U.S. cannot allow another Osama bin Laden

OPINION:

Forty years ago, 241 Marines, sailors, and soldiers were killed when two terrorists drove trucks into the Marine Barracks at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.

It was the deadliest day in U.S. Marine history since Iwo Jima in 1945. It was the single deadliest attack on Americans anywhere in the world before 9/11 and was the single deadliest terrorist attack on Americans overseas ever. This attack was committed by Hezbollah, which at the time was a little-known militant group. Hezbollah, founded in Lebanon a year prior, acted at the direction of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which had seized power in Iran just four years prior.

The bombing of the Marine Barracks was one of the lowest points of Reagan’s presidency, particularly because of a limited presidential response. It was a rare miss by President Ronald Reagan.

At least one person that day was paying particularly close attention. Osama bin Laden apparently took note and saw Mr. Reagan’s response to the attack as an invitation to stage his terrorist attacks, ultimately culminating in the deadliest day in American history on 9/11.

Our main lesson today is that the words and actions of the leader of the free world matter, and in wartime, the actions of an American commander-in-chief can shape world events. 

2023 looks a lot like 1983. The Iranian regime’s proxies in Iraq and Syria are currently shelling U.S. bases and injuring troops, while Hamas, another Iranian proxy in Gaza, has killed more than 32 Americans. The same Hezbollah is calling for a “Day of Rage,” and demonstrators are laying U.S. embassies in Beirut and throughout the region under siege.

President Biden is currently overseeing the most dangerous moment in the Middle East in decades. Although he demonstrates empathy and solidarity with Israel, he must also project strength. His administration swiftly sent aid after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, deploying two carrier strike groups, an amphibious-ready group with 2,000 Marines and increased logistical support.

Yet in none of his remarks or those delivered by his Cabinet was the current war in Israel described as what it truly is: an Iranian attack. The fact is Hamas could not have carried out the deadly attack that it did without Iranian support and training. The militias attacking U.S. troops are not acting on their own accord; they are carrying out the marching orders of a terroristic Iranian regime.

Today, the Iranian regime may be just as emboldened as it was in 1983. And it is bound to get even more dangerous as it moves towards a nuclear breakout—a breakout that will change the Middle East.

The attack on the Marine Barracks was the first major suicide attack by an Islamist organization against Americans. The holding of American hostages for 444 days by the Iranian regime several years earlier was a shock to the world and played a key role in costing Carter his presidency. These were unprecedented moves that shocked the world and for which the U.S. was unprepared.

The Iranian regime and its proxies have not changed 40 years later. Hamas is currently holding hostages, as is Iran. Hamas is actively using the population of Gaza as human shields while it commits heinous barbarism toward Israeli civilians that dwarf the actions of ISIS. Yet, during this time, the Biden Administration is attempting to normalize relations with its terrorist state backer, Iran.

The U.S. should have learned. You do not normalize relations with a terrorist state. A state whose politicians chant “Death to America.” In the White House with President Trump, we knew better. By implementing a “maximum pressure” policy on the terrorist Iranian regime and withdrawing from the flawed Iranian nuclear deal, we sent a clear message: If Iran or her proxies kill a single American, we will forcefully respond. When Iranian proxies in Iraq killed an American contractor, we responded by killing the second-most influential individual in Iran’s leadership after the Supreme Leader, Soleimani.

The strike—shocking, to be sure—established our credible military deterrent and was praised by both sides of the aisle and by our allies in the region. It was decisive leadership by an American President.

The world took notice.

In three years, not only has President Biden eroded American deterrence—from the debacle when pulling out of Afghanistan to statements about tolerating a “minor incursion” by Putin into Ukraine—but he has also allowed for tragedy in each of these instances. 

And today, the three years of accommodating the terrorist Iranian regime through non-enforcement of sanctions, ransom payments, and not responding when rockets are fired at our bases is paying dividends for our adversaries. It is already creating the greatest tragedy of his administration, and today, President Biden does not have the words to address our enemy for what it is.

If there is one lesson 40 years after one of our greatest losses of life from a terrorist attack, it is that America cannot allow another Osama bin Laden to emerge in the fragile Middle East. Accomplishing this goal will take more than just words—it will take a strong and unmistakable political will to address this terror head-on. 

• Retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg is a former national security adviser in the Trump administration and the current co-chairman of the America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security. He is the author of “War by Other Means” and a Fox News contributor.