If It Looks Like Ethnic Cleansing, It Probably Is

Haaretz Editorial

Oct 29, 2024

https://archive.is/JDfXL#selection-875.0-903.12

For three and a half weeks, Israeli forces have been besieging the northern Gaza Strip. Israel has almost completely blocked the entry of humanitarian aid, thereby starving the hundreds of thousands of people who live there. Information emerging from the besieged area is only partial, because ever since the war began, Israel has barred journalists from entering Gaza.

But even based on the little that has been revealed to the public, two things can be said about the siege. First, the scale of the civilian casualties from the army's daily bombings of towns and refugee camps in northern Gaza – children, women, elderly people and men who are innocent of any crime – is enormous.

Moreover, medical and other aid facilities have largely collapsed, and other institutions are also collapsing. Consequently, hundreds of thousands of people are now at risk of starvation or are already suffering terrible hunger.

Israel says it told the residents that they needed to leave northern Gaza, and even now, they can still move southward on routes the army has designated for this purpose. Thus, the residents, many of whom have already been uprooted two or three times or even more from the places to which they have fled the terrors of war, are now being asked to move again. Yet Israel has refrained from giving the displaced any guarantee that they will be able to return once the war ends.

Given this, it's no wonder that grave suspicions have arisen that Israel is effectively perpetrating ethnic cleansing in northern Gaza and that this operation is intended to permanently empty this area of Palestinians.

This suspicion fits with both the principles of the "generals' plan" being pushed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland – a plan Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has denied implementing – and the demands of the Jewish supremacist parties in the governing coalition that are openly pursuing a policy of mass expulsions and the renewal of Jewish settlement in northern Gaza.

Ethnic cleansing is both a moral crime and a legal one. Criminal law treats mass expulsions as both a war crime and a crime against humanity. Horrifyingly, some members of Benjamin Netanyahu's government want to commit these crimes.

As soon as the war began, they began calling for "erasing Gaza" and for perpetrating a "second Nakba." But many Israelis made light of such statements, and the law enforcement system, headed by Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, refrained from dealing with this incitement to commit crimes.

Now, we can see the results: Israel is sliding into ethnic cleansing; its soldiers are carrying out the criminal policies of the messianic, Kahanist right; and even the opposition on the center and center-left isn't making a peep. This consensus behind ethnic cleansing is shameful, and every public leader who doesn't demand an end to the de facto expulsion is supporting this crime and has become a party to it.

If this process doesn't stop immediately, hundreds of thousands of people will become refugees, entire communities will be destroyed, and the moral and legal stain of this crime will cling to and pursue every Israeli.

Fifty-two nations call for global arms embargo on Israel

Turkiye is leading the call for the embargo despite its ongoing trade with, and oil deliveries to Israel.

News Desk

NOV 4, 2024

https://thecradle.co/articles/fifty-two-nations-call-for-global-arms-embargo-on-israel

The Foreign Ministry of Turkiye sent the UN a letter signed by 52 nations and two organizations calling for a halt in military transfers to Israel, stating the Israeli army is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. 

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for the arms embargo on Israel while speaking at a news conference in Djibouti on 1 November.

While attending the Turkiye–Africa collaboration meeting, Fidan announced that the group letter was sent to the UN and that it must be "repeated at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide."

Ahmet Yildiz, Turkiye's permanent ambassador to the UN, stated that Israel's actions have pushed the region to the brink of war.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the UN to impose an arms embargo on Israel, saying it would be an "effective solution" to end the war on Gaza.

Erdogan asserted that Israel is trying to spread the "flames of conflict" across the region and would inevitably "pay the price for this ongoing genocide in Gaza, sooner or later.”

While Ankara calls for an arms embargo on Israel, it continues to allow transit of oil from Azerbaijan to Israel. The oil, which passes through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline and is then loaded onto tankers for delivery to Israel, is crucial for the Israeli economy and for its air force and army to continue attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. 

"Erdogan, turn off the oil valves," said a banner carried by the activist group called "One Thousand Youth for Palestine" at a protest outside the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) headquarters in Istanbul in early September. "End your participation in Israel's genocide."

Erdogan and Fidan previously collaborated with Israel and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), led by Masoud Barzani, in northern Iraq in a scheme to deliver Kurdish crude to Israel. In June 2014, the three powers supported ISIS’ invasion of Mosul, which allowed the Kurdish Peshmerga to conquer oil-rich Kirkuk and begin oil exports to Israel via Turkiye.

