A notable stretch in President Biden’s interview with Time magazine:
And whose fault is it that the that deal, the ceasefire for hostages has not been consummated? Is it Hamas or Israel or both?
Biden: Hamas. Hamas could end this tomorrow. Hamas could say (unintelligible) and done period. And, but, and the last offer Israel made was very generous in terms of who they’d be willing to release, what they’d give in return, et cetera. Bibi is under enormous pressure on the hostages, on the hostages, and so he’s prepared to do about anything to get the hostages back.
First, Biden is speaking in what is presumably a quiet environment within the White House; if Biden is unintelligible for a moment, it’s because he’s mumbling beyond the Time correspondents’ ability to understand his words.
You mentioned the hunger in Gaza. Some have alleged that Israel is intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. Do you think that’s the case?
Biden: No, I don’t think that. I think they’ve engaged in activity that is inappropriate. That is…When I went over immediately after the—Hamas’ brutal attack, I said then, and it became public, I said, don’t make the same mistake we did going after bin Laden. Don’t try—The idea of occupying Afghanistan, the idea that you had nuclear arsenals in Iran, that were being, I mean, in Iraq, that were being generated, simply not true. And it led to endless wars. They were not true. Don’t make the mistakes we made. And they’re making that mistake, I think. Excuse my voice, I apologize.
It is unsurprising that the president who oversaw the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan would want to portray the entire 20-year U.S. mission in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq as futile, pointless gestures that did nothing to protect America but cost it a great deal in blood and treasure. But it’s really remarkable to hear the president of the United States describing the U.S. fighting the war on terror as “a mistake.”
I will remind you that then–vice president Biden advised Barack Obama to not launch the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
Biden’s instincts are dovish; he was shaped by Vietnam. This is part of why former secretary of defense and CIA director Robert Gates infamously labeled Biden “wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” There’s rarely a hostile foreign dictator that Biden isn’t convinced he can’t get to see reason and reach a deal with, and Biden’s preeminent fear is that any U.S. action will be perceived as an “escalation.”
Not at all. Some in Israel have suggested that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation. Do you believe that?
Biden: I’m not going to comment on that. There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion. And I would cite tha as—before the war began, the blowback he was getting from the Israeli military for wanting to change the constitu—change the court. And so it’s an internal domestic debate that seems to have no consequence. And whether he would change his position or not, it’s hard to say, but it has not been helpful.
Notice that a split second after Biden says, “I’m not going to comment on that,” he adds, “There is every reason for people to draw that conclusion,” which is an answer that is very hard to distinguish from “yes.”
Remember, moments earlier, Biden said Netanyahu was “prepared to do about anything to get the hostages back.” How does Biden square that with there being every reason for people to draw the conclusion that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political self-preservation?