This week, three American soldiers died at the hands of an Iranian proxy group that used a drone to strike an American base in Jordan. The Biden administration immediately leapt into action by issuing a strongly worded statement, while simultaneously proclaiming that it wanted to avoid escalation. Which, of course, is precisely the wrong thing to do when faced with aggression from a smaller, hostile adversary.

The right thing to do? Punch it in the mouth hard enough to deter further aggression.

That is something former President Donald Trump knew innately.

[As Reagan repeatedly said in various forms, to maintain peace, one must prepare for war. The fastest way to war is to signal weakness and retreat, which is precisely what Joe Biden has done since entering the White House. Iran does not respond to appeasement with cooperation but with even more aggression, seeing it as an opening for its theocratic-apocalyptic aspirations. The collapse of the ordered peace in the Middle East reflects Biden’s failures, most especially in his disgraceful bug-out from Afghanistan. — Ed]