President Joe Biden must admit that his administration's approach in dealing with Iran hasn't worked and needs a "course correction," The Wall Street Journal's editorial board wrote.
Otherwise, "more Americans will be in critical condition, or dead," the board said in a Tuesday opinion column.
Biden on Monday ordered the U.S. military to carry out retaliatory strikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three U.S. service members were injured in a drone attack in Northern Iraq.
The latest attack on U.S. troops follows months of escalating threats and actions against American forces in the region since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the devastating war in Gaza.
The U.S. has blamed Iran, which has funded and trained Hamas, for the rising violence by its network of proxy groups across the region, including attacks by Yemen's Houthis against commercial and military vessels thorough a critical shipping choke point in the Red Sea.
The Journal's editorial board said it had only been a matter of time before American service members would be seriously hurt, and it slammed the administration for its response.
"Defense secretary Lloyd Austin issued a statement saying his 'prayers' are with the wounded. Which is nice, but Mr. Austin isn't a chaplain," the board wrote after Monday's retaliatory strikes. "The U.S. defense chief's job is to deter such attacks and defend his troops from being too-easy targets for Shiite militias.
"The White House response was worse. The National Security Council's Adrienne Watson issued a statement announcing the reprisal and insisted that the 'President places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm's way.'
"This is demonstrably false, and the bromide is insulting.”
The Journal's board said Biden's response to Iranian proxies' attacks in the fall, when Americans suffered traumatic brain injuries, amounted to "a wrist slap."
Even the latest retaliatory strikes killed just one militant and wounded 18, according to The Associated Press.
"Americans who sign up to serve in uniform know the risks, but serving as drone catchers because Washington refuses to deter the enemy isn't supposed to be among the occupational hazards," The Journal's board wrote. "And Mr. Biden's token strikes haven't deterred Iran's proxies in Iraq or anywhere else."
The board added that the Houthis are "betting the U.S. and friends lack the political will to punish their piracy."
"Mr. Biden frets that Iran could accelerate its nuclear program, or further unleash its proxies and create trouble for Iraq's government that hosts U.S. military trainers and anti-ISIS intelligence assets," The Journal's board said. "Tehran is exploiting the U.S. fear of escalation to its own benefit.
"The irony is that the biggest tonic for disorder in the Middle East would be restoring American deterrence. That would mean warning Tehran that its military and nuclear assets are at risk if it doesn't call off the proxy dogs."
Restoring deterrence in the Middle East, though, would require the administration "to admit that its approach to Iran hasn't worked and demands a course correction."
"The alternative is a continuing spiral of violence the Administration says it desperately wants to avoid," The Journal's board said. "And sooner or later more Americans will be in critical condition, or dead."
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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