The support ISIS enjoyed from Ankara, Washington, Erbil, and Paris was crucial in helping the terror group commit genocide against the Yezidi religious minority in Iraq two months later.

Turkish businesses have also kept up exports to Israel amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza, despite a formal trade ban, Middle East Eye (MEE) reported in September. 

Instead of sending products directly to Israel, Turkish exporters are now sending products indirectly via Palestinian Authority (PA) customs, according to statistical data from the Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM).

The data, released on 2 September, reveals a 423 percent surge in Turkish exports to Palestine in the first eight months of this year. 

This marks a jump from $77 million in the same period last year to $403 million in 2024. 

Turkish exports to Palestine in the month of August rose by 1,156 percent, jumping from $10 million in 2023 to $127 million this year. 

“It suggests that the trend of using Palestine to maintain trade with Israel has been accelerating,” MEE wrote. 

Migrant encounters at U.S.-Mexico border have fallen sharply in 2024

By John Gramlich

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/10/01/migrant-encounters-at-u-s-mexico-border-have-fallen-sharply-in-2024/

After reaching a record high at the end of 2023, the monthly number of U.S. Border Patrol encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico has plummeted so far in 2024.

The Border Patrol recorded 58,038 encounters with migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in August, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of the latest available government statistics. That was a 77% decline from 249,741 encounters in December 2023, the most ever recorded in a single month.

The decline in encounters has come amid policy changes on both sides of the border. Authorities in Mexico have stepped up enforcement to prevent migrants from reaching the U.S. border. And U.S. President Joe Biden issued an executive order in June that makes it much more difficult for migrants who enter the U.S. without legal permission to seek asylum and remain in the country.

The term “encounters” can refer to different types of events. In this analysis, it refers to Border Patrol apprehensions of migrants who cross into the U.S. without authorization. These migrants are taken into custody, at least temporarily, to await a decision on whether they can remain in the U.S. legally, such as by being granted asylum. Migrants who are not granted asylum are typically deported.

Changing migration patterns at the border

The dramatic increase in migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border at the end of 2023 drew widespread criticism from the American public about the government’s handling of the situation, according to a Center survey conducted in early 2024. At the time, 78% of U.S. adults said the large number of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. at the border with Mexico was either a crisis or a major problem. A similar share (80%) said the U.S. government was doing a bad job dealing with the situation.

Since the end of 2023, however, the monthly number of encounters has declined sharply, including large decreases in encounters with citizens of Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. These nations have been among the most common origin countries for migrants encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border in recent years.

• The monthly number of encounters with citizens of Guatemala decreased 81% between December 2023 and August 2024, from 34,693 to 6,420.
• Encounters with citizens of Honduras fell 76%, from 18,993 to 4,465.
• Encounters with citizens of El Salvador fell 64%, from 5,818 to 2,076.
• Encounters with citizens of Mexico fell 52%, from 56,240 to 26,82

There have also been sharp decreases in encounters with citizens of other countries, including some that historically have not been common origin nations for migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

• Encounters with citizens of Venezuela plunged 99% between December 2023 and August 2024, from 46,918 to 626.
• Encounters with citizens of Cuba fell 98%, from 4,964 to 104.
• Encounters with citizens of Haiti fell 97%, from 1,392 to 46.
• Encounters with citizens of Nicaragua fell 96%, from 8,176 to 297.
• Encounters with citizens of Peru fell 95%, from 5,742 to 312.
• Encounters with citizens of Ecuador fell 84%, from 16,951 to 2,676.
• Encounters with citizens of Colombia fell 80%, from 17,874 to 3,531.
• Encounters with citizens of China fell 75%, from 5,951 to 1,472.

In August, 69% of encounters involved migrants from Mexico or the Northern Triangle region. That was a shift from December 2023, when only 46% did.

The majority of encounters continue to involve single adults. In August, 62% of all encounters involved single adults, while 27% involved people traveling in families and 11% involved unaccompanied minors. In December 2023, a slightly smaller share of encounters (54%) involved single adults, while 41% involved people traveling in families and 5% involved unaccompanied minors.

Immigration remains key election issue

Despite the large decrease in migrant encounters this year, border security remains a key issue in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, according to a Center survey fielded in August.

