The scandalous withdrawal of the U.S. armed forces from Afghanistan, and especially the drone strike on an innocent family, based on unsubstantiated intelligence has puts the efficiency of the U.S. foreign policy under severe strain. The situation has frustrated many countries who have been relaying on the United States for military, economic and political tie, and support. Further, the U.S. and Britain agreed with Australia to sign a nuclear submarine deal which has already been agreed with French. French President Macron summoned his ambassadors from the United States and Australia in disgust. This also added further strain to the uncertain president Biden’s foreign policy. It is well known that the developed countries will attempt to win economic contracts using political strength, especially when the contract includes lucrative military equipment ($66 billion in this case). However, this type of foreign policy behavior has rarely been observed in the world to this date!
It may be speculated that President Biden has tried to repair the public’s perception on the incompetency of his administration by means of this lucrative agreement. But in this context, too, Mr. Biden has made a big mistake. Removing France from this contract could be very costly for the U.S. in the future. The call of French ambassadors in the eyes of a free and democratic world should not be underestimated. Perhaps paying for its cost in the future is much higher than its short-term economic gain.
The unexpected foreign policy of Mr. Biden and his administration has caused the American people losing confidence in him and his cabinet, and for this reason, the U.S. Congress on September 23, 2021, approved a plan that would severely curtail Mr. Biden’s authority in various foreign and military activities, including the U.S. military spending in the world in 2022. These issues have been reflected in the media outlets around the world, extensively (1). The bill has been approved by 316 votes against 113, and it is sent to the U.S. senate for debate and approval. If the Senate approves the bill with such high majority, and if the bill wins more than two-thirds of the votes, Mr. Biden cannot even veto it and it must be implemented.
This legislation limits Mr. Biden and his administration from spending and deciding on the defense budget outside the United States. For example, any military action and spending of funds in the Middle East must first be reported to Congress. Like President Obama, Mr. Biden will not be able to send a plane full of cash to the Regime of Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, or the proxies of these countries. The resolution states that the Ministry of Defense should monitor all negotiations, military contracts between Iran, Russia, and China, and send an extensive report to Congress. Given that The Security Council’s Resolution 2231 on the purchase and sale of Military Equipment, Missiles, etc. of Iran ended in October 2020, Mr. Biden must report to Congress any military conference between Iran and China and Russia, arms shipments, visits by military leaders of the three countries, illegal purchases, and other cooperation, such as lifting sanctions and giving any concessions, and their impacts.
Section 1227 of the bill requires the Secretary of Defense to submit to Congress every 180 days report on improving Iran’s military capabilities in various branches of Iran’s armed forces, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the Regular Armed Forces (Artesh), as well the section 1228 of the bill, states every 180 days the Secretary of Defense produces a report that must include proxy militias such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl Hagh, al-Nujaba, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Kataib al-Imam Ali, Kataib Hezbollah, the Badr Organization, the Fatemiyoun and Zainabiyoun Brigades in Syria, and the Yemeni Houthis.
The U.S. Congress’ concern is due to the incompetency of Mr. Biden’s administration. One concern is the weaknesses of the nuclear deal with Iran, which Congress considers necessary to limit Mr. Biden and his administration making any concessions for returning to the JCPOA. Congress is concerned that with the JCPOA negotiations, Mr. Biden, like Obama, may send cash to the Islamic regime to circumvent banking sanctions, which will most certainly be spent on funding the regime’s regional military and terrorist activities.
Many parts of the bill are for the congressional oversight of Mr. Biden’s foreign policy dealing with the Islamic Regime of Iran.
Commander Mohammad Farsi
September 28, 2021
(۱) https://edition.cnn.com/2021/09/23/politics/house-vote-ndaa/index.html
