Could American foreign policy get any worse?  From the calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan, the lackluster and dangerous response to the crisis in Ukraine, (proactive and reactive), and dusting off the abysmal JCPOA Iranian Nuclear Deal, what can possibly be next coming down the road?

One of the basic lessons of Life that I have learned is that power abhors a vacuum. Enter the next chapter of international destabilization.

Late Saturday night, March 12, 2022, it was reported that Iran fired roughly a dozen ballistic missiles towards the (thankfully) unoccupied US consulate in Iraq’s regional capital of Erbil.

“While no casualties were reported, Iraqi and US officials gave differing accounts of the attack, which also damaged the office building of a Kurdish news outlet.”

A US State Department spokesperson, speaking under the veil of anonymity, (of course), stated to the AP that the rocket attack was an “outrageous attack against Iraqi sovereignty and display of violence.”

Although Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted Iraqi media acknowledging the attacks in Erbil, they didn’t identify where the rockets came from, although the working theory of the Iraqi government is that the missiles definitely came from Iran.  The attack is being investigated by Iraqi government officials, while the United States has taken a backseat.  As per standing military orders provided by Biden’s White House, remaining US forces in Iraq are to remain in a non-combative advisory role.

The missile attack  coincided with the failure of the  negotiations held in Vienna on March 11, 2022, surrounding America’s potential return to the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal.

” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine hampered efforts to get an agreement across the finish line, as Moscow last week demanded guarantees from Washington that new Western sanctions not prevent Russia from trading with Iran.”

In my opinion, it would come as no surprise if we learned that the Iranian Foreign Ministry sanctioned the rocket attack on the weakest link currently on the world stage due to the failure of Friday’s talks.

So the dreaded question on my mind is, what will Biden do?  A direct attack on a U.S. Consulate, even one that is not occupied, is a major problem.  If there will be no strong American response to this attack, the Iranians will be emboldened to hit a populated target, and be the cause of human casualties, not just structural.  If our current administration was smart, they’d back out of this deal and toss it in the shredder.  Make no mistake, Iran stood to gain a lot with the American/Russian approved nuclear deal.   As outlined in the Biden administration agreement, Iran would be given a free pass to exponentially build up their nuclear capability, and  restart selling oil to the world.  In essence, giving them the muscle to bully the planet, and to further export terrorist activities on a grand scale.  I never thought I’d be OK with Putin’s maniacal ego being the catalyst to stalling the Vienna talks on Friday, but here we are.

I am making the logical assumption that Iran definitively launched missiles at our Consulate in Erbil, even if they never admit to it.  Given the timing of the failed talks in Vienna and the rocket launch, I am not one to believe in happenstance.  I would be extremely relieved if the Biden White House just kanked this dangerous deal altogether, using the missile launching as the pretext for backing out, and keeping the sanctions against Iran in place.  Given the numerous failures of the Biden foreign and domestic policies, my optimism is waning.