In fact, 88% of registered voters strongly or somewhat favor improving security along the country’s borders. That includes 96% of voters who support former President Donald Trump and 80% of voters who support Vice President Kamala Harris.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published on March 15, 2021.

Israel using US election to take free hand against Gaza, Lebanon

But even as a lame duck, will Biden do the right thing? Likely not.

Robert E. Hunter

Oct 31, 2024

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-elections-israel/

The Knesset’s vote this week to ban the United Nations Works and Relief Agency (UNWRA), the principal humanitarian aid group in the Palestinian territories, is the latest Israeli enormity in its year-long war in Gaza.

This move, which will impact two million civilians under siege in Gaza, underscores a central point: the Israeli government’s expectation that the Biden administration will acquiesce in whatever Tel Aviv wants to do in this war — even starvation tactics — and now also in Lebanon.

The State Department said that if the Knesset did not reverse its vote there “could be consequences under U.S. law.” But judging from U.S. behavior, any consequences will be limited to words, not limits on American military or political support.

The timing of this ban on UNWRA, fostered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his most extreme cabinet members, was not happenstance. He knows he has “free play” in anything he wants to do, at least until the elections on Tuesday. But he can’t be sure that afterwards, during his lame-duck tenure, President Joe Biden won’t find the necessary gumption to tell Israel that “enough is enough.” Given Biden’s career-long support for Israel’s behavior, that is most unlikely to happen, but Netanyahu has been taking no chances.

At the same time, the Biden administration is looking at polling numbers regarding the election in swing states, notably Michigan and Wisconsin. These states are home to large Muslim-American constituencies. During last February’s Democratic presidential primary in Michigan, because of President Biden’s unstinting support for Israel in Gaza, many tens of thousands of these voters either stayed home or cast “uncommitted” ballots against him. It is unknowable whether that electoral behavior will be repeated on November 5, and whether it could tip the vote in one or two swing states, thus potentially denying Kamala Harris the presidency. Recent polling suggests that Trump is gaining support from Arab-American voters in the days before the election.

At the same time, the Democratic party, and presumably their voters, too, are split on Israel’s case. Again, how the numbers will add up is unknowable.

The Biden-Harris administration is clearly focused on keeping this issue from sinking their chances to keep the White House. Secretary of State Antony Blinken just completed his 11th visit to the region since October 7th. While there, his talks included efforts to renew negotiations to at least pause military operations in Gaza and gain release of some of the Hamas-held hostages. On the face of it, it’s a fool’s errand; thus likely designed to reassure those voters — especially in Michigan and Wisconsin, whose votes in the election might be swayed by developments in the Levant — that Biden is still laboring to stop the war.

Meanwhile, U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein and CIA Director Bill Burns were in Israel and Egypt, respectively, on Thursday to promote last ditch efforts for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon. These too had little hope of success.

Another event likely timed with our election in mind was Netanyahu’s decision to attack Iran last week for its missile strikes on Israel. Indeed, Biden had publicly given him a green light.

But unlike in Gaza and now Lebanon, the Biden administration had something more visceral to fear. First, Israel might have attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities and thus virtually guaranteed that, at some point, Tehran would find a way to get the bomb. Second, more importantly, Israel might have attacked Iranian oil fields, leading Iran to spasmodically respond by closing the vital Strait of Hormuz to all regional states’ oil and gas exports.

The result would have had a major, perhaps catastrophic, impact on the global oil trade. Even the risk that Iran would take this step would have caused panic in oil markets just a week or so before Americans go to the polls.

Israel did agree to U.S. demands on limiting targets in Iran to military sites — it was self-deterred by understanding that even an otherwise complaisant Biden administration could not tolerate such a bold action. Of course, Israeli caution also comported with its own self-interest in not getting at loggerheads with the region’s other petrochemical-producing nations, including all those with Abrahamic Accords with Israel.

Such limits on attacks have not led Israel to stop attacking Gaza and Lebanon, however, with major civilian casualties.

On October 13, the U.S. did warn Israel that failure to increase the flow of aid to Gaza, “may have implications for U.S. policy under NSM-20 [related to US arms supplies in conflict situations] and relevant US law.” But the notional deadline only expires on November 12, and it’s not clear that the veiled warning about cuts in military support is enough to force Netanyahu even to permit humanitarian aid.

