Biden Discards Temporary Spine

 

Becomes spineless again for Israel

by William Astore 

Posted onMay 15, 2024

Reprinted from Bracing Views with the author’s permission.

Last week, President Biden appeared to have strapped on a temporary spine in delaying shipments of “offensive” weaponry to Israel for its murderous invasion of Rafah in Gaza.

That spine had a short duration as Biden announced yesterday renewed shipments of tank and mortar rounds to Israel. Here’s the Washington Post article:

The Biden administration informally notified congressional committees Tuesday that it planned to move forward with more than $1 billion in weapons deals for Israel, said U.S. officials familiar with the matter, a major transfer of lethal aid that comes a week after the White House paused a single shipment of bombs because of concerns that a planned assault in southern Gaza could cause immense civilian casualties.

The arms deals allow for the potential transfer of $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

The decision underscores the administration’s reluctance to defy pro-Israel donors in the Democratic Party who criticized Biden’s decision last week to withhold the shipment, which included controversial 2,000-pound bombs that have been involved in mass casualty events in Gaza.

“Mass casualty events”: you mean the murder and wounding of more than 120,000 Palestinians in Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza?

It looks like “pro-Israel donors in the Democratic Party” are the real rulers here, not President Biden. They are the ones making the decisions for the country. I’m not saying that: The Washington Post is. Kudos to them for telling us who really rules America.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to level neighborhoods in Gaza while starving the people there. As near as I can tell, the Biden administration heartily approves of this. The only thing Biden is against is dropping 2000-pound bombs in Rafah, mainly because it looks bad and can’t be sold as “precise” by idiot U.S. media spin-masters.

Of course, most Republicans are even more fervid in their bloodthirsty support of Israel. Both parties are so thoroughly corrupted, so morally compromised, that Americans should and must find a way to elect new people.

Together, America’s uniparty has a clear message to Israel: Go ahead and ethnically cleanse Gaza, just don’t do it too fast.

(My thanks to Ray for sending the link to the WP article.)

William J. Astore is a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF). He taught history for fifteen years at military and civilian schools. He writes at Bracing Views.

https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2024/05/15/biden-discards-temporary-spine/