What Happened to Getting A Deal Done NOW?
The Biden Administration's 180º reversal on a peace deal is jarring, unacceptable, and risks a repeat of Iraq and Afghanistan
After months of pressure the Biden Administration finally began to publicly call for a ceasefire and release of all hostages in Spring of 2024. And after Biden withdrew from the presidential race, VP Harris launched her campaign committing to ‘get a deal done now.’ But now we see a dramatic shift in the Biden Administration’s priorities. Far from a ceasefire and peace deal, the Biden White House is actively pushing more war. More war spells disaster for global peace, the United States and our democracy, and we cannot be silent at this pivotal moment in history. Let’s Address This.
On August 9 VP Kamala Harris responded to pro-peace activists upset about Israel’s horrific siege on Gaza and said, “I hear you, and I promise you we are working to finalize the ceasefire deal by working round the clock. We will get this done.” Even as late as September 26 Joe Biden repeated his calls for ceasefire as Israel attacked Lebanon. But by October 3, something changed. As Reuters reports:
The Biden administration believes it is appropriate for Israel to continue with its ground and air attacks on Hezbollah for now, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday, even as he acknowledged the risk of the operation in Lebanon expanding beyond Israel's current aims.
And now all pretense of peace is lost. As Voice of America reported on October 10:
U.S. support for Israel's campaign to root out Hezbollah in Lebanon is a departure from the 21-day cease-fire call Washington made with allies in late September. According to the White House readout of President Joe Biden's phone call Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — the first direct conversation between the leaders since Israel's campaign in Lebanon — Biden did not reiterate the cease-fire call to the Israeli prime minister.
This is particularly confounding, given that journalist Bob Woodward reports that President Biden knows Netanyahu has been lying to him all this time to avoid a ceasefire and release of hostage deal. Woodward quotes Biden as saying, “That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad fucking guy!”
I have questions that I wish those in legacy media would ask the Biden administration:
What does it say about Biden’s judgement if he knows that Netanyahu is a “bad f*cking guy” but continues to arm him anyway?
What message does it send to the 77% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans who demand cessation of arms to Netanyahu, that while Biden agrees with them that Netanyahu is untrustworthy, he continues to arm Netanyahu anyway?
Why is Biden taking a position completely contrary to his promise to get a deal done, while ignoring the genocide in Palestine and hostages languishing in prison?
And why isn’t legacy media demanding answers to these questions from the White House and the State Department? To put in perspective how devastating Biden’s reversal is, this is where we are right now. In the last two weeks Netanyahu has:
Killed more than 2000 civilians in Lebanon and injured more than 9500
Threatened violence on Lebanon the same way the Israeli military leveled Gaza
Displaced more than 1.2 million Lebanese citizens (nearly 25% of the population)
Shot and killed unarmed civilians in Northern Gaza trying to flee to safety
Shot at and injured multiple UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
Arrested American journalist Jeremy Loffredo for reporting from Israel
This is the absurd “de-escalation through escalation” strategy that the Biden White House approved. And this is all in addition to the at least 186,000 Palestinian civilians killed in Gaza over the last year. Additionally, and with Biden’s support, Israel promises to aggressively attack Iran, possibly targeting its oil refineries. Such an attack would be devastating for the region and the world depending on the size and scale of the attack. As I tweeted on October 1:
As Israel bombed and invaded Lebanon and killed more than 1000 civilians the White House defended it as “De-escalation through escalation,” even writing a press release praising Netanyahu. Now as Iran fires 120 missiles at Israel does the White House stand by that absurd slogan? What a complete failure.
Sadly the answer appears yes, as Biden continues to believe that continued escalation is the path forward. Never mind that more than 100 hostages were released through diplomacy last November, yet only a handful have been released through incessant bombing. And while we’ve been told this entire time that the siege on Gaza was to “bring home the hostages,” even the hostage families have long recognized this claim as a lie—even stating that “the Israeli government is keeping our families hostage.”
Finally, if the horrors of decades of war in Iraq and Afghanistan taught us anything, it is that war—especially war that indiscriminately targets and kills civilians—can never bring about peace. The vast majority of Americans, Palestinians, Lebanese, and Israelis want peace—yet Biden now joins Netanyahu in enabling more war. I fear this reckless decision will have drastic ramifications of increased hostilities and violence through expansion of war, perpetuating this vicious cycle. While I hope I am wrong, it is hard to believe a peaceful resolution is possible with the current violent strategy.
As of right now, it is still within Biden’s power to enforce the Leahy Laws, stop arming Netanyahu, and put an end to his expanding war—one that has already killed 186,000 Palestinians by the Lancet’s count, and more than 2000 Lebanese civilians. But without explanation, he refuses to act. In the meantime, hostages continue to suffer, children continue to be killed, and the war lobby continues to make record profits. None of that bodes well for the prospects of global peace right now, or of sustaining American democracy this November.
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Thank you, Qasim, for your (as always) reasoned, calm, urgent, compassionate analysis. It is painful and demoralizing to witness the cruelty and havoc caused by Biden's handling of the situation. Knowing our tax money fuels the devastation and injustice in Gaza and the West Bank has been painful and infuriating. I lived in Lebanon for a year in the early 70's studying at The American University of Beirut on a junior year abroad program--so now the Israeli assault moves to places I lived in and loved.
Joe Biden has been a cold warrior all his political life. Nothing changes now that he's morphed into kindly-looking "Uncle Joe." His vision of the world is still divvied up between the US and a few other world powers who are either allies or enemies, and the rest of the world which is fair game for exploitation by those world powers. He is still firmly entrenched in the 75 years of bi-partisan consensus that sees Israel as an agent of that exploitation, and that sees any opposition to Israel as "terror." (In that regard, he and the Bushes Senior and Junior are cut from the same cloth.) The deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza and Lebanon and the West Bank--even the probable loss of his Vice-President's campaign--can't shake Biden's bedrock, almost religious, faith in that world view.
That said, we must continue to ask that he--and the rest of the political class and legacy media--change from that mindset, change for the better. Thank you for showing us, each day, how to make the ask.
Qasim, there has been no "180 degree reversal." Biden has always said "Israel" (Netanyahu) had his "ironclad" support, and that has never changed.
Ah, you're questioning Biden's judgment. That's much more to the point. Personally, I have always considered Biden to be a stuffed shirt who keeps being in the right place at the right time. He has a career-long history of putting his foot in his mouth, and being...flexible...about his agenda. He allows himself to be played by someone he himself describes as a "bad fucking guy."
You can add what you like about Harris, and I wouldn't disagree with you, but she's not the president. She doesn't make those decisions. If Biden died today, would she suddenly do anything different? Again, SHE isn't "working around the clock." But it doesn't take working around the clock. All it takes is abruptly stopping supplying Netanyahu, and stopping blocking otherwise unanimous worldwide votes for ceasefire. But Biden probably won't die today, so we won't know what, if anything, she'd do different.