If Israel does accede to this US request on aid, however, Washington will still almost surely continue its limitless support for Israel’s military actions, other than against Iran. The U.S. reputation for intelligent exercise of power and commitment to humanitarian principles would thus continue taking a hard knock.

President Biden, in consultation with the new president-elect, must finally use America’s levers of power to act and not just talk to promote an end to fighting which, among other things, is the only route to return of hostages and, in the future, to forging stability and peace in the region. At heart, American leadership must be restored.

The War Against the Palestinians Must Go On

Both major political parties connive at Israel’s genocide in Gaza

Philip Giraldi • November 1, 2024

https://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/the-war-against-the-palestinians-must-go-on/

The sucking up to Israel and its backers by the political class in America never seems go away. Indeed, it if anything increases during the lead up to national elections. In the latest manifestation of Judeophilia, Rudy Giuliani, self-described as “America’s Mayor,” has now informed us that “They [the Israelis] are our best friends. I worked for Ronald Reagan for eight years and Ronald Reagan said that we have to always be there for Israel because Israel is always there for us! Hamas is not there for us, the Iranians are not there for us, they want to kill us and the Palestinians are taught to kill us at two years old! They won’t let a Palestinian in Jordan. They won’t let a Palestinian in Egypt. And [Kamala] Harris wants to bring them to you! They may have good people, I don’t care, but I won’t take a risk with people that are taught to kill Americans at two! I’m on the side of Israel! You’re on the side of Israel! Donald Trump is on the side of Israel! And they [the Democrats] are on the side of the terrorists.”

Giuliani said all that and more at a Donald Trump election rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden, where he was breathing fire in a speech [at minute 17:27] that one media outlet described as “unhinged” to rouse the overflow crowd to hate Israel’s enemies, which apparently includes the Democratic Party if they should regain the presidency. I would not want to disagree with a man of Giuliani’s psycho-phantasmagoric stature about facts, but I do not recall when the United States was actually threatened by Israel’s enemies to include Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran or a place we once called Palestine, but then again, I am getting older and my memory might be failing. Nor can I recall anything at all that Israel has done for what was once my country apart from take huge bundles of our tax money equivalent to one quarter of a trillion dollars while also corrupting our politicians and undermining both our rule of law and our Bill of Rights, but, then again, blame it on my memory since I cannot imagine a warm and friendly chap like Benjamin Netanyahu doing anything nasty or naughty.

In trying to score political points, Giuliani does not seem to get that the adoration of the Jewish state is a bipartisan thing, that the US government, no matter who wins elections, will continue to supply the Israelis with money and weapons to expel or kill as many of its neighbors as possible. The carnage will create a new metaphoric “land without people” empty space between the Euphrates and Nile Rivers that will become a great nursery for establishing and populating the Eretz or “Greater Israel” Chosen by Yahweh to rule the Middle East.

One good thing about Giuliani and his master Donald Trump is that they do not even pretend to want to help Palestinians and other “lesser breeds without the law” to resist the occupation and eradication by their Jewish masters. Trump would like to have the job of extermination finished so Israel’s public relations image would not be further damaged. Kamala, on the other hand, would keep handing out weapons and money while piously calling for a cease fire, an objective that is routinely rejected by a stern Netanyahu. How the Biden-Harris rule of foreign relations vis-à-vis the Middle East operates is to pretend one thing while doing something else. It has been reported that Biden’s peace negotiators Amos Hochstein, an Israeli who served in the IDF, and Brett McGurk, who were ostensibly working to help avoid expansion of the Gaza crisis into Lebanon, were doing quite the opposite. They have been working “behind the scenes” to encourage Israel, and they are now describing Israel’s Lebanon operations that have included a major land invasion as a “history-defining moment” — one that will “reshape the Middle East for the better for years to come.”

And there’s more. The US Ambassador to Lebanon one Lisa Johnson has been meeting with the various parties and groups that make up the Lebanese government and its social and religious mix with a proposal that it organize to prepare the country for a “post-Hezbollah era” by mobilizing “internal” forces to eliminate the Islamic resistance movement while it is engaged in fighting the Israeli Army. Johnson, a Joe Biden appointee to her post, certainly reflects White House and State Department thinking on the Middle East. She reportedly told Lebanese politicians, “Israel cannot achieve everything through war; it’s time for you to do your part and launch an internal uprising under the banner of ‘Enough.’ The Lebanese people must show their desire to rise-up and get rid of Hezbollah.” Johnson challenged the politicians, “Why do you seem afraid? Hezbollah has been defeated, its leadership is destroyed, and we are with you, and the entire free world stands by your side… We do not only want to limit Hezbollah’s influence, but we will strike its support lines, and we are working non-stop to bring down the regime in Iran as well.”

