Is Joe Biden in a weak position compared to Iran? In any case, this is what the adversaries of the Democratic president, who is seeking a second term, are hammering home on Monday, January 29, by urging him to provide a harsh response to the death of three American soldiers in Jordan. 

The Democrat “only has blows to take,” analyzes Colin Clarke, research director at the Soufan Center, a think tank based in New York. 

The White House attributed the drone attack, aimed at a base in northeastern Jordan, to pro-Iran groups. Joe Biden promised that America would “respond”, and the response will be “consequential”, assured Monday a spokesperson for the executive, John Kirby.  

US President Joe Biden in Columbia, South Carolina, January 28, 2024. © Jacquelyn Martin, AP

The same, however, virulently rejected the idea that the electoral campaign would dictate the conduct of the American president. Joe Biden "does not look at the polls or the electoral calendar when he works to protect our troops [...]. It would be insulting to insinuate the contrary", he said during a press conference. 

Joe Biden has little choice but to respond, according to Colin Clarke, under penalty of being "overwhelmed in the middle of an election year by the Republicans, who could say that under Biden, soldiers are dying and that there is no has no strong response, while Trump eliminated [general Qassem] Soleimani", former architect of Iranian military strategy, targeted by an American strike in January 2020. 

Read alsoAmerican presidential election: Donald Trump against Joe Biden, a win-win duel?

“Weak” and “cowardly”, according to the Republicans 

The former Republican president, big favorite in his party's primary and likely rival to Joe Biden in the November election, has already taken up the matter. He described his 81-year-old Democratic opponent as "weak", and assured that this attack would "never" have happened under his mandate.

The 77-year-old Republican takes this as an opportunity to support his campaign narrative: he presents himself as a strong providential man, capable of ensuring the security of America through his sole authority, without getting involved in the conflicts that are shaking the world. 

Without a strong response against Iran, “Joe Biden would confirm that he is a coward, unworthy of being commander in chief” of the armed forces, raged the Republican senator from Arkansas, Tom Cotton. 

But by fighting back, Joe Biden risks alienating the progressive fringe of the Democratic Party, and "he cannot afford to lose too many votes, at a time when he is already struggling with young people and those who criticize him to write a blank check to Israel" in its war against Hamas, underlines Colin Clarke. 

Also read: The United States changes its tone with Israel, a sign of “frustration of the Biden administration”

Criticisms from the right of Joe Biden's Iranian policy deemed complacent are not new, but the conflict in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the attack by the Palestinian group supported by Tehran, has relaunched them. 

American defeat in Afghanistan 

“The deterrence strategy [of the Biden administration] has failed miserably. There have been more than 100 attacks against American troops in the region” since October 7, noted an influential Republican senator, Lindsay Graham. Until now, none of these attacks had caused any casualties.

However, this is not the first time that Joe Biden's mandate has been shaken by the death of American soldiers. On August 26, 2021, against the backdrop of the chaotic withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, 173 people, including 13 American soldiers, were killed in an attack near Kabul airport.

It was at this moment that for the first time, Joe Biden's popularity curves were reversed, with unfavorable opinions taking precedence over favorable opinions. Discontent was then confirmed, fueled by very high inflation, and the president today displays an anemic confidence rating.

Also read: The defeat of the United States in Afghanistan: a disaster predicted

The Democrat had justified the departure from Afghanistan by the desire to no longer risk the lives of American soldiers.

This was one of the big promises of his previous presidential campaign: in a foreign policy speech in July 2019, candidate Joe Biden promised that, if elected, he would end the "endless wars [of America] in Afghanistan and the Middle East." 

With AFP

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