To bolster diplomacy and deterrence make our enemies fear the bomber

President Trump should establish fear in enemy regimes of the capabilities of our stealth bombers as a deterrent.

Rebeccah Heinrichs is a fellow at the Hudson Institute where she provides research and commentary on a range of security issues and specializes in missile defense and nuclear deterrence. Follow her on Twitter, @RLHeinrichs.

In recent weeks, the U.S. sent B-52 heavy bombers from the U.K.’s RAF Fairford Base, showcasing U.S. strength, global reach, and its potential added advantage when collaborating with allies in a strong signal to Iran. Now six of the nation’s stealth bombers, the B-2 Spirits, are on the tarmac at a joint U.K.-U.S. island military base on Diego Garcia. We don’t know what is in each of the two internal weapons bays per bomber. But each bomber can carry conventional, nuclear, precision-guided or gravity bombs including ones that are designed to destroy the most deeply buried and hardened targets—like the ones housing Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program. Instead of letting Iran string along useless talks while its military builds up, Trump should make it clear that he is really willing to green-light the Israelis to lead a military campaign to destroy the entire nuclear program and the U.S. would play a significant assist role with its stealth bombers. He should further make it clear that he is not impressed with Iran’s delay tactics and its unwillingness to declare it is willing to forgo its entire nuclear weapons program. This is a unique moment and has the potential to send a serious message about the resolve of this administration to deter major wars and to re-establish stability after four years of a cascade of destabilizing aggression across continents. Credible threats of force go hand in glove with successful diplomacy and it would be prudent for this administration to communicate this in a strategic deterrence communication campaign.