Someone should remind Ms. Johnson as well as McGurk and Hochstein that we are not legally at war with Lebanon, nor with Iran, and nor even with the Palestinians whose genocide we are enabling. The reality is that Gaza and Lebanon are America’s war in the sense that Israel’s onslaught against its neighbors would not be either possible or sustainable without Washington picking up the costs and supplying the weapons. A recently released report by the Israeli news outlet Calcalist reviewed Israeli military spending on wars since fighting began on October 7^th. It determined that Washington has over the past year funded directly 70% of Tel Aviv’s total military costs. That has amounted to more than $20 billion in military aid, a figure close to the $22.57 billion estimated by several US sources including Brown University’s highly respected Cost of War Project which has likewise looked at the numbers. And, one assumes there are also substantial hidden expenses consisting of armaments shipped directly from US arsenals without any accounting procedure as well as money concealed in other projects. As a bottom line, one has to conclude without direct US support, Netanyahu’s war would simply be unaffordable for the Jewish state. Calcalist concludes that “Therefore, it is doubtful whether this war would have been conducted as it is – neither in intensity nor in scope – without the American assistance.” So in a very real sense it is and has been America’s war while the secret objective by the US government to destroy Hezbollah as well as Hamas and even overthrow the regime in Iran indicates clearly that Netanyahu’s hegemonical and genocidal plan to make Israel the supreme power in the Middle East is shared by many in Washington.

What is hiding behind the US’ fragile sense of security? Global Times editorial

By Global Times

Published: Nov 02, 2024 

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202411/1322304.shtml

According to reports, the US-based Pamir Consulting has released a new report titled "Displays are the New Batteries," claiming that China's rise in the display manufacturing industry may bring "national security" concerns to the US. China's display industry has been in the US' crosshairs for a while. John Moolenaar, the newly appointed chairman of US House select committee on strategic competition with China, wrote to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in September, requesting that the Pentagon place two Chinese panel manufacturers on the DoD's blacklist as Chinese military companies. One of the authors of the new report was also the main black hand behind SMIC being placed on the US sanctions list. It seems that China's display industry is being sent to the assembly line of the US' suppressive policies in the name of "national security."

It has to be said that from corn processing plants, cranes and TikTok to Chinese garlic and displays, the US has always given people a new understanding of the scope of its "national security" and sense of security. Some commentators said, "US security is like a basket, and things from all walks of life can be put into it." Others said, "The US may only feel safe if it dominates in all fields." In recent years, some Chinese industries have been inexplicably labeled as "threats to US security" after gaining relative competitive advantages. Perhaps it is not because US national security is weak. Behind this "fragile" sense of security, there is a hidden agenda of trade protectionism and industrial monopoly.

One of the authors of the latest report on displays, in all apparent seriousness, stated that displays are increasingly important pieces of computerized military equipment, while the other author falsely claimed that the rise of China's display industry was due to government subsidies. "Securitization" is the typical approach to suppressing China's industries. With the hammer of "US national security" in the left hand and "Chinese government subsidies" in the right, every industry in China that rises will be targeted. Although the display manufacturing emerged in the US, Japan and South Korea had dominated it for many years. Why did the US never mention "security threats" when Japanese and Korean manufacturers led the global display industry, while some people started to hype "security threats" only after China showed its competitive advantages? Obviously, this is just an excuse for the US to contain and suppress China.

Is it really about national security? When faced with this question, Christophe Fouquet, CEO of ASML, the Dutch semiconductor equipment maker that is under US pressure, said that much of ASML's business with China is focused on mature technology that is less relevant to national security concerns. According to the logic of the US scholars' report, all electronic products could pose a "security risk." Should the consumer market of global trade, worth as much as trillions annually, be reevaluated under this US sense of security? Who will foot the bill for the ensuing disruption to industry and supply chains? The narrative of "fragile" security that the US has made up to suppress China ironically spreads a pervasive sense of insecurity worldwide.

