The war in Gaza, a disaster for the United States
Biden’s early all out support for Israel was a terrible diplomatic blunder. (I don’t take credit for stating the obvious). He now has no leverage with Netanyahu (at least any that he is willing and able to use). By the same token his Secretary of State is not only reviled in the Middle East but also in the larger Muslim world. Being met at the airport in Ankara by the deputy mayor of the province was an insult but the refusal of the Turkish Foreign Minister to publicly accept Blinken’s embrace took the snub to a new level. What did Tony expect when the pictures of dead Palestinian children flood the Internet? What possible message could he bring to the Arab and Muslim world if he didn’t even persuade his close ally Israel to pause the killing, especially while the US continues to supply Israel with weapons, ammunition, intelligence, and cash? Who thought this trip was a good idea? The United States has vital interests beyond Israel, In Europe, in Asia, and the Western Hemisphere to name a few. Support for the massacre of the civilian population of Gaza is threatening US leadership around the world. The United States, not China, not Russia seems set on becoming the global pariah. This is what happens when a tiny part of the world and US domestic ecosphere is allowed to dominate the United States’ relationship with the world community. It pays a very heavy price and will do so for years to come even if somehow the fighting in Gaza stops today. Its support for a rules based world order has been further exposed for the risible fiction it always was. The cynicism of its support for such rules (when it suits them) is now fully on display.
Stopping off to see Palestinian Authority President Abbas was another cynical act. President Abbas has about as much power as the last Emperor of China, Henry Pu Yi under Japanese occupation. Perhaps less. Abbas has no authority, no legitimacy, and no respect from anyone least of all his own people. Asking him to take responsibility for a post war Gaza simply means the continuation of Israeli control. More to the point giving the Palestinian Authority (an oxymoron) “control” of Gaza means the Israelis can say they have no responsibility for the feeding and overall welfare for the Palestinian population They could claim they had no responsibility to do so even while it maintains a strict blockade of the territory.
While I was aware of dissension within the ranks of the Democratic party, young liberals, US government employees, and a big chunk of the American electorate, I was surprised by how broad and deep the unhappiness with US policy has become. I can’t even imagine at this point how team Biden turns this around. Wait until the pictures of the emaciated remains of children dead of starvation begin to surface despite the strenuous efforts of mainstream media to under report and under play the death and destruction. I know many Democrats who actually told me they would vote for Biden even if he was dead. While they won’t necessarily now vote for Trump, they will probably just stay home which is almost the same thing.
Finally, the recent video of Blinken on the State Department website waxing lyrically about his concern for the safety and well-being of the Palestinian people doesn’t even rise to the level of hypocrisy. At least the average hypocrite is able to conger up a flimsy defense of his position. Blinken’s words were pure madness given the unstinting efforts to supply Israel with weapons, ammunition, intelligence, and cash. In fact strenuous efforts to increase these items. Who does he think his words will influence? Perhaps he just wants to lay down a marker for history that yes he was against this massacre and hope nobody looks at what he actually was doing. He is, I presume, not unintelligent. Perhaps he wants to avoid a future war crimes indictment as unlikely as it seems now. Perhaps he remembers the gruesome fate of a certain foreign minister convicted of war crimes after the last failed German invasion of Russia.