The way I view the designation of Iranian entities as terrorists is a little bit of a too little too, late approach to diplomacy. If we go back in time, I was in the defense department from 2004 until I was then seconded to the National Security Council. And I observed the entire evolution of the Obama Doctrine strategy toward Iran. Biden essentially picked up where Obama had left off. And what was very clear to me from the very beginning, working in the highest Strategy Office in the Pentagon, was that it was the Obama administration's objective to normalize the regime. And there were many cases, including in the Green Revolution, where we had the Iranian people rose and expressed their displeasure with the government. And each time, Obama would side with the regime against the people.
I see this is part of an overall sad tendency of democratic foreign policymakers in this country of the Democratic Party to throw the people who are freedom-loving under the bus, and sort of coddle the dictators. And this is a tragedy. It isn't very comfortable for Americans. The American people are quite dissatisfied with the Biden administration now because he has taken this approach from the very beginning. In some respects, it's even more Craven in that upon assuming the presidency, Biden not only brought in the former negotiators from the Obama administration like Robert Malley, but he even had Mally give the Russians the leadership role. And of course, it is the Russians who are in Syria, who are supporting the Shia Alawite regime there and want this strategic alliances, with Iran at its pinnacle, it was a pro-Iran strategy.
I was in Iran during the 1979 revolution and I have followed Iran quite carefully ever since. At no time in my professional political life have I seen the regime so much on the edge of the cliff I could see a tip over after the Green Revolution. The supreme leader and the head of the IRGC afterward said we were on the cliff's edge, and they used these exact words. And to me, when I look at what's going on in Iran right now, we're even further on the cliff's edge. It's for the first time I think that the people could win against the regime.
Finally, the very least we could do is vigorously support the people in Iran . We have not supported the people. Tragically, I was at the White House during part of the Trump administration, and we vigorously supported the people. We just needed some more time for our plans to work out. But yes, financial support, security support, arm support. I think the US is the very least we could do now.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adam Lovinger is the former senior director for strategies at the National Security Council and the vice president of the gold Institute for International Studies.
Transcripted from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym9gpHfJBcQ&t=1s