What is even more concerning is that this is not only an attempt to smear Chinese companies but also sends a disturbing signal that emerging nations and the Global South countries' right to development might be at risk. China's display industry rose from nothing to being the world top in terms of industry-wide output value not, as the report claims, due to "subsidies" but because Chinese companies have grown step-by-step through self-driven innovation and steady progress in a competitive market. If China has any relative advantages, it lies in factors like its vast market, strong industrial chain supporting capabilities, and the rise of a series of consumer electronics brands, which together have provided a strong foundation for the growth of China's display industry. The R&D intensity of top Chinese firms in the "technology and electrical hardware and equipment" sector has increased 646 percent over the past 10 years, compared with a 67 percent increase for US firms.

When developing countries like China work hard to establish their own industrial advantages, the US has resorted to non-market competition, citing "national security" in nearly absurd terms to suppress them. This casts a shadow over global development. Today, it is China's display industry; which industry from which country will it be tomorrow? Must other nations cease development for the US to feel "secure"? Obviously, the general development aspirations of the international community do not agree with this logic of the US. With the economic integration and industrial linkage of countries, only by relying on innovation and cooperation to make the development pie bigger can we achieve common prosperity and security.

Biden’s Destructive Legacy

by Daniel Larison Posted on November 01, 2024

https://original.antiwar.com/Daniel_Larison/2024/10/31/bidens-destructive-legacy/

As President Biden’s term approaches its end, the US and several parts of the rest of the world are significantly worse off than they were when he took office. While the president is frequently lauded by members of the foreign policy establishment as a successful foreign policy leader, his tenure has been marked for the most part by deepening US involvement in foreign conflicts that show no signs of ending anytime soon. US policies under Biden have served only to stoke destabilizing conflict, and the president has shown no inclination to bring any of the wars currently backed by Washington to an end. Biden’s presidency showed the world just how extensive the rot in US foreign policy is, and most other nations will not soon forget what restored American “leadership” wrought.

Biden ran on the promise of ending America’s forever wars, but after the withdrawal from Afghanistan he then spent most of his presidency going out of his way to involve US in conflicts where no vital American interests were at stake. The risk of great power conflict has also risen under Biden as he has pursued a China policy of containment and rivalry that the US can ill afford while US-Russian relations have sunk to new lows over Ukraine. In the Middle East, Biden has enabled Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza, backed their invasion of Lebanon, and supported their attacks on Iran. He has helped Israel sow chaos across the region, and he committed the US to a new open-ended and illegal war in Yemen. The president’s extreme ideological attachment to Israel led him to pursue an indefensible policy of unconditional support that has fueled the slaughter of civilians and created one of the worst man-made famines in modern times.

The president’s aversion to serious diplomatic engagement meant that the US continued the disastrous economic wars against Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea that Trump had been waging. Biden’s refusal to reenter the nuclear deal with Iran ensured that there would be no progress in negotiations with Tehran. The administration’s efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza have been a face-saving exercise so that the US could claim to be doing something to end the war while it continued arming Netanyahu’s government to the teeth. The US hasn’t so much as pretended to be interested in a ceasefire in Ukraine. On almost every front, the Biden administration’s answer has been more militarism.

The Biden administration has brought the US close to direct conflict with Iran thanks to Washington’s backing for Israel. It is still possible that the US and Iran might be at war in the next few months. It would be bad enough to get into an unnecessary war to support a non-ally, but to do it when the client is also massacring and starving civilians is inexcusable. US backing for the wars in Gaza and Lebanon is a strategic and moral debacle, and Biden shouldn’t be let off the hook for putting the US in this position. Even if the US and Iran avoid war again, it is a measure of how dangerous administration policy has been that it was ever this close to happening.

There is never any real accountability in Washington for the outrages and crimes committed by our leaders. It is doubtful that officials in the Biden administration will face legal or personal consequences for their role in these horrors. Regardless, Americans should remember that Biden and his administration were willing accomplices to mass starvation and genocide. Their complicity should never be forgotten, and they deserve all the opprobrium that the world has to offer.

The result of Biden’s decisions is that our already heavily militarized foreign policy has become even worse than it was before. The administration’s limited diplomatic efforts have been consumed by the president’s obsession with giving Saudi Arabia a security guarantee. Biden has done extensive damage to the reputation and interests of the United States, and he will likely be remembered as one of the two worst foreign policy presidents of the last fifty years along with George W. Bush. Biden’s foreign policy legacy is mostly one of fanning the flames of war and the destruction of innocent lives.