RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.wsj.com/articles/tehrans-mullahs-throw-biden-a-lifeline-iran-middle-east-russia-ukraine-drones-weapons-oil-sanctions-china-protests-women-11667849350?mod=opinion_featst_pos1

Joe Biden is a lucky man. The heroism of the Ukrainian people saved him from a Russian victory. Now the people of Iran, led by their women, are offering him a historic opportunity to weaken Russia, reduce long-term American vulnerabilities in the Middle East, and even return a sense of caution and sobriety to Chinese foreign policy.

Like many great opportunities, it comes unexpectedly. The Middle East has been a dreary place for Team Biden. The failure to enlist the Iranians in a renewed nuclear deal, the shambolic Afghan withdrawal, the embarrassing fist bump with a price-hiking Mohammed bin Salman, Benjamin Netanyahu’s electoral victory: Nothing in the Middle East has gone Joe Biden’s way.

This string of embarrassing failures has confirmed the administration’s determination to downgrade the Middle East as a strategic priority. But the Middle East refuses to stay quiet.

Blowing off Biden administration threats dating back to last summer, Iran is selling sophisticated drones to Russia for use in the war on Ukraine. Those drones have enabled Russia’s latest assault on Ukraine’s electrical infrastructure, threatening shutdowns of Ukrainian industry and leaving civilians without light or heat as winter nears. As Robin Wright observes in the New Yorker, Russia salvaged Iran’s position in Syria in 2015 by bolstering the criminal Bashar al-Assad regime. Now Iran is returning the favor by helping Russia in its flagrantly illegal attack on Ukraine.

Enter the women of Iran, whose resistance to clerical bigotry opens the door to a new era in Iranian and even world history.

We do not know whether the Iranian protesters can win. The track record of democratic revolutions across the Middle East is anything but inspiring, and the protesters in Iran have yet to coalesce behind a single group of leaders or political program. But using all the diplomatic and economic tools at America’s disposal to help the Iranian people’s fight for freedom is both the right thing to do and the best way to advance U.S. interests at a critical time.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/patriotism-unity/brazil-lula-pose-challenges-us

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s sort-of concession after his reelection loss to former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva should provide a sigh of relief for democracy backers. It paves the way for a peaceful transition of power in the world’s seventh most populous country.

Bolsonaro is vowing to follow the constitution, and his team is reaching out to Lula. With the military simultaneously scoffing at suggestions that it intervene for Bolsonaro, his protesting supporters will likely now return to their homes. This is no small deal: the election was very close. Bolsonaro is the first incumbent president in Brazil’s 34-year modern democracy to lose re-election, and he previously alleged fraud in its voting system.

Nevertheless, Lula’s victory will nourish a growing challenge for the United States. It means that the region’s seven largest countries now all have leftist governments. Washington will not be able to navigate regional politics through its traditional strategy of trying to isolate far-left regimes. This U.S. challenge, moreover, comes as China, Russia, and Iran — a growing axis of anti-American activity — are increasing their economic, military, and diplomatic influence across the region.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19079/iran-sleeping-nuclear-deal

In spite of US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley’s recently having said that the White House is not going to “waste our time” on the nuclear deal “if nothing’s going to happen,” he nevertheless stressed that the Biden administration is still committed to employing diplomacy, presumably to revive it at a later date.

Pelosi might recall that although a “deal” would professedly “prevent” Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, the reality is quite different. Iran is acquiring nuclear weapons — rapidly — with a deal or without one. Any “deal” appears simply a bribe to the Iranian regime please just not to use their nuclear weapons on the Biden administration’s watch.

Pelosi might also recall that the nuclear deal will reward Russia by allowing it to cash in on a $10 billion contract to expand Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely have a stake in the $10 billion contract.

Pelosi might even further recall that it was the nuclear deal that allowed the brutal regime of Iran freely and legally to export weapons to Russia, in the first place.

Any nuclear deal with Iran will not make the world a “safer place”. It will provide the Iranian regime with billions of dollars, help it to send more advanced weaponry to Russia to inflict even more damage on Ukrainians, pave the way for the ruling mullahs to legally obtain nuclear weapons, and strengthen America’s other adversaries, Russia, China and North Korea.

Now, why would the Biden administration want to do that?

The Biden administration is sitting idly by as the Iranian regime ratchets up, and keeps getting away with, both its attacks on its own fed-up populace, and its delivery of weapons to Russia — assisted, it seems, by China and North Korea.

https://www.frontpagemag.com/a-tale-of-two-islamic-states/

Biden and the woke Democrats have enthralled themselves in a bizarre love affair with the Mullahs in Iran, while repelling energy and capital giant Saudi Arabia.

