October 25, 2024
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has rated the Islamic Republic as America’s primary foe. It’s common to call Russia, China, North Korea and Iran adversaries of the United States. Interviewed on “60 Minutes” October 6, Harris was asked which was the country’s “greatest adversary.” Harris responded, “I think there’s an obvious one in mind, which is Iran.”
She then continued: “Iran has American blood on their hands. This attack on Israel 200 ballistic missiles what we need to do is to ensure that Iran never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power. That is one of my highest priorities.” She was asked if she would strike pre-emptively if she had evidence Iran was building a nuclear weapon. She responded: “I’m not going to talk about hypotheticals at this moment.” Barring Iran from building a nuclear weapon has been US policy for many years, so she set no new policy there.
And ducking the question about what she would do by refusing to address “hypotheticals” is just standard government-speak. A few days later, in a telephone conversation with Jewish voters, she read out additional remarks: “Make no mistake, as president, I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend American forces and interests from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists, and I will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. Diplomacy is my preferred path to that end, but all options are on the table.” Many Republicans swiftly jumped on her saying that she should have cited China as the chief adversary.
Harris initiated her response by saying that Iran “has American blood on its hands.” None of the other three countries is currently targeting American lives, so there is a clear rationale for ranking Iran first as of now. As a practical matter, however, the US military and State Department must watch all four countries, and others as well, simultaneously, so the idea of ranking them is not very meaningful. All could ensnare the US in a war. What’s interesting is that Harris thought of Iran first when asked the question, suggesting she has given some real thought to the challenge posed by Iran.