Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., expressed his concerns and criticism of President Joe Biden's recent strikes in Syria during a Friday interview with Newsmax. Van Drew suggested that the strikes were more about symbolism than actual action against Iran.
"They're letting Iran know that this administration and this president is afraid of them," Van Drew stated. He pointed out the administration's actions, such as unfreezing $6 billion and lifting sanctions on Iran, as indicators of weakness.
"This is more about symbolism, and I hate to say this. This is sad. I don't say it lightly," he added.
Speaking on "The Chris Salcedo Show," Van Drew asserted that President Biden's approach was an attempt to show strength despite perceived weakness. "This is this president having to try to show that even though he's weak, and he's afraid of Iran in some way, he's doing something so that you know his people can say, Oh, the president reacted."
Van Drew emphasized the need for direct communication with Iranian leaders, stating, "No, he should get on the phone and tell the ayatollah and those leaders in Iran, Man, you're going to become aTthird-World country if you don't cut it out now; stop now or something bad is gonna happen."
Expressing empathy for the American military personnel in harm's way, Van Drew said of the casualties: "It hurts our country. It hurts our service members."
In response to a question regarding the timing of the strikes and the Biden administration allegedly giving Iran time to safeguard its assets, Van Drew criticized the approach.
"It's almost as if I'm not saying this happened, but just, you know, look at what's happening if a phone call was made to Iran, you know: Look, we've got to go through a process here, and we've got to look like we're angry, and so we're going to bomb Syria. We're gonna basically leave you alone; nothing that's terrible is going to happen, and we're going to give you a few days.'" he said.
Van Drew suggested that the Biden administration's actions were politically motivated only and lacked a strong and immediate response.
"We know how Iran's involved. We know who their proxies are, and we could have had an immediate reaction. I mean, this is a joke. You send out the message wall in the next few days to give you time to get your act together?" he said.
"This is not the way you strike back; our foreign policy is bad, and we're in trouble," he concluded.
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Jim Thomas ✉
Jim Thomas is a writer based in Indiana. He holds a bachelor's degree in Political Science, a law degree from U.I.C. Law School, and has practiced law for more than 20 years.
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