[COPY] Biden and the World on the Brink of World War

Is Bibi going to provoke a wider war and can Biden restrain him?

April 15, 2024

By Marc Cooper

I don’t know about you, but I would be rather disappointed if my schadenfreude watching Donald Trump squirm and grimace as he is confined to a criminal court room chair gets interrupted by the outbreak of a major regional Middle East war, if not a larger global conflagration.  Can we please take a pause for a few weeks of Jews and Arabs killing each other so that there’s some time to get this dirtball former president tagged with a felony conviction?  Is that too much to ask?

Unfortunately, it is.  While it’s a delight to get Trump on trial, it’s also true that we may be only days or hours away from the outbreak of a major war that will involve the United States in a direct confrontation with Iran who—by the way—has as its most prominent ally, Putin’s Russia.

While some of my less than politically mature fellow progressives and liberals are getting their rocks off chanting “Genocide Joe,” the simple truth is that Joe Biden now stands as one of the most stalwart figures in preventing that wider war. We allied with Stalin at the very peak of his madness and bloodletting to defeat the Nazis. I would hope that we have enough brains to support Biden’s attempt to reel in Bibi – a much less onerous task. I’ve never read any history of WWII where Lefties were running around chanting  Genocide “Joe Stalin”while FDR was funneling him arms, tanks and planes.  FDR was no admirer of the Stalinist Soviet Union but he was a wily and brilliant politician who could weigh the pros and cons of any decision he had to make. (Just as an historical side note, in the 1930’s many in the orbit of the Communist Party USA were zealous supporters of Stalin even when he pacted with Hitler and were adamant in denying his repression and the famine he imposed on Ukraine that killed millions).

Note to “anti-imperialists:”  On Saturday the Maga crowd joined in the same chant of Genocide Joe in front of Trump who currently has zero interest in restraining Israel.  On the contrary, he has encouraged Netanyahu to “get this over” as quick as possible but by any means necessary with no regard for Palestinian lives. Keep that in mind if you are inclined to vote for RFK or to “punish” Biden by sitting out the election.

Let’s be clear about this treacherous and chilling moment in time.  As you should know, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for decades with one side or another alternating in provoking a series of outrages and abuses and death.  The current cycle was touched off by the dastardly and heinous attack on Israeli citizens by the Hamas terror organization in Gaza.  The Israelis retaliated by leveling Gaza, pushing two million people out of their homes, subjecting them to constant bombardment, aggravated by the lack of food and water and slaughtering some 32,000 or more Palestinians…almost half of them children and probably only a small percentage who were actually Hamas fighters.  Not to mention the disregard that Israel is showing for its own hostages who are further imperiled when not killed by Israel’s stoking of more violence and bloodshed – something that has generated a massive anti-Bibi movement inside Israel itself.

But, this is not genocide.  It’s a bundle of increasingly scabrous war crimes being committed by an unhinged Benjamin Netanyahu who, frankly, belongs in a co-defendant’s chair alongside Donald J. Trump.  The very latest cycle of escalated violence this weekend was set off by one of the most outrageous war crimes yet and one that went under-noticed here in the U.S.  Two weeks ago, the Israeli Air Force bombed the Iranian Consulate in Damascus, thereby assassinating two top Iranian generals.  Let me repeat that: Israel bombed a diplomatic office in a third country to kill two Iranian commanders.  This violates every international law on the books.  Worse, it was a pointless escalation by Netanyahu that he knew very well would make things worse, not better, and would be received in Tehran as an embossed gilded invitation to retaliate against Israel.  Excuse me, but who would think that a country would NOT retaliate when its diplomatic missions are bombed by an attacker’s air force?

The Iranians, meanwhile, had been staking out a complicated role in the conflict. Yes, they support Hamas. And, yes they support the much more powerful Hezbollah camped out on Israel’s northern border who the Iranians have held in check for the last 6 months.  Prior to the bombing of its consulate, Iran made it crystal clear through diplomatic messaging that it did not want a wider war and was not seeking armed conflict with the U.S. 

Indeed, the 300 drones and missiles that Iran launched against Israel on Saturday were much more of a nationalist message of self-respect than a serious attempt to hurt Israel.  The Iranians gave ample and advance warning of what was coming, allowing Israel and the U.S. to fully prepare for the attack. The drones sent in by Iran were a purposefully easy target and, indeed, more than 99% of them were shot down by the combined forces not only of Israel and the U.S. but also with help from the UK and, in what is a first, a hand lent by two Arab countries – Jordan and Saudi Arabia. No one was killed by the rocket barrage, just one severely injured Bedouin girl.  As writer and Democratic political operative David Rothkopf put it in the Daily Beast: “ [S]hortly after the onset of the attack, Iran also sent an official message that it was their hope that the attack can be the end of it—quid pro quo for the consulate attack—and said as much in an official statement. Their words were: “The matter can be deemed concluded.”

If anything, the heavily advertised  and designed to be inefficient drone attack by Iran illustrated boldly not only Iran’s desire to keep things contained but also revealed the dramatic power imbalance between the two sides with Israel emerging basically unscathed after the launching of 300 missiles and drones against it.  It also makes clear that just how damaging the Iran attack will wind up being or not being, depends strictly on the response by Israel.

