What, Exactly, Is "Repugnant" About Efforts to Stop Mass Killing?
The Biden Administration Embraces War and Israel
Remarkably, the press secretary of the Biden administration stated that calls for deescalation of conflict in Gaza, calls for restraint, calls for a ceasefire, are “disgraceful” and “repugnant.” There are not two sides to the conflict, the press secretary said. There’s only the Israeli side of righteousness. And Israel must be given a blank check, as well as plenty of U.S. weaponry, to strike back. And so Israel has, dropping 6000 bombs in six days. Obviously, Israel had a prepared list of targets; you don’t drop one thousand bombs a day on Gaza in “precision” strikes without being long prepared to do so.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said he had seen photos of Hamas attackers beheading Israeli babies. No such photos exist. Indeed, the initial claim of Hamas beheading babies was false, a frontline rumor that was debunked by the reporter who put it out there.
By recklessly repeating an unsubstantiated battlefield rumor of heinous atrocities and inventing “photos” to support it, President Biden demonstrated his complete lack of fitness to serve as president.
Think about it. In what world is it acceptable for America’s president to claim he’d seen actual photos of beheadings of babies when no such photos exist? How could the president be so recklessly confused, assuming it was simply confusion?
As far as I know, the only candidate for the presidency in 2024 who’s acquitted himself with dignity is Cornel West. West actually accepts that Palestinian babies and children are just as precious and worthy of life as their Israeli counterparts. Every other “name” candidate, e.g. Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as well as all the Republicans, are at pains to support Israel without reservation or qualification.
Indeed, far more debate is allowed in Israel about the actions of the government there than is allowed in the U.S. mainstream media and in Congress. Congress is far more obedient to Netanyahu than the Knesset. Perhaps he should be nominated as the new House Speaker? He’d win in a landslide.
Of course, I deplore the Hamas attacks and the deaths of innocent Israelis, just as I deplore the deaths of innocent Palestinians caught in the reprisal bombings. It’s horrible when innocent people die. Isn’t this how any normal and sane human being would feel? Shouldn’t we all unite in calling for a ceasefire, an end to the killing, and some kind of way forward that doesn’t end in mass death and the total destruction of Gaza?
What is so “repugnant” about that?
Just saw this article by Daniel Larison at his site: https://daniellarison.substack.com/p/the-biden-administration-is-aiding
Here's an excerpt: "The U.S. is not only failing to call out Israeli crimes while our government officials attack critics, but more important it is enabling the campaign with more weapons supplies and cheering it on with repeated expressions of support. Just as it has done for years in Yemen, the U.S. is once again aiding and abetting a client government as it tramples on international law and commits grave human rights abuses. The U.S. is complicit in the crimes that are already being committed and in those that will be committed using U.S.-made weapons. Our government is not just watching in silence while these things happen, but it is helping to make them happen."
All these war pigs have done is to expose the truth that their moral code is not universal, but situational and tribal. At best, like some over at Reason magazine, they fail to clearly condemn both sides, the way people opposed to the violent use of power should do; at worst they end up like the President and his mouthpiece saying that concern for innocents on “the other side” is repugnant.
The “good” Catholic Joe Biden can skip next Ash Wednesday’s service, because to dust he has already returned.