Iran Sanctions Against U.S. No Big Deal

In retaliation against the United States for sanctions imposed by the Trump administration last month, Iran has imposed sanctions against at least 15 U.S. companies and have frozen any assets they may have in the country, according to the Iranian Defense Ministry.

While some may see this move by Iran as a "brazen and bold" move by the country, I happen to think it amounts to little if nothing at all. It's basically just a show. None of these companies do an extensive amount of business in Iran, and even if they did, Iran is so small that it would pale in comparison to any business dealings these companies may have elsewhere abroad.

It's a virtual drop in the pan.

It is a sign of growing tensions between the two countries. And some might add that what the sanctions imposed by Iran really have to do with is the threat by the Trump administration to rip up the Obama and U.N. struck deal with Iran to bar them from making nuclear defense ballistic missiles. A deal that, for all intents and purposes, was an awful deal for the United States without a doubt. And rightly so, the Trump administration has stated that Iran has already defaulted on the deal by conducting ballistic missile testing.

The fact is that we are not dealing with a country who can be dealt with on fair terms. I think even the Obama administration knew this, but they struck the deal anyway, and sent a hefty cash payment along with it to help to seal the deal.

Monies, by the way, according to most legal experts, the United States was never obligated to pay. But that's for another day.

Is it alarming that Iran/U.S. tensions are on the rise? Of course it is. Especially when you couple this with the fact that tensions are also on the rise with North Korea and even Russia. What should be more alarming is the eight-year long disarming of the U.S. military during the Obama administration, and the aging state of our military defense equipment which makes us less prepared to defend ourselves in multiple arenas.

Still, I feel that our military forces are quite a bit more prepared and able than anything the Iranians might throw at us, even if they happen to join forces with a larger, more equipped adversary. It would be tougher, but I also believe that the pace at which the Trump administration will re-equip our U.S. military and add troops will be much faster than anything we have seen in recent years, and by the time we get to the end of Trump's first four years in office our military might well be quite a lot stronger than it has been perhaps since the Reagan years.

We have the ability, more than any other country, to beef up our military force faster than anyone else can, and you can bet that is exactly what the Trump administration aims to do. I happen to think Iran is all too well aware of this as well.

I also think that while countries like Iran are not the brightest bulbs in the pack, I think they are wise enough to know that Trump, and this country, will go to great lengths to defend itself. I don't know what the Iranians know of history, but I am certain they recall the words of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who after the attack on Pearl Harbor said, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

The Iranians must also know that part of the reason that the American people elected Donald Trump to the presidency is due to a great fear by many Americans that the former administration was not doing enough to protect its citizens from harm especially abroad, and that the American people knew all too well that Hillary Clinton would have continued to do nothing.

Some fear that war will come with a Trump administration ultimately. I think the opposite is true. War would have come certainly from a Clinton administration. These other countries have to know that a Trump administration is not an Obama administration, and if Trump declares a "red line," you can bet he will follow through if is crossed.

The sanctions imposed by Iran against U.S. companies will do nothing to harm the United States, will do nothing to harm our economy or the companies sanctioned, and it will do nothing to make the United States change its current position regarding the Iran deal brought forth by the Obama administration, nor our resolve against radical Islamic terrorism, countries who harbor terrorists or support terrorism, or our ability to defend against any of these things.

The sanctions are essentially no big deal.