Daniels: Weak leadership causes death of three service members

When Joe Biden told the world that a “minor” invasion of Ukraine was OK, Vladimir Putin, along with the Iranian ayatollahs, smiled, and he invaded Ukraine. When Joe oversaw our appalling departure from Afghanistan, blaming it on the plan negotiated by President Donald Trump, the ayatollahs smiled for a second time. They now knew there was a feckless American president, who could easily be manipulated into believing that appeasement could be achieved.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, there have been over 160 Iranian-backed attacks on our deployed American service members. Sadly, the only consistent response to those attacks we had gotten from our president is “don’t.” Well, “don’t” got three more Americans killed. When is Joe going to learn that appeasement plays right into the hands of the ayatollahs?

If our policy of appeasement wasn’t bad enough, all one had to see was our secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, a retired Army four-star general, “read” his pre-planned remarks concerning the death of those three soldiers. There was no emotion or passion in his voice, just that of a slick politician, who is afraid to offend the ayatollahs with any rough or challenging comments. To make matters worse, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in his prepared comments, was very careful not to upset the ayatollahs or say something not scripted.

If Joe Biden had initially sent Ukraine the weapons necessary to stop Putin from invading, had renegotiated a plan based on his policy concerning our departure from Afghanistan (isn’t he the president?) and sent a loud and negative message to the Iranians after the first attack on our service members, those three soldiers would still be alive today. Instead, he pussyfooted around with “appropriate” responses, which only emboldened Putin, ISIS and the ayatollahs. Until he inflicts a sufficient amount of pain on the ayatollahs’ pocketbooks and supporters, nothing will change. And more Americans will die unnecessarily.

Joe doesn’t understand how to use the tremendous economic, political and military strength of the United States. Instead, Joe has given the ayatollahs money and support in their continued terrorist activities across the Middle East, as he is afraid of a war with Iran. Unfortunately, Iran is already at war with us, and he’s too ignorant to see it. Until he hits Iran directly and severely, the ayatollahs will not stop. How many more American service members have to die before President Biden wakes up?

Retired U.S. Army Reserve Col. Frank Daniels

Dover

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