Most observers agree that Joe Biden did at least the minimum and said the right things in his speech to the nation days after the barbaric invasion of Israel by Islamists bent on terrorizing, murdering, and kidnapping as many Jews as possible. But especially considering the inhuman brutality climaxed with something so inconceivably evil, the beheading of babies that shocked even Islamist apologist AOC, we can be certain that the impact of a decent, if not memorable speech will last just a day or two before it is overwhelmed by events on the ground as the Israeli war spreads like a cancer throughout the Middle East.
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The political problem for the White House is that this war will obviously last more than another day or two, and will certainly expand in ways not yet known on multiple fronts, as shocked and overwhelmed Israelis deal with not just the physical devastation of an unprecedented ground assault, but horrifying war crimes of a magnitude not witnessed since the concentration camps of Nazi vintage. Even worse is their now-shattered sense of security, the abiding and paramount concern of all who reside in the small country surrounded by enemy nations committed to its destruction, the kind who just demonstrated that there are no limits to their savagery. It was long taken for granted that the country’s intelligence operations were without equal and that the legendary Israeli Defense Force was capable of meeting any challenge. No longer.
The Israeli War and Islamist Fanatics
Like the Japanese Kamikaze fighters of World War Two willing to sacrifice their lives for a cause greater than themselves, the customary human instinct for self-preservation does not apply to Islamist fanatics and stands in the sharpest possible contrast to the Jewish state, which values the lives of its citizens enough to swap multiple Muslim terrorists for a single Israeli prisoner on more than one occasion. Meanwhile, Hamas rules the Gaza Strip, expending the bulk of its funds on building or buying offensive weapons while its people live in poverty. If, as has been said, the right loves individuals while the left embraces groups, it is fair to say that those who will stop at nothing to incinerate Israel and recreate the Palestinian state care not a whit for the welfare of actual Palestinian people. If they did, they would not have unleashed the level of force and atrocity that will result in the inevitable death of untold thousands of their own people.
As much as Biden is working furiously to publicly decouple the war from the $6 billion he provided to Iran for “strictly humanitarian purposes” shortly before the Hamas invasion in return for five Americans imprisoned in Iran, the feckless, half-hearted claim by Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the administration has "not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack” is unconvincing at best.
Biden Weakness vs Trump Strength
Joe Biden (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Will the perceived weakness of Joe Biden now stand in sharper contrast to the perceived strength of Donald Trump? More importantly, are you better off than you were four years ago? Few would answer in the affirmative when it comes not just to the economy, but to the world at large. For all his forceful rhetoric, Donald Trump was the first president in the 21st century to preside over no new foreign wars. He delivered peace. But since he departed 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Biden orchestrated a disastrous surrender in Afghanistan, Russia unleashed a merciless invasion and war of attrition in Ukraine, China is beating the drums of war over Taiwan, and now Islamist barbarians have brought Israel to its knees.
Biden was undoubtedly right about one thing above all. By calling the mass murders resulting from the shocking invasion “pure evil,” even those confused about right and wrong will no longer have trouble achieving moral clarity on the stark reality of the Islamist cause. Indeed, if there is one faint silver lining among these darkest of clouds, it is that those who would for even a moment attempt to justify these war crimes of biblical proportions can now be clearly, unambiguously, and unashamedly characterized and treated as what they are: enemies not just of Israel and the “Great Satan” USA, but of civilization itself.
Put it all together, and how this president handles the new reality unfolding in the tinderbox known as the Middle East will undoubtedly have an impact, for better or more likely for worse, on his chances of securing a second term. And it is hard to envision a scenario in which he benefits politically from a world further engulfed in war on his watch. On the contrary, his favorability on foreign policy, which, like every other issue of significance, has remained stubbornly low since his decision to abandon Afghanistan, will undoubtedly decline further.
Ultimately, Joe Biden’s payoff to Iran in the run-up to the Hamas invasion and the ensuing war is a black mark on his record that will haunt him right through the 2024 election. The left’s worst nightmare, the return of Donald Trump to the White House, has now moved one step closer to reality.
