinese spy balloon across the U.S.; the invasion of Ukraine by Russia; the October 7, 2023 massacre of 1200 Israelis; the serial Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea; the visible restraint of Israel
(Excerpt) Read more at amgreatness.com ...
TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: victordavishanson
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1 posted on 11/14/2024 5:28:31 AM PST by MtnClimber
To: MtnClimber
The democRATs seem to like endless wars. It amazes me when leftists claim President Trump is going to start wars all over the world.
2 posted on 11/14/2024 5:28:44 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)
To: texas booster
3 posted on 11/14/2024 5:29:07 AM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page. More photos added.)
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