The strategic imbecility of this position amounts to geopolitical malpractice. It has emboldened the Iranian regime to murder Americans around the world, including threatened attacks against our former president and members of his administration, and to ruthlessly suppress dissent at home.

It also has driven the Saudis into the arms of Russia and Communist China, a consequence so avoidable to be simply idiotic.

Scratch your head all you wish: you will not find a rational explanation for such a policy because there is none.

Such is the World According to Joe.

Where are the feminists and the Woke Left when Iranian women and girls throw off their head-scarves and taunt the Islamo-fascist storm troopers linking elbows in the streets? Where are Joy Reid, Kamala Harris, or Sandy “AOC” Cortez? Instead of supporting the Iranian Revolution of 2022, they are shrieking at “Mega Maga Republicans” as the enemies of –uh– people-kind.

But the Woke Left doesn’t just tacitly support the murdering mullahs of Tehran. Before Elon Musk walked into Twitter headquarters last Thursday with his kitchen sink, the faceless brown-shirted “moderators” at Twitter suspended the account of an Iranian hactivist group called “Black Reward,” while maintaining the anti-Semitic hate-America rants of the Supreme Turban, phony ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19057/congress-support-ukraine

[R]educing American support for Kyiv — as some American politicians are suggesting — will not only constitute an unconscionable betrayal of the Ukrainian cause. It will encourage Putin, and allies such as Iran, to conduct further acts of territorial aggression.

[I]t is, perhaps, inevitable that a degree of conflict fatigue has set in among some politicians. But with Ukraine still managing to inflict significant defeats against its Russian adversary, the Ukrainians require more support, not less, if they are to succeed in their goal of achieving a conclusive victory and liberating their country from Russian occupation.

Kevin McCarthy, the Republican House minority leader, caused controversy earlier this month when he said that Republicans would not be prepared to write a “blank check” for Ukraine if they win control of the House at next month’s midterm elections.

McCarthy’s words provoked a fierce response….

Ukrainian officials also expressed “shock” at his comments as only a few weeks ago, during a visit to Washington, they had received an assurance from McCarthy that “bipartisan support of Ukraine in its war with Russia will remain a top priority even if they win in the elections”, said David Arakhamia, head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy’s party in parliament.

The prospect of a new “axis of evil” being formed between two rogue states such as Russia and Iran is certainly a prospect that should encourage Western leaders to harden their support for Ukraine, not back away from it.

Any attempt by the US and its allies to appease the Kremlin over its unprovoked aggression towards Ukraine will simply encourage Moscow and Tehran in the belief that the Western powers lack the courage and resolve to resist their attempts to spread their malign influence across the globe.

Russian President Vladimir Putin might be suffering a humiliating military defeat in Ukraine, but reducing American support for Kyiv — as some American politicians are suggesting — will not only constitute an unconscionable betrayal of the Ukrainian cause. It will encourage Putin, and allies such as Iran, to conduct further acts of territorial aggression.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19051/russia-iran-evil-emboldened

Despite this escalation [Iran supplying suicide drones to Russia], the European Union would not admit that the Iranian regime was entrenched in the war on Ukraine: EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell wanted “proof”….

Iran’s regime, apparently even more emboldened, then began sending troops to Crimea to assist Russia in its attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure and civilian population and to increase the effectiveness of the suicide drones.

“Ukraine currently doesn’t have effective air defense systems against ballistic missiles,” Ukraine Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat pleaded. “Iran will likely supply those (to Russia), unless the world finds a way to stop it”.

There is still clearly a need in Ukraine to “close the sky,” a request that Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi rejected.

So, as a result of the Biden administration, the new “Axis of Evil,” Russia and Iran, are becoming more empowered and emboldened than ever. It is now time to abandon the “nuclear deal” with Iran permanently, “close the sky” over Ukraine, and quickly defeat Putin. At least it will show the other aggressors there is no way they can win.

Thanks to the Biden administration’s leadership, or remarkable lack thereof, the ruling mullahs of Iran have become a key player in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Iranian regime and Russia are ratcheting up their military cooperation and adventurism.

On March 2, Iran abstained from the United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/1 condemning Russia’s invasion and demanding Moscow’s withdrawal from Ukraine. Tehran then voted against UN General Assembly Resolution ES-11/3, which suspended Russia’s membership in the UN Human Rights Council.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19034/america-foreign-policy-disarray

Saudi Arabia is deeply concerned… that the Iran agreement will soon be back on the table…. The Saudis quite correctly believe that that the new Iran deal, rather than stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons, would actually pave the way to nuclear weapons, in addition to giving Iran’s despotic regime up to a trillion dollars — if the mullahs would please just not use the nuclear weapons on the Biden administration’s watch.

