LARRY KUDLOW: Iran has essentially declared war against the US 166 times.
Iran is the puppeteer and paymaster, Kudlow says
FOX Business host Larry Kudlow says the United States is at war with Iran on 'Kudlow.'
It's day five since Iranian-backed militias attacked a U.S. military base in Jordan, killing three patriotic American soldiers and wounding over three dozen others.
Before that, two brave Navy SEALs were lost at sea in the aftermath of a Houthi attack. Day five, 120 hours, and... still... no... U.S... military... response. This is an insult to the brave soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice, an insult to the injured and an insult to their families. Frankly, it's an insult to the entire country.
The Biden administration has done nothing to retaliate, nothing to honor them and nothing to defend American freedom and security. Am I the only one who is making this point? I certainly hope not.
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Today, in a very shaky and sketchy press conference, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, "We're not at war with Iran." Really? With all due respect, sir, I believe the United States is at war with Iran. If, for no other reason, because Iran has declared war against the U.S. many times over and, by sponsoring 166 attacks – at the latest count – against U.S. military assets, Iran has essentially declared war against us 166 times.
General Austin is concerned about the Houthis and ISIS. Well, OK, but Iran is the puppeteer and paymaster. U.S. officials are leaking that the American response will not include Iran, but will hit Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria. To me, this is simply not enough. We are not hurting Iran. We are not telling the Chinese to stop financing this war by buying Iranian oil.
We are not interdicting or impounding Iranian oil ships that are violating the sanctions put in place by Congress and authored by the Trump administration.
Iran was nearly bankrupt three years ago. Today, their oil and foreign exchange reserves are totaling somewhere near $80 billion. Three years ago, they were producing maybe a million barrels a day of oil. Today they're up to 3.5 million in violation of the sanctions. That is, the sanctions that have been either lifted or relaxed by the Biden administration.
Numerous military experts and former members of the Joint Chiefs have strongly recommended that the U.S. retaliate by bombing Iranian oil fields or offshore oil rigs or Iranian command and control centers or Iranian terrorist training centers.
None of this is apparently going to happen. The Bidens continue their misbegotten policy of Iranian appeasement. They continue to refuse to implement clear economic and military deterrence. Years ago, Ronald Reagan took out nearly half the Iranian navy in retaliation just for hitting one American frigate. Four years ago, Donald Trump took out Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iranian terrorism. That's called deterrence.
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To this day, it seems pretty clear that the Biden administration still wants to do more business with Iran, a nuclear deal for example. Invite them to the high table of Middle East and world nations. This approach, that first surfaced during the Obama years, is utterly delusional. The empirical evidence shows it to be delusional. You cannot buy off the Iranians. You cannot appease the Iranians.
So, it is Day Five, 120 hours, after three brave patriotic service members lost their lives to an Iranian attack and countless others injured and 166 attacks on our military and our American honor. Five days is five days way too long.