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The Biden-Harris foreign policy strategy: Unleashing chaos at home and abroad

Originally Published in the Washington Examiner on August 13, 2024.

In only three years, the Biden-Harris administration’s weak foreign policy decisions have emboldened our adversaries and led to numerous crises at home and abroad.

The Biden-Harris foreign policy strategy of appeasement has been a catastrophic failure, best illustrated by the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and Hamas’s attack on thousands of innocent Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023. To this day, Hamas is holding more than 100 hostages, including American citizens. Now, the world is bracing for an imminent strike on Israel by Iran and the possibility of an all-out war in the Middle East.

Blame for the chaos in the Middle East lies solely with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. There is no doubt that the White House’s resumption of Obama-era policies has enriched the Iranian regime and its terrorist proxies. Under former President Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign, Iranian oil exports hit decade lows, and Iran and its proxies were weak. But under the Biden-Harris appeasement strategy, Iran has profited $90 billion in oil sales since Biden took office.

All the while, the feckless Biden-Harris administration was distracted with hiding an ailing president from the public eye and consumed with appeasing the vocal and increasingly influential pro-Palestinian faction of the Democratic Party. Our adversaries sensed weakness in this White House and took the opportunity to strike.

To make matters worse, Biden and Harris have demonstrated further incompetence and weakness in their waffling support for Israel.

The Republican-led House of Representatives is working to undo the damage Biden and Harris have done by reinstating a maximum-pressure campaign and stopping Iran from accessing funds that could be used to unleash terrorism and spread violence. In April, the House passed my legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support to permanently freeze all Iranian-sanctioned assets and prohibit the president from using any waiver authority to lift sanctions.

I have also introduced legislation to empower Homeland Security Investigations to enforce Iranian oil sanctions. This bipartisan, bicameral legislation would equip HSI with the tools needed to seize Iranian oil and cut off funding for terrorist proxies. As long as the funding streams remain, Iran’s war machine will continue.

Biden and Harris must reverse course on their appeasement strategy, terminate all waivers and licenses to Iranian oil sanctions, and show unwavering support for Israel as it confronts Iran and its proxies. Only then can the United States play a critical role in fostering peaceful relationships within the region.

August Pfluger is a U.S. representative for Texas and a former Air Force F-22 fighter pilot who flew nearly 300 combat hours in the Middle East.