While the grisly murder of Osama bin Laden’s close friend Jamal Khashoggi was far from acceptable, the sad reality is that the Kingdom is no more guilty of unspeakable behavior than are Iran, Russia, China, North Korea, Turkey Venezuela, Qatar or a number of other nations that the Biden administration and the international community are cozying up to.

Many onlookers believe that the Saudi move is a direct signal to Biden about Saudi Arabia’s concerns over the “stalled” but apparently not-quite-ended-yet nuclear deal with Iran.

Although Biden supposedly will examine all aspects of the U.S.-Saudi relationship, he threatened the kingdom with “consequences” — reportedly by suspending arms sales — all because Saudi Arabia is trying to defend itself from being potentially obliterated by an openly hostile Iran.

The U.S. seeks to harshly punish any country opposed to U.S. efforts for a questionable nuclear agreement that would empower Iran, and vastly enrich it and its numerous terrorist proxies, including the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Through them, Iran is already effectively in charge of four countries in addition to its own: Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.

If the U.S. really believes Russia is an acute threat, the U.S. should act as if it is and stop propping up Russia’s allies, such as Iran.

The U.S. should be working with countries in the Middle East to support efforts against Russia and Iran’s regime.

No wonder questions are being raised as to just how “compromised” Biden might actually be.

The U.S. would do well to stop this foolish obsession with getting a new Iran nuclear deal. It is inconsistent with the rest of America’s values, foreign policy and national security interests. Send a clear message to Russia, Iran’s mullahs, Europe, the Middle East — and, most importantly, to Iranian and American citizens — that the Iran nuclear deal, finally, is dead.

The confusion and lack of clarity in the current administration’s foreign policies are growing ever more dangerous for US national security.

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19024/biden-embraces-enemies

• These members of Congress, [Saudi author Mohammed Al-Saed] implied, either do not know or are conveniently “forgetting” that Iran has been at least as brutal to Americans as Saudi Arabia has.
• While the gruesome murder of Osama bin Laden’s good friend, Jamal Khashoggi — whose dream was to “establish an Islamic state anywhere” — cannot be ignored, Iran’s regime has created a list of hostile acts against the US at least as long.
• This simplified list does not even include that Iran is presently supplying Russia with kamikaze drones and trainers as well as missiles to use against the civilians of Ukraine. Just suppose for an instant that Iran possessed nuclear weapons instead?
• Iran already controls four Middle Eastern countries in addition to its own — Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and Iraq — as well as countless terrorist proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Since 1979, the Iranian regime has repeated its plan of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.” And now the Biden administration still wishes it could “reward” Iran with legitimized nuclear weapons, the ballistic missiles to deliver them, and a trillion dollars? How can anyone see that as “fair”?
• Yet Biden has threatened there will be “consequences” for Saudi Arabia because it declined to help the US enrich and empower its most openly bellicose enemy. How could it? Had Biden offered to drop the new Iran deal, the Saudi answer might well have been different.
• “Saudi Arabia is just defending its interests and security, which is under threat from Washington’s new allies in Iran.” — Mohammed Al-Saed, Saudi author, Okaz, October 17, 2022.
• [T]he Biden administration was damaging America’s relations with its historical friends and allies while sending “positive messages” to America’s fiercest enemies and haters. — Dr. Ibrahim Al-Nahhas, Saudi political analyst, Al-Riyadh, October 19, 2022.
• [T]he Biden administration has preferred to attack Saudi Arabia than deal with the use of Iranian drones by the Russians in Ukraine… Were it not for American and European leniency, especially since the era of Barack Obama, who tried with all naivety to rehabilitate the Iranian regime, Iran would not have interfered in the internal affairs of Europe and four Arab countries (Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen) — Tarik Al-Hamid, former editor-in-chief of the Saudi-owned Asharq Al-Awsat, October 19, 2022.
• Since Barack Obama admitted erring in his failure to support Iran’s protestors in 2009, however, has US policy changed? Apart from painfully feeble lip-service to the protestors in Iran, Biden and his administration, through their inaction, appear still to be totally committed to their initial alliance with Russia and Iran.
• Biden and his administration , it appears, would rather align themselves with the mullahs in Iran and the new “Russian-Iranian Axis of Evil,” than strengthen their ties with America’s longstanding partners, the Arabs in the Gulf.
• The winners: Russia and Iran.