COMMAND THE PRESENT:
“Present” is a relative term. In some scenarios “present” could mean immediately or in others it could mean in hours, days, weeks or even months. For example, on Saturday morning, 7 September, 2023 Israeli President Netanyahu was probably making command decisions within minutes but certainly within hours of the Hamas militant’s invasion.
By close of business on 7 September the barbarity of the invaders had become common knowledge around the world. Such is the nature of today’s communications capabilities.
President Biden, supposedly and also questionably the “leader of the free world” would, it was assumed, at some point speak for the United States and, again questionably, for our allies around the free world about the Hamas invasion. Prepared remarks by close of business Saturday would have been appropriate. A speech on Sunday was surely expected. But wait, we must consider that first of all Biden does not work on the weekends and secondly the schedule was already full. Late Sunday afternoon and on into the early evening he was busy hosting a picnic barbecue in the White House Rose Garden with a live band while Hamas was hosting Israeli and American hostages in Gaza City. No kidding, you can’t make this stuff up.
So, Monday, everyone said we should be hearing from the President. There was no new news; Monday was pretty much a continuation of what took place beginning on Saturday. Where is he, everyone was asking?
Finally on Tuesday afternoon after a 1-hour 15-minute delay Biden spoke. His words were graphic, on-target and appropriate as he described what Hamas was doing on the ground.
But, OMG, after a few minutes of what was sounding like “setting the stage” comments, he abruptly shut his notebook and exited stage right.
If you are either an American citizen or one of our allies, you wanted more, expected more and should have been given more. As is the Biden routine, I’m sure the media representatives seated in the room had submitted their questions in advance and the White House staff had carefully crafted note-card responses for each question for the President just in case he decided at the last moment to actually take questions. The fact that he could not conduct a Q and A on the single topic of the day speaks volumes.
Mr. President, what about the $6 billion you just gave to Iran; what was Iran’s roll in the invasion; will you send U.S. forces to help Israel; they shouted as he literally and figuratively turned his back on the world.
So much for “commanding the present.” Not even an “E” for effort, that was an “F”.
“ADVANCE IDEAS:”
In the usual course of events, one advances ideas to solve a problem. So, first things first, we have to define the problem. We are in a global war on terrorism and have been, actively, since the 9/11 attack on the U.S.
The U.S. State Department listing of terrorists includes 60+ organizations around the world; most of them are nothing more than small hate groups with few if any military resources. But over the last about 40 years, the Iranian regime has built a network of armed groups on Israel’s borders to create instability and foment terrorism. Potentially ready to join Hamas and Hezbollah, are 17 more Islamic Jihad groups who receive funding, training, and weapons from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. That is not classified information, why didn’t our President tell us that as part of his leader responsibility to “advance ideas?
The Monday, October 9th edition of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, writing about the attack on Israel, reported, “Officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) had worked with Hamas since August to devise the air, land and sea incursion. Details of the operation were refined during several meetings in Beirut Lebanon attended by IRGC officers and representatives of four Iran-backed militant groups.” The WSJ went on to report, “The IRGC’s wider plan is to create a multifront threat that can strangle Israel from all sides. We know that there were meetings in Syria and in Lebanon with other leaders of the terror armies that surround Israel. We are now free to focus on the Zionist entity, the Iranian official said, they are now very isolated.”
The U.S. intelligence budget exceeds $70 billion per year for 17 agencies and we have to find this out from THE WALL STREET JOURNAL? And our president wouldn’t tell us?
Back to defining the problem. On a day-to-day basis around the world the terrorists are not THE problem. THE problem is Iran. Iran was first designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1984 so they have a long history of how to provide the necessary support for a terrorist group to become an actual threat.
SHAPE THE FUTURE:
The future is now. Get on with it Congress. Get on with it Biden. For years, Iran Ayatollahs have been publicly calling for “death to America and destruction of Israel.” When the hell is Biden going to get his back up and say it, “Iran is our enemy and we need to do something about it now.”
Consider this scenario. Iran has been training and equipping terrorist organizations to fight as their military proxy for years. According to the Institute for Science and International Security, 11 September, 2023, “Iran now has the capacity to fuel 6 nuclear warheads in one month’s time, and 10 within four months.”
So, the next Iran-sponsored terrorist attack could be from a van legally parked in Manhattan loaded with a dirty nuclear bomb. Experts warn that it would be relatively easy for terrorists to build an “improvised nuclear bomb” and smuggle it into America. Building a ten-kiloton bomb nearly as destructive as the one dropped on Hiroshima would require little more than some technical expertise and 46 kilograms of highly enriched uranium; a quantity about the size of a bowling ball.
Should we just sit around sucking our collective thumbs waiting for Iran to strike? We should take their “destruction of America” seriously and begin to SHAPE THE FUTURE.
As retribution for its role in the attack on Israel, Congress and Biden should move immediately to place every possible sanction on Iran. Convince our allies to sign on to the same sanctions menu. Pull back the $6 billion check to Iran, now.
Convince the UN or NATO or just some number of allies to participate in an embargo on oil exports. Keep in mind that Iran is currently exporting about 3.5 million barrels per day which is filling their coffers to support, for example, the current attack on Israel. There is an addition side to the oil issue. China, who has been courting Iran as their Middle East “partner” imports over 11 million barrels of oil per day to survive. In August 2023 China imported 1.5 million barrels per day from Iran. An oil embargo puts the squeeze on Iran and also gets China’s attention. The embargo could be enforced by a naval force from UN members, from NATO or perhaps even from some Middle East countries who see Iran’s long-range plan to bully other Middle East countries into submission.
Make the world understand that Iran is an international threat and must be promptly taken down economically.
BOTTOM LINE:
Real leaders command the present, advance ideas and shape the future. We are in deep trouble.
Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of two books, Vision to Execution and Fix the Systems, Transform America as well as the author of a blog, WeThePeopleSpeaking.com