If Democrats defund the Iran campaign after midterms, what then? Nick Freitas lays out 3 potential strategies.

Right now, the U.S. government is putting military pressure on Iran, but that pressure is likely to let up if Democrats sweep the midterm elections, as they are predicted to do, and cut the money for continued military operations. BlazeTV host Nick Freitas and Hillsdale military historian Mark Moyar are concerned that Iran is just biding its time — waiting for American politics to shut down the military pressure.Freitas wants to know how the administration can continue to thwart Iran even if that military pressure ends. “So if we acknowledge that Iran does pose a threat, that they do have aggressive goals … what do you think would be a good long-term strategy for mitigating the threat?” Freitas asks Moyer. Given that Democrats will almost certainly push to “defund the war,” Moyer believes America will have to “depend more on countries in the region.” “For Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, the other Gulf states, this is really more of an existential threat for them than it is for us,” he says, recommending that we “[build] the conditions for allowing them to to take more of the kinetic action.” Freitas proposes the idea of “coming up with some sort of alternative to the Strait of Hormuz with respect to the export of oil.” “How viable a strategy do you think that is, and what do you think some alternatives could actually look like?” he asks Moyer. Moyer looks favorably on this idea. “I think using the alternative roads, we're already getting back close to prewar levels of oil. So I think that's very important — certainly going to reduce the ability of Iran to try to blackmail us with the Strait of Hormuz, which seems to be their current method of operation,” he says. As for alternatives, Moyer says “it's not that hard” to “circumvent Iran,” but doing so “is not going to make the Iranian threat go away.” “Realistically speaking, we should assume that at some point the Democrats and the Europeans are going to ease up on them, and so, you know, [Iran] will get back to doing the things they want to be doing,” he explains. “How much leverage do you think the United States has in offering a stick or a carrot to the Chinese in order to lean on the ayatollah?” Freitas asks. “In theory it sounds good,” says Moyer. However, “the Chinese probably like what's going on because we are their main adversary and we're losing lots of money and having lots of trouble.” “They want to surpass us as the world's most powerful country, and so for us to be bogged down in this mess, I think, serves their interest, so I don't see them probably wanting to change Iran too much," he theorizes. Freitas then presents a third potential strategy: Instead of fighting Iran directly, the U.S. quietly helps groups inside Iran fight the Iranian government themselves.“You see opposition to the ayatollah coming from the overwhelming majority, which is Persian, but you also see it from Arab populations. You see it from Kurdish populations, and you certainly see it from the Azerbaijani populations, all within Iran,” he says. “Do you think investing in a long-term strategy, which essentially supports and uplifts dissident groups to be able to potentially mount an effective insurgency ... do you look at that as a viable strategy?” he asks. Moyer says it’s “certainly one worth considering” but ultimately “a tough call.” “We have as a country mixed experience with supporting insurgencies in other countries, and sometimes it works,” he says. But sometimes it doesn’t work. “If you recall when we supported the Syrian insurgency, I think we spent a hundred billion dollars to train five guys or something before we canceled the program,” he notes. It’s also a deadly gamble. “I also think of the Iraq experience where we try to encourage these people to rise up and then Saddam Hussein ends up slaughtering huge numbers of people,” Moyer says, “so I do think we have to kind of think about are we going to simply be consigning people to their death.” “Making the Argument with Nick Freitas” is available on BlazeTV+, YouTube, and major podcast platforms. Start watching Nick Freitas NOW at blazetv.com, and use the promo code NICK for $20 off your BlazeTV+ subscription.