At the United Nations on Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a pretty clear red-line to Iran and its “friends”:
“The United States does not seek conflict with Iran. We do not want this war to widen. But if Iran or its proxies attack U.S. personnel anywhere, make no mistake: We will defend our people, we will defend our security - swiftly and decisively.”
Good. Now, we just have to hope the Biden administration means it. In 2012, Barack Obama famously (perhaps infamously) announced his red-line on Syria’s use of poison gas:
“We have been very clear to the Assad regime, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus.”
The next year Bashir al- Assad’s regime used poison gas, and President Obama sent John Kerry to negotiate, not the threat that most people thought he was making. Of course, if you read what Obama said in 2012, you sort of wonder to what extent he really meant it. It certainly didn’t have the precision in wording that you might have expected from President Obama. Instead of a real policy, it sounded more of a stream-of-consciousness type of thing, something that came out without a lot of thought behind it, more of a hope that if-I-say-this-they-won’t-do-that kind of thing than a well thought-out policy.
Whatever it was back then, let’s hope that President Biden really means Secretary Blinken’s1 red-line this time and that we will follow through on it, if necessary.
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1 Speaking of President Biden and Secretary Blinken, one of my favorite children’s books is Wynken, Blynken, and Nod. With this respect to the current administration, I know who Blynken is and I know who Nod is. I just don’t know who Wynken is.
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