Leave it to Joe Biden, the worst foreign policy mind in American history, to also manage to take the cake domestically.
In perhaps the dumbest political move in decades, the president recently pledged to cut off arms shipments to Israel while demanding they not enter Rafah to finish off Hamas. Biden did so in an ill-fated attempt to appease his far-left flank, which is populated by woke "pro-Palestinians" who've never met an Islamist they didn't like.
As I wrote recently, that worked about as well as expected. Namely, it didn't work at all and they still hate him.
READ: After Bending the Knee to Hamas, Biden Learns the Hard Way That You Can Never Be Woke Enough
The bigger problem for Biden was that in his attempt to suck up to the pro-Hamas faction, he managed to anger a far larger contingent of Americans, of which polling shows the overwhelming majority support Israel in its ongoing conflict. Thus, the desperate walk back has begun.
Israeli sources: US rethinks decision to halt arms shipments, looks for ways to resume deliveries; Possible solution: Shipping heavy bombs but not allowing Israel to use them in civilian areas of Rafah, @ynetalerts reports.
— Israel Radar (@IsraelRadar_com) May 11, 2024
Like money, weapons are fungible. Israel already has vast stores of bombs and artillery shells. Any stipulation that they can't use these latest shipments in "civilian areas" of Rafah will have zero effect on their ability to win the war. The prior concern was ensuring stockpiles didn't get too low in case Hezbollah opened up a northern front. If the shipments resume, though, that won't be a problem. In other words, Biden is folding like a cheap suit while hoping to smear a little lipstick on the pig to make it seem like he didn't turn heel.
To further illustrate just how running scared he is, Biden then put out a statement proclaiming that a ceasefire could be had tomorrow if Hamas released all the hostages.
BREAKING: Biden says there would be a 'ceasefire tomorrow' if the hostages were released
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) May 11, 2024
That's probably true. It's also something the White House has been reluctant to admit over the last several months as they've tip-toed around assigning all blame to Hamas. That Biden is now saying it out loud is more evidence that his attempt to court the radicals in Dearborn has backfired.
Now what? My general feeling is that it's too late. Biden's political fortunes continue to collapse precisely because he's an indecisive, weak leader whose first instinct is to capitulate to crying Islamists. That he's now trying to do a gentle backtrack is not fooling anyone. He's typecasted at this point, and he better hope Israel eliminates Hamas sooner rather than later because if this festers too much longer, it's only going to get worse for him.
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