Thanks for assembling the historical record, Eric, and pointing out the risks of dragging the US into yet another quagmire. (Has the State Department/Defense Department ever seen a quagmire it didn't like?)
But what is your answer to the question posed in your headline? Obviously an element of "different strokes for different folks" is involved. But IMO for DJT it's very likely just money accompanied by ego-stroking. For Biden I suspect it is guilt over the Nazi holocaust and fear of being called an antisemite—which are not unrelated. And I suspect Biden's case is the general case.
But I'd be interested in your view—although maybe knowing what is sufficient and it's not important to know why.
Does not one remember who/what dragged us into Iraq - Netanyahu’s claim of non-existent WMDs. And here we are again - Toadies to Netanyahu and frankly US hardliners making massive donations to political parties.
“almost never in the past half-century has The New York Times op-ed page been without a columnist who would take Israel’s side no matter what or who was arguing the contrary. Ditto this publication during the 38 years that Martin Peretz ran it as editor in chief.“
I don’t really understand how this is relevant or even completely what you mean. Israel has both defenders and detractors. Is it wrong to for an op-ed page to publish columns in support of Israel’s actions alongside those that criticize them?
For the record, I agree with most of what you have written. The USA needs to step up and provide real consequences to the Israelis (like stop giving them damn weapons) when their actions cut against or violate international laws and wartime rules.
I wish more people remembered at election time that Trump was no friend to Palestinians in his first term. As you mentioned, he was instrumental in moving the Israeli capital to Jerusalem and also immediately implemented a Muslim travel ban. Why was he the better option for so many people upset about what Israel is doing in Gaza?
As for propaganda, TNR spreads it well. Biden was just as if not more "pliable" when it comes to Israel as Trump. Biden sent $80 billion in munitions to Israel to obliterate Palestine. He started the genocide and destroyed 90% of Gaza. He has publicly declared "If there were no Israel we would have to incent one." And the reason is simple--Democrats and Biden are the top recipients of AIPAC money, and some Democrats like Biden are also religious zealots. As for Iran, the DNC platform for 2024 criticized Trump for being "feckless" in only assassinating Iran's top general, and it was Kamala Harris during her nightmare 2024 campaign who proclaimed that Iran was the biggest threat to US security. So Democrats have warmongered about Iran more than Republicans, not that it matters as they are both dual loyalty political parties. https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/p/the-empire-strikes-backat-itself
Thanks for assembling the historical record, Eric, and pointing out the risks of dragging the US into yet another quagmire. (Has the State Department/Defense Department ever seen a quagmire it didn't like?)
But what is your answer to the question posed in your headline? Obviously an element of "different strokes for different folks" is involved. But IMO for DJT it's very likely just money accompanied by ego-stroking. For Biden I suspect it is guilt over the Nazi holocaust and fear of being called an antisemite—which are not unrelated. And I suspect Biden's case is the general case.
But I'd be interested in your view—although maybe knowing what is sufficient and it's not important to know why.
Does not one remember who/what dragged us into Iraq - Netanyahu’s claim of non-existent WMDs. And here we are again - Toadies to Netanyahu and frankly US hardliners making massive donations to political parties.
While that is true, it was Biden who started the call to invade Iraq (again) back in the late 1990s before Geroge W Bush was president. https://theintercept.com/2020/01/07/joe-biden-iraq-war-history/
“almost never in the past half-century has The New York Times op-ed page been without a columnist who would take Israel’s side no matter what or who was arguing the contrary. Ditto this publication during the 38 years that Martin Peretz ran it as editor in chief.“
I don’t really understand how this is relevant or even completely what you mean. Israel has both defenders and detractors. Is it wrong to for an op-ed page to publish columns in support of Israel’s actions alongside those that criticize them?
For the record, I agree with most of what you have written. The USA needs to step up and provide real consequences to the Israelis (like stop giving them damn weapons) when their actions cut against or violate international laws and wartime rules.
I wish more people remembered at election time that Trump was no friend to Palestinians in his first term. As you mentioned, he was instrumental in moving the Israeli capital to Jerusalem and also immediately implemented a Muslim travel ban. Why was he the better option for so many people upset about what Israel is doing in Gaza?
As for propaganda, TNR spreads it well. Biden was just as if not more "pliable" when it comes to Israel as Trump. Biden sent $80 billion in munitions to Israel to obliterate Palestine. He started the genocide and destroyed 90% of Gaza. He has publicly declared "If there were no Israel we would have to incent one." And the reason is simple--Democrats and Biden are the top recipients of AIPAC money, and some Democrats like Biden are also religious zealots. As for Iran, the DNC platform for 2024 criticized Trump for being "feckless" in only assassinating Iran's top general, and it was Kamala Harris during her nightmare 2024 campaign who proclaimed that Iran was the biggest threat to US security. So Democrats have warmongered about Iran more than Republicans, not that it matters as they are both dual loyalty political parties. https://barryjkaufmando.substack.com/p/the-empire-strikes-backat-itself