The confirmation of Anthony Blinken to the central role of Secretary of State has many worried. Coming in the wake of President Trump’s decidedly peaceful administration, the Biden administration is shaping up to be one that will usher in a new age of global aggression.

Rand Paul Objects to Appointment of Anthony Blinken as Secretary of State

This concern was voiced by Senator Rand Paul at the confirmation hearing. Citing the ongoing US military presence in Afghanistan, Libya, and Somalia, Paul expressed concern about Blinken’s stated role as a “full-throated advocate for military intervention in the Middle East for 20 years.”

Paul noted that both Blinken and then-Senator Biden advocated for the Iraq War. Even after the war was unsuccessful on many counts, Paul emphasized that no lessons were learned by anyone in power and the failure was credited to inaccurate intelligence about Weapons of Mass Destruction.

“The lesson is that regime change does not work,” Paul emphasized. “You often get the opposite of what you think you are getting.”

Paul noted that the power vacuum that came about in the wake of American intervention in Iraq resulted in the current concerns about Iran being strengthened in the absence of its major adversary. Paul went on to note that even though the Iraq war was initiated by President George W. Bush, it was intensified under the “progressive” administration of Obama and Bush, a position that was supported by Blinken. This failed regime-change military policy was reapplied to Libya with similar results. 

Iran Deal: Recipe for Nuclear War

Blinken’s intentions were clarified in an interview with NBC News in which he said that he favored a return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal. Ironically, Blinken cited as his impetus intelligence reports claiming that Iran was currently months away from being able to produce enough material to build a nuclear weapon.

The JCPOA was brokered by former President Obama in 2015 under the premise that by removing sanctions and permitting an allegedly peace-oriented nuclear program and self-defense oriented ICBM program, Iran would become a responsible player in the world community. Citing the major flaws in the agreement, Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. Iran used the economic reinvigoration generated by the removal of sanctions to sponsor terrorism and express its program of regional expansionism. This development led to Arab Gulf nations agreeing to normalize relations with Israel in the Abraham Accords.

Biden reportedly began negotiations with Iran even before his inauguration and has frozen the sale of F-35 fighters to the Gulf nations that was an essential part of the Abraham Accords.

China, Turkey, and More

Blinken’s other foreign policies are equally concerning. Blinken advocates for the “two-state solution”, a plan which calls for an independent Arab political entity inside the borders of Israel that is ethnically cleansed of Jews and has its capital in an ethnically cleansed Jerusalem.  Biden’s commitment to the Iran deal was evidenced by his appointment of John Kerry as his “climate czar.” Kerry was the main negotiator for the JCPOA. 

While acknowledging China’s grievous humanitarian offense, Blinken claims that the communist regime was merely a  “techno-autocracy”, albeit one with aspirations for global dominance. He does not see these aspects as negating cooperation to combat “global warming.” He also views Turkey as “an important U.S. ally”. 

This all comes as the antithesis of the policies advanced by President Trump who preferred sanctions against Iran and tough policies regarding China and their humanitarian offenses. It should be noted that the US initiated no new military engagements under Trump and his America-First foreign policy resulted in an unprecedented number of peace treaties. 

But Blinken is not the only alleged war-monger in the new administration. Susan Rice, Biden’s  director of the Domestic Policy Council, was an essential advocate of Obama’s disastrous intervention in Libya. After the attack on the US Embassy in Benghaziin 2012 resulted in the death of 14 Americans, Rice intentionally lied to the media, claiming that the attack was incited by an anti-Muslim movie, taking the  State Department by surprise.