Is Joe Biden too weak against Iran? At least that's what the opponents of the American president, who is aiming for a second term in office, made clear on Monday and called on him to react harshly to the deaths of three American soldiers in Jordan.
• Also read: American soldiers killed in Jordan: Iran denies any involvement
• Also read: Three American soldiers killed in Jordan
The Democrat “just has to take the hits,” analyzes Colin Clarke, research director at the Soufan Center.
The White House attributed the drone strike, which targeted a base in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, to pro-Iranian groups.
Joe Biden immediately declared that America would “respond,” and the response would be “consistent,” an executive branch spokesman, John Kirby, assured on Monday.
He has little choice, says Colin Clarke, otherwise he would be “overwhelmed in the middle of an election year by Republicans who could say that soldiers are dying under Biden and that there is no strong response while Trump is eliminated” (General). Qassem) Soleimani,” former architect of Iran’s military strategy who was the target of an American attack in January 2020.
The former Republican president, a heavy favorite in his party's primaries and a likely rival to Joe Biden in November's election, has already weighed in on the matter.
- Listen to the American political column with Professor Luc Laliberté about QUB :
“Coward”
He described his 81-year-old Democratic opponent as “weak” and assured that this attack would “never have happened” under his mandate.
The 77-year-old Republican is using this as an opportunity to bolster his campaign narrative: He presents himself as a providential strongman, capable of ensuring America's security through his sole authority without becoming involved in the conflicts that are ravaging the world shake.
Without a strong response against Iran, “Joe Biden would confirm that he is a coward and unworthy of being commander in chief of the armed forces,” raged Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton.
But by fighting back, Joe Biden risks angering the progressive fringe of the Democratic Party, but “he can't afford to lose too many votes at a time when he's already in favor with young people and those who support him.” criticizes, has to fight, to whom he can give a blank check “Israel” in its war against Hamas, emphasizes Colin Clarke.
Criticism from the right of Joe Biden's perceived complacent Iran policy is not new, but the conflict in the Gaza Strip, sparked by the attack by the Tehran-backed Palestinian group, has reignited it.
“The (Biden administration’s) deterrence strategy has failed miserably. There have been more than 100 attacks on American troops in the region since October 7, noted an influential Republican senator, Lindsay Graham.
coffins
But none of these attacks caused casualties.
It is not the first time that Joe Biden's mandate has been shaken by the deaths of American soldiers.
On August 26, 2021, amid the chaotic troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, 173 people, including 13 American soldiers, were killed in an attack near Kabul airport.
At that moment, Joe Biden's popularity curves reversed for the first time, with negative opinions taking precedence over positive opinions. At that time, the discontent fueled by very high inflation was confirmed, and today the president shows weak self-confidence.
The Democrat justified the withdrawal from Afghanistan with the desire to no longer put the lives of American soldiers at risk.
This was one of the big promises of his previous presidential campaign: In a foreign policy speech in July 2019, candidate Biden promised that if elected he would “end (America's) endless wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East.”