I have not seen any commentary on something that seems rather obvious to me: Hamas’ execution of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was a deliberate message to the Biden Administration of the F-U variety. And the U.S. not only just took it but proceeded to do Hamas’ bidding by putting additional pressure on Israel.
After all, his parents had just addressed the Democratic National Convention and he was the public face of the American hostages - whose release, one is shamed to admit, were never a seeming priority of the U.S. government.
In fact, if memory serves, President Biden and Secretary Blinken have repeatedly asserted that Israel’s #1 goal in Gaza must be the safeguarding of the Gaza civilians that the U.S. and others made sure remained in harm’s way by acquiescing to Egypt’s sealing of its border.
Also, let’s remember the U.S. abstention on a U.N. Security Council resolution that severed the link between a ceasefire and the hostages release.
One may reasonably ask what is the actual U.S. policy here. As you point out, Hamas essentially disappears from the narrative. I think the reason for this blindness parallels the similar refusal to acknowledge the true goals of the Palestinian movement - which are not at all secret if you listen to the discourse among themselves in Arabic: they seek to replace Israel not live side-by-side in peace. Surely our Arabist State Department should have a glut of Arab speakers, but maybe not. Who can say at this point.
The obvious party with whom the U.S. needs to get serious, however, are neither the Palestinians, Lebanon-Hezbollah or even Qatar (except maybe to send a message, as the French would say, “pour encourager les autres”). No, the addressee in question is Iran and they need to be told to (1) accept the loss of their Hamas proxy, (2) move their Hezbollah proxy beyond the Litani River or be prepared to lose it too, (3) cease arming the Houthis and (4) end their terror financing. If they don’t, they can say goodbye to their oil production capacity and the revenue that comes from it.
Of course, the current Administration seems more intent on preserving Iran’s “equities” (to use Obama’s word) than our own credibility.
Forget about Israel for the moment. If we are really to “pivot” to Asia and empower Iran as part of some neighborhood sharing policy, do we really imagine that the Ayatollahs will refuse their Chinese ally’s request to have the Houthis close the straits of Hormuz, sowing economic chaos in the West, when it attempts to annex Taiwan?
What are we trying to accomplish in the world. Can anyone really say?
Thanks for your thoughts! Now the administration’s crying foul over Iran sending ballistic missiles to Russia. I wish I could believe they’ll do something about it. Sanctions? Come on, not exactly sufficient at this late date.
Iran had been under a UN prohibition regarding its ballistic missile program and that sanction was allowed to lapse a year or so ago. Why was never explained.
Similarly, after the U.S. gave due notice and then withdrew from the JCPOA, which was permitted, Iran remained in the agreement which it proceeded to violate with increasing egregiousness. When the U.S. sought to “snap back” the sanctions, the other countries said that could only be done by a party which the U.S. no longer was.
So for years we witnessed an Iran that was in increasing breach of its JCPOA obligations with no penalty ever imposed. Even today the other parties are not even whispering about the possibility of invoking the “snap back” provision that President Obama touted was the agreement’s ultimate safeguard.
So, just like our supposed concern over civilian casualties in Gaza, this is a situation we brought about by ourselves. It’s no act of God or bolt from the blue. It’s the result of intentional acts of omission and commission - and the public should be entitled to an explanation which it will never get if the campaign of misrepresentations from the “echo chamber” created to sell the JCPOA in the first place is any indication.
That explanation would require the one concession that the Biden Administration will never make: the critique of the JCPOA that Netanyahu famously presented to Congress was as prescient as it was irrefutable, and therefore the Obama Administration’s choice to go with character assassination (messaging that continues to this very day with consequences to Gaza and beyond) over a factual refutation was a mistake of strategic importance.
Sensible and reasonable analysis. But you are preaching to the choir. The world has taken sides. Including the US. As you have painfully demonstrated, word salads trump common sense when it comes to the Jewish state. We're on our own. I hope our leadership understands that.
Ridiculous and meaningless…rather like the way Harris explains things.
I’m sure that got a FU
The proper answer to the Biden-Harris administration: Go fly a kite!
Exactly.
Current leadership talking out of two sides of the mouth.
