But Do We Really Mean It?

 

When our soldiers stationed at their base in Jordan were attacked and killed by a drone built in Iran, supplied as a part of that theocracy’s overall goals of becoming the dominant Islamic force in the region, destroying the nation of Israel and driving the West, particularly the United States, entirely out of the region, Republicans and Democrats alike blamed Teheran for their unbridled long-term commitment to supply Islamic militants with weapons and financial support.

There is no doubt that Iran’s support has been fundamental to the very survival of terrorist groups, from the Houthis in Yemen shelling shipping in the Red Sea, Hezbollah in various states (especially Lebanon) attacking US and Israeli interests to Hamas as it brutally attacked Israel on October 7th. Iran was not the direct mover; instead, it relied and relies on its surrogate nations to disrupt, destroy and foment Iran’s will around the region. We are deeply angered by Iran’s continuing to pump missiles, drones, munitions, weapons and hard cash into terrorist enclaves, as we blame them for the death and destruction their weapons have wrought. Indeed, Iran is even resupplying Russia with sophisticated weapons that they know will be used against Ukraine.

Without those munitions, it is very likely that those terrorist organizations would lack their obviously powerful military abilities against us and our allies. One of our most reliable regional allies, Israel, has been viewed as an American surrogate in the Middle East by a very large percentage of people everywhere. Israel’s most effective missile defense system, the Iron Dome, relies heavily on American technology and counterstrike missiles. While Israel manufactures much of its own weaponry, it still relies heavily on US-made military hardware to arm its IDF forces. No secret.

While the United States accepts that Israel is justified in protecting itself from attack and pursuing its attackers in retaliation, as US President Joe Biden has framed their alarming use of force against Palestinian shield to get to Hama military targets as “over the top,” it seems as if Israel has painted itself into an ultra-violent corner where mass civilian deaths are reaching absurdly unacceptable levels.

The International Court of Justice, acting on a case filed by South Africa against Israel for possible genocide against Palestinians, danced around a direct accusation against Israel as having committed genocide just based on the huge numbers of civilian casualties (as of this writing, there have been approximately 30 thousand Palestinians killed). Instead, in late January, the ICJ ordered Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide as it wages war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip but stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire.

As our Congress debates, among other major issues, the approval of another massive military aid package for Israel, younger Americans, even Jews, were questioning why we were still supplying weapons we know would be used to slaughter civilians and decimate entire cities in Gaza. Indeed, as Joe Biden pushed his campaign into swing state Michigan, home to the largest ethnically Arab American demographic, he was shunned, picketed as tens of thousands of protestors vowed not to support his reelection.

For many, it was hard to understand how we could hold Iran responsible for American deaths, shipping disruptions and supporting terrorism that kills thousands of innocents every year, and pretend that the United States was not equally responsible for supplying Israel with the weapons that enabled it to decimate the civilian population in Gaza. For all the soft talk, from Secretary of State Andrew Blinken and even in direct communications between Biden and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel doubled down on its intention to tame Gaza and impose its iron fist on any surviving nation. A separate Palestinian state was completely rejected.

Biden was having an exceptionally difficult time as the US itself was sharply divided on this difficult schism of opinion. Even Hillary Clinton said, in various recent media interviews, that “Netanyahu has to go!” The elephant in the room was outgrowing the room and threatening the Democratic Party. So, in a carefully phrased executive order, Biden “appeared to ease a split among Democrats over his military support for Israel’s war in Gaza, with lawmakers on Friday praising the order authorizing a swift cutoff of military aid to countries that violate international protections of civilians.

“For Biden, the commitment to conditioning U.S. military aid for Israel and other allies and strategic partners will help him shore up support among center-left Senate Democrats for his proposed $95-billion supplemental assistance package, which is aimed primarily at military aid for Ukraine in its war with Russia and for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza…

“The supply of air defense systems and some other defensive gear is exempted. While supporters say the stringent language of the order will limit the ability of presidential administrations to evade the spirit of the measure, the order does allow administrations to waive the requirements in ‘rare and extraordinary circumstances.’…The Biden administration has frustrated some Senate Democrats during Israel’s war in Gaza by declaring a national security emergency to rush military aid to Israel, skirting the usual process of congressional notification.

“The administration also has quietly lobbied against moves by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and others to attach conditions to military aid to Israel in the supplemental legislation, with the idea of pressuring Israel to do more to spare Palestinian civilians.” Associated Press, February 10th. But past presidents have been more direct in asserting pressure against Israeli excess. Will Netanyahu and his ultra-rightwing government be moved at all unless there is a massive cut in US military aid absent more realistic acceptance to a genuine peaceful solution? Is that even possible given what has occurred? Make no mistake, a very large segment of the world believes that everything Israel has done in Gaza was as a surrogate of callous American dominance.

I’m Peter Dekom, and for those who say all of this needs more time to play out, how high does the civilian body count have to rise before we draw our own line in the sand?