Biden spent hours on the phone with Netanyahu on this past Saturday not only to coordinate defense of Israel but also with the American president pleading with Netanyahu to stop playing tit for tat and to refrain from re-retaliating against Iran once the smoke clears.  The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also made a call for peace after Saturday’s attack:

Now is the time for maximum restraint,” Guterres said during the emergency session requested by the Permanent Representative of Israel after the attack.
“The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict,” he said. “Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate.
 “It’s time to step back from the brink. It is vital to avoid any action that could lead to major military confrontations on multiple fronts in the Middle East,” Guterres stated.

No dice.  We don’t have a read-out of that phone call yet but from all indications, and based on their recent history, you can pretty much make sure Netanyahu told Biden to take a long walk on a short pier. Nor does Bibi give one hot damn about the UN.  Netanyahu, whatever his legitimate concerns of self-defense might be, is every bit as corrupt and dangerous as Trump and like Trump his greatest desire is to stay in office. He knows if and when this war ends so will his tenure as Prime Minister and he will be returned to the court room that is hearing the myriad corruption charges pending against him.  And given the history of both Israel and the US, Netanyahu is much more likely to wind up behind bars than is Donald Trump. Bibi has every incentive to continue the war no matter the cost.  And as I write this on Sunday afternoon, his “war cabinet” is plotting its next move while the world holds its breath.

That brings us back to Joe Biden.  I am not about to excuse his readiness to back Israel militarily to the hilt.  The United States and the Biden Administration share a sizeable quota of guilt for the hell unleashed on the people of Gaza (not to mention some 800 attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians on the West Bank since October 7). But I do intend to explain something about Biden’s position.  The decision to support Israel’s counterattack after October 7 was not just a personal decision by Biden.  The perceived interests of the US and Israel have been intertwined for decades. Alliance with and support for Israel is deeply embedded in the US political establishment dating back more than 70 years.  It’s not just Joe Biden who supports Israel. It’s also the majority of voters in both major parties as well as the entire national security apparatus of the American state.  It’s true that a growing sector of the Democratic Party is calling for a cease fire and have been at least indirectly critical of Biden for his position. As mentioned above, there’s the Genocide Joe faction that vows to never vote for him again, even if that means opening the door wider to an authoritarian takeover by Trump.

I understand and to a great degree empathize with their anger and passion.  But they are kidding themselves if they do not understand that if things were reversed, if Biden had turned his back on Israel after October 7, if  some weeks later he cut off military aid to Israel, he would be met by resistance, demonstrations, and calls to resign from literally millions of other Democrats and other voters who have a profound love for Israel and would be horrified if the US pulled back.

Yet, Biden who is the main supplier of arms to Israel, is also the leader closest to Israel who has steadily escalated his rhetoric about Israel’s bloody over-reach, and he has created a permission structure so that dozens of congressmembers, not to mention big wigs like Kamala Harris and even Nancy Pelosi have begun to forcefully raise their voice against Netanyahu’s passion for more war, for endless war. Indeed, “Genocide Joe” is the same Joe who just last week name-checked Bibi Netanyahu as one of the four principal impediments to Middle East peace and final settlement of Palestinian statehood.

Biden is also furiously continuing to pressure Israel not to once again over-react and to not further extend the bloodshed and increase the chance of a much wider war by staging some sort of retaliation for Saturday’s drone attack. 

Look, I understand that words are cheap. And in the case of the US-Israeli relationship they usually don’t mean much of anything if not accompanied by action.  But words sometimes become Fighting Words and it is my impression, perhaps mistaken, that this tectonic shift in US rhetoric about Israel is prelude to concrete steps being taken by the US to try to at least reign in Netanyahu and keep something of a lid on the Gaza war.  The grotesque murder last week of WCK foreign relief workers by the IDF after the relief folks coordinated their movements with Israel, seems to have been an inflection point in American public opinion.  For the first time in my 73-year-old life, we find universal and uncritical American support for Israeli aggression fading and fading quickly.

This, in turn, gives Biden more margin in cracking down on Israel which I ardently hope to see, as soon as possible. 

Some of my progressive brethren take way too seriously the morality of individual politicians.  Nobody chanting Genocide Joe needs to validate his support of Israel. Nor do they have to sleep with him or marry him or take him out for a beer. They only have to decide to either vote for him or not. And at this moment in history, he is the only logical choice. And it’s not just a lesser of two evils choice. At this very moment, Biden – I hope you are sitting down for this line—Biden is among the growing array of forces that wish to restrain Israel, to provide substantial humanitarian assistance to the Gazans and who favors some sort of settlement of Palestinian statehood. And, yes, he is also the major arms supplier to Israel.

Something in this highly contradictory position has got to give and give very very soon. If for no the reason than Biden risking his re-election by continuing unimpeded support for Israel. I am hoping the Good Biden will overcome the lesser one and that we will soon see restrictions on military aid to Israel be put in place.  This is our best hope in trying to end this mass slaughter and the run-up to world war.  Encouraging and urging Biden and the administration to take more action is imperative (but that is not aided by people marching in circles chanting Genocide Joe).

Unfortunately, the Left is mistaken if it believes Israel is a simple puppet of the US and that the White House and State Department holds all the strings and can simply yank them when they want.  Netanyahu has progressively shattered that myth and over the last year has shown himself to be a reckless and dangerous actor operating with full personal agency independent of any imperial master.  We cannot simply tell him what to do and what not to do. He could not care less. And, on top of that, Bibi is dying for Trump to become president again and has no problem dirtying up Biden with more Palestinian blood.  In some ways, it is Biden who is hostage to Netanyahu.

As I write this, I support Biden’s effort to hold back Netanyahu as that is, like it or not, our best option. If you have a better idea on how to put the brakes on this war, please pipe up. ++

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