Senator J.D. Vance, former President Trump’s running mate, spoke this morning to Hugh Hewitt about the US forces in Iraq, the Iranian threat to attack Israel in response to the assassination of Haniyeh, the Biden-Harris policy towards Israel and the appointment of a Vice Presidential candidate to run alongside Kamala Harris.
Vance expressed his concern for the US servicemembers in Iraq, stating, "We have a number of US troops over there who are effectively sitting ducks. If the Iranian proxies or the Iranians can overwhelm our air defense, there are many very soft targets right now. This is something the Biden administration, as well as the Harris administration, has to fix. We have to hit them hard. One of the most important things we must do is degrade Iran and its proxies' ability to wage war on our targets in the Middle East and on our allies. We must stop giving them money that they are clearly using to harm our people. If we don't do this, we risk completely destroying the basic deterrence of the US military in the region."
Regarding the Iranian threat to attack Israel following the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran, Vance admits that he always hesitates "to tell the Israelis what they should do. I think that the Israelis have earned the right to do what they think is in their best interests, and we should support whatever they ultimately decide to do. The biggest threat to Israel is not an Iranian air attack but an Iranian nuclear capability. The Israelis need to do whatever is necessary to prevent that from happening. However, we must remember that the Israelis can't do what they need to do until the Americans provide them with the necessary weapons. There's something just preposterous about Harris’ approach here. They say they want the Israelis to wrap up the war, and that’s true. But we want it to end with Hamas being functionally degraded as a military capability. Kamala Harris and the entire administration are prolonging the war, making it harder for Israel to achieve diplomatic breakthroughs with some of the Sunni Arab states, and continuing to stress Israel’s military capability. The ultimate goal should be preventing the Iranians from getting a nuclear bomb. The current policy doesn’t make sense unless the goal is to make it easier to kill Americans and Israelis and for the Iranians to build a bomb. That is the net effect of the Harris administration, whether intentional or not. "
Vance believes that the Biden-Harris policy towards Israel over the last almost ten months since the massacre on 10/7 has been "terrible and disgraceful." He criticizes the administration for “lacking a sense of urgency and outrage. Although they condemned the attack initially, they soon started to slow-walk military support. Vance argues that the war needs to end with Hamas no longer being a viable military threat so that Israel can resume diplomatic efforts.”
He emphasizes that “the fundamental goal of American policy in the Middle East should be to enable Israel, along with Sunni Arab states, to build on President Trump's Abraham Accords and provide a regional counterweight to Iran. Vance contends that the Harris administration's approach, which involves giving money to Iran in hopes that they won't use it to build military capabilities, is flawed. He points out that Iran has used the funds to attack the US and its allies, not to become a more functional partner for the US.”
Vance believes that if Vice President Harris does not choose Josh Shapiro, "it will be due to the antisemitism within their own caucus and party. It's disgraceful that Democrats have reached a point where this is even an open conversation. And it is an open conversation. Even if it is Josh Shapiro, he has had to distance himself from parts of his biography because the far left doesn’t like the fact that he is a Jewish-American. We have to be honest about this fact and call it out."
He concludes, "Regardless of who the nominee is, we’re ready to take them on. It's Kamala Harris’ policies that matter the most. She is responsible for worsening the inflation crisis, making groceries less affordable, making our country less safe, and opening the American Southern border. No running mate will allow her to escape her bad record with the American people. Do we want to give her a promotion? I think the American people are going to say absolutely not. We should kick her out of office."