I have not seen any commentary on something that seems rather obvious to me: Hamas’ execution of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin was a deliberate message to the Biden Administration of the F-U variety. And the U.S. not only just took it but proceeded to do Hamas’ bidding by putting additional pressure on Israel.
After all, his parents had just addressed the Democratic National Convention and he was the public face of the American hostages - whose release, one is shamed to admit, were never a seeming priority of the U.S. government.
In fact, if memory serves, President Biden and Secretary Blinken have repeatedly asserted that Israel’s #1 goal in Gaza must be the safeguarding of the Gaza civilians that the U.S. and others made sure remained in harm’s way by acquiescing to Egypt’s sealing of its border.
Also, let’s remember the U.S. abstention on a U.N. Security Council resolution that severed the link between a ceasefire and the hostages release.
One may reasonably ask what is the actual U.S. policy here. As you point out, Hamas essentially disappears from the narrative. I think the reason for this blindness parallels the similar refusal to acknowledge the true goals of the Palestinian movement - which are not at all secret if you listen to the discourse among themselves in Arabic: they seek to replace Israel not live side-by-side in peace. Surely our Arabist State Department should have a glut of Arab speakers, but maybe not. Who can say at this point.
The obvious party with whom the U.S. needs to get serious, however, are neither the Palestinians, Lebanon-Hezbollah or even Qatar (except maybe to send a message, as the French would say, “pour encourager les autres”). No, the addressee in question is Iran and they need to be told to (1) accept the loss of their Hamas proxy, (2) move their Hezbollah proxy beyond the Litani River or be prepared to lose it too, (3) cease arming the Houthis and (4) end their terror financing. If they don’t, they can say goodbye to their oil production capacity and the revenue that comes from it.
Of course, the current Administration seems more intent on preserving Iran’s “equities” (to use Obama’s word) than our own credibility.
Forget about Israel for the moment. If we are really to “pivot” to Asia and empower Iran as part of some neighborhood sharing policy, do we really imagine that the Ayatollahs will refuse their Chinese ally’s request to have the Houthis close the straits of Hormuz, sowing economic chaos in the West, when it attempts to annex Taiwan?
What are we trying to accomplish in the world. Can anyone really say?
Thanks for your thoughts! Now the administration’s crying foul over Iran sending ballistic missiles to Russia. I wish I could believe they’ll do something about it. Sanctions? Come on, not exactly sufficient at this late date.
Iran had been under a UN prohibition regarding its ballistic missile program and that sanction was allowed to lapse a year or so ago. Why was never explained.
Similarly, after the U.S. gave due notice and then withdrew from the JCPOA, which was permitted, Iran remained in the agreement which it proceeded to violate with increasing egregiousness. When the U.S. sought to “snap back” the sanctions, the other countries said that could only be done by a party which the U.S. no longer was.
So for years we witnessed an Iran that was in increasing breach of its JCPOA obligations with no penalty ever imposed. Even today the other parties are not even whispering about the possibility of invoking the “snap back” provision that President Obama touted was the agreement’s ultimate safeguard.
So, just like our supposed concern over civilian casualties in Gaza, this is a situation we brought about by ourselves. It’s no act of God or bolt from the blue. It’s the result of intentional acts of omission and commission - and the public should be entitled to an explanation which it will never get if the campaign of misrepresentations from the “echo chamber” created to sell the JCPOA in the first place is any indication.
That explanation would require the one concession that the Biden Administration will never make: the critique of the JCPOA that Netanyahu famously presented to Congress was as prescient as it was irrefutable, and therefore the Obama Administration’s choice to go with character assassination (messaging that continues to this very day with consequences to Gaza and beyond) over a factual refutation was a mistake of strategic importance.
Yes indeed.
So angry and frustrated with US government policy.
Throwing Jews under the bus
It's damn bad. It's not going to get better because they have a Palestinian schtick.
Sensible and reasonable analysis. But you are preaching to the choir. The world has taken sides. Including the US. As you have painfully demonstrated, word salads trump common sense when it comes to the Jewish state. We're on our own. I hope our leadership understands that.
Every idiot ignores the white elephant in the conundrum , Iran and quatar .
We ignore them at our peril.