Iran’s Al-Quds division of the Revolutionary Guards hijacked a Turkish-flagged, Chinese-owned Advantage Sweet d oil freighter in the Gulf of Oman en route to the United States, demonstrating a brazen breach of international law. Iran’s Al-Quds forces typically use swift boats to commandeer unprotected vessels, blindsided by state-sponsored swift-boat terrorist actions. U.S. 5th Fleet operates around the Persian Gulf said Iran had hijacked at least five oil freighters in the last two years, attesting to the ongoing threat to international shipping. Like Somali pirates in the Horn of Africa, Iran operates with impunity, rarely challenged by the U.S. or any other country. Iran usually stays away from Russian and Chinese freighters, knowing the possible consequences. With the U.S. under 80-year-old President Joe Biden, there’s no restraint, even a zealotry at attacking any U.S. assets.
Biden finds himself mired in the Ukraine War, bleeding the U.S. Treasury of over $100 billion, continuing to take on the Kremlin. Hijacking the Turkish-flagged Advantage Sweet shows that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has no fear of U.S. reprisals. Biden spent the last two years placating Iran, promising to reinstate the former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iranian Nuke Deal AKA the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA]. Only recently has Biden accepted that he can’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again, even if it means he can’t get even with former President Donald Trump. Watching the Turkish-flagged freighter hijacked shows that the Biden administration has no resources to respond to Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism. Tehran claims that the Advantage Sweet hit an Iranian ship in the Gulf, prompting Al-Qud’s force to commandeer the freighter.
Pentagon officials usually help escort U.S.-flagged freighters through the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman with a strike group, ready to respond to unprovoked Iranian swift boat attacks. When former President Barack Obama was in charge, Al-Quds force hijacked Jan. 26, 2016 a U.S. riverine command boat with 10 U.S. seamen. Iran videotaped the crew apologizing and begging for forgiveness for crossing into Iran’s territorial waters. “Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are a threat to maritime security and the global economy,” said the Navy’s 5th Fleet. With all U.S military consumed by Ukraine, there’s no coherent foreign policy to manage developing threats around the globe. Biden has burnt all bridges with U.S. adversaries, especially Russia and China. Russian President Vladimir Putin, 70, could help in the past settle down Iran.
Biden has burned the candle at both ends, prosecuting a deadly proxy war using Ukrainian troops against the Kremlin while, at the same time, threatening China for considering consequence in the Taiwan Strait. Chinese President Xi Jinping, 69, emphatically asserts China’s right to sovereignty over Taiwan. Biden told Xi Sept. 23, 2022 that he would send U.S. troops, if needed, to defend Taiwan. However bad the situation in Ukraine, Biden has not promised U.S. troops to stop the ongoing Russian invasion. Yet when it comes to Taiwan, with the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act in place, Biden tells China he would defend Taiwan. So, with the prospects for war with Beijing escalating and the ongoing war against the Kremlin, there’s simply no resources to deal wit rogue regimes like Iran. When it comes to North Korea threatening South Korea and the U.S., Biden’s hands are tied.
U.S. 5th Fleet operating near the Persian Gulf needs to respond urgently to the latest Iranian terrorist act. As long as there are no consequences for the Ayatollah, he will continue to torment U.S. and allied shipping in international waters. When Iran hijacked the U.S. riverine command boat taking 10 sailors hostage, Obama did nothing, just like Biden today. Biden puts U..S. military might in the worst possible place, battling the Kremlin and flirting with war with China. With so many hot spots around the globe, the Pentagon can’t afford to be mired in a senseless, un-winnable war with the Russian Federation. Biden needs to stop his warmongering with Russia, get back to normalized diplomacy with U.S. adversaries. No president in U.S. history has done more to damage U.S. national security than Biden. Failing to respond to Iran’s latest state-sponsored terrorism encourages criminal acts.
Biden’s foreign policy has been caught in a vice between Russia and China. Deciding to go to war against the Kremlin, tossing out 70 years of U.S.-Russian diplomacy puts the U.S. under the Eight Ball around the globe. When it comes to China, Biden puts the U.S. on a collision course for war with Communist China. Unless Biden is not stopped soon, he could be fighting a two-front war, one with Russia, the other with China. Whatever problems Ukraine has with the Kremlin, Biden could have solved it through high-level diplomacy and negotiation. Tossing out decades of Russian diplomacy has been the biggest foreign policy mistake in U.S. history. Biden shows no signs of giving up his fantasy of vanquishing the Russian military. Ukraine’s upcoming counteroffensive won’t solve oust Russia from Ukraine, or, as Biden thinks, degrade the Russian military. Biden must come to his sense before it’s too late.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
