Clinton drew a line in the sand and said Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.....
Presidents Bush, Obama, and Biden held them... Without war, without making a mess, without killing children, without closing Hormuz.
Is that so,
Brad?
A cursory review of Iran's nuclear intentions reveals a pattern of steady progress toward weapons capability.
Peanuts Carter's weakness was the trigger that left a cadre of theocrats in charge of a nation dedicated to wiping Israel from the face of the Earth (and America, if they could).
It's too bad Reagan and H.W. didn't do what Peanuts failed to do, but post 9/11, George should have, and his failure allowed the wound to fester.
Your idol B. Hussein Obama pursued outright bribery. How'd that work out?
His half-hearted (and half-witted) dog and pony show culminated in the toothless Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was supposed to cap enrichment levels, reduce centrifuge numbers, and increase IAEA inspections. Iran pretended to comply and B. Hussein Obama pretended to believe them, as the mullahs claimed to have reduced their uranium stockpile (while delaying their ability to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for one bomb from months to about a year.
However, the Obama "deal" did not dismantle Iran's nuclear infrastructure or knowledge base; it's now known that Iran preserved their enrichment capabilities and did not scrap their ballistic missile program while the Democrats looked the other way.
Far from avoiding "mess" or killings, the dark age of Obama involved significant covert warfare with proxies assuming the risks.
The U.S.-Israeli Stuxnet cyberattack damaged Iran's centrifuges at Natanz, delaying but not halting the mullah's program. Multiple Iranian nuclear scientists were assassinated in operations widely attributed to Israel with tacit U.S. approval, introducing targeted killings into the equation.
Meanwhile, a spate of Iranian naval provocations and continued threats heightened the risks. Overall, the JCPOA provided a pause, not a permanent hold, because Iran retained the expertise and the intention to carry out their threat to eliminate Israel and attack the United States (the Great Satan) ASAP.
Biden's placeholder regime was a sick joke from start to finish.
Under Autopen Biden's nominal "leadership" the old man's handlers sought to revive the useless JCPOA through indirect talks, but these stalled because the mullahs despise weakness. Iran dramatically escalated its program with impunity. It enriched uranium to 60% purity (near weapons-grade), amassed a stockpile sufficient for multiple bombs, installed advanced centrifuges, and defied IAEA access.
Western observers have long assessed Iran as a "threshold" state, capable of building a weapon quickly, directly undermining your ludicrous claim of effective containment through diplomacy.
No overt war broke out under Autopen Biden (Iran was a Chinese client state), but tensions included U.S.-backed Israeli strikes on Iranian proxies and facilities, contributing to regional "messes" like conflicts in Yemen and Syria that killed civilians, including children, all approved by Biden's handlers, whoever they were...
Decades of failed diplomacy have left Iran closer to nuclear capability than ever, paving the way for subsequent military actions.
In summary, while past administrations avoided war, clearly a mix of sanctions, bribery, diplomacy, and covert ops did not prevent Iran's incremental advances toward nuclear status.
The failure to take the bull by the horns until now came at the cost of ongoing covert violence, economic warfare harming civilians, and ultimate policy failure.
I seem to recall that you criticized Bush vehemently during his terms in office as well,
Brad.
We both know that if a Democrat had done what Trump is doing now, you'd have been effusive in your support.