"Money is ammo."

In Baghdad 2004, that military maxim reminded troops on patrol that spending $3 to buy Fanta sodas for Iraqi kids could produce more than photo smiles. GI largesse can encourage life-saving tips. The rattle-trap car around that corner there? Little man left it an hour ago. No. He's not from our neighborhood!

It isn't news that generosity and goodwill are powerful personal and diplomatic inducements. We know actionable intelligence can be bought for a price. That's why CIA buys info from a Mexican cartel thug who deserves to be shot on sight, but the maton knows the Minneapolis, Los Angeles and New York addresses of an Iranian assassin.

Money Ammo on Baghdad 2004's streets was a tactical tool to forward immediate objectives — make friends, pick up local gossip. Money, expressed in the form of a reciprocal nation-to-nation trade deal, is a strategic tool. The deal's future isn't measured in hours but in years. There may be or may not be immediate rewards, but mutual benefits is the goal — hence reciprocal deal. All parties ultimately benefit.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent's well-conceived and nimbly supervised domestic and international economic and political operations spur this column. But I've learned this the hard way — never discuss an economic topic in the abstract. The U.S. is in a war against an Iranian religious-criminal thugocracy that wants to possess nuclear weapons and be able to tactically change the price of a barrel of oil whenever it needs the cash.

Getting rid of ayatollah nukes and Iran's Hormuz stranglehold is good for the world.

But Americans focus on the price of a gallon of gas. The individual wallet is not abstract.

Bessent knows that. But he's unusual. He doesn't let the short term intimidate and sidetrack him.

Bessent's February 2026 speech to the Economic Club of Dallas (Texas) stated the Trump administration's long-range (strategic) goals.

Key quote: "Economic security is the foundation that allows a country to fulfill its most basic obligation of safeguarding its people. For a nation to be economically secure, it must possess the productive capacity to withstand shocks, deter adversaries and deliver rising prosperity to its citizens."

My quick translation: Wealth buys ammo. The wealth to buy and manufacture ammo scares bad guys with sense. (They do exist, but religious fanatics don't get it.)

Possessing productive capacity matters. A secure nation fundamentally relies on itself for economic and military security. Allies are welcomed — but they are a bonus.

His February speech said that: "America First ... rests on three pillars: First: Industrial and Technological Dominance. Second: Investment in America. Third: Preparedness."

My translation: America must maintain domestic resource and manufacturing capacities.

Then Bessent invoked Alexander Hamilton: "From the earliest days of the Republic, our Founding Fathers understood that independence required economic security. The ability to produce essential goods, sustain public credit, and foster domestic industry was seen as the foundation of sovereignty by Alexander Hamilton. And it still is."

Bessent has been accused of being a Hamiltonian. He's historically literate enough to know that accusation is high praise.

Bessent foresees two major risks for American economic security. "The first is a major cyber incident disrupting banks, payment systems, or other financial market infrastructures. The second is the fact that even despite reshoring efforts, more than 90% of advanced chips are still manufactured in Taiwan. Creating physical and digital safeguards therefore underpins economic security by preventing geopolitical or operational shocks from mutating into economic disequilibrium and a broader loss of confidence."

The SecTreasury is also intent on maintaining the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency. The dollar as reserve currency is "a key factor in enabling economic security. Reserve currency status anchors our borrowing costs, deepens capital markets ..."

Tehran's remnant regime should note this point. "Preparedness means ensuring that no adversary believes it can hold the American economy hostage or disrupt the well-being of American citizens. Geopolitical risk must be a key factor considered in policy making across agencies, and not treated as an afterthought."

Translation into military speak: Iran cannot control the Strait of Hormuz.

To find out more about Austin Bay and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Giorgio Trovato at Unsplash