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Biden urges Israel to use surgical strikes rather than a full ground invasion [1]

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Date: 2023-10-27  

While some have been demonizing President Biden for showing empathy and support for an internally troubled ally that just suffered an external terrorist attack the equivalent of 30 9/11s, the reporting all along has been that Biden has also been advising Israel to use restraint, has condemned Israeli attacks on innocent Palestinians, pushed for humanitarian aid and a humanitarian corridor for Palestinian civilians, and most importantly reiterated the need for a two state solution. Now, the Washington Post has this:

The Biden administration is urging Israel to rethink its plans for a major ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and instead to opt for a more “surgical” operation using aircraft and special operations forces carrying out precise, targeted raids on high-value Hamas targets and infrastructure, according to five U.S. officials familiar with the discussions. Administration officials have become highly concerned about the potential repercussions of a full ground assault, the officials said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomatic matters, and they increasingly doubt that it would achieve Israel’s stated goal of eliminating Hamas. They also are concerned that it could derail negotiations to release nearly 200 hostages, particularly as diplomats think they have made “significant” advances in recent days to free a number of them, potentially including some Americans, one of the officials said. The Biden administration also is worried that a ground invasion could result in numerous casualties among Palestinian civilians as well as Israeli soldiers, potentially triggering a dramatic escalation of hostilities in the region, the officials said. U.S. officials think a targeted operation would be more conducive to hostage negotiations, less likely to interrupt humanitarian aid deliveries, less deadly for people on both sides and less likely to provoke a wider war in the region, the officials said.

Surgical strikes are, of course, what the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice administration should have used after 9/11, rather than launching a full scale war on Afghanistan, which was a humanitarian disaster and also allowed those responsible to slip away. And then of course, they turned to bombing and invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.

Biden here is steering the right course, as he has all along: give Israel the support it needs in its moment of trauma, while much of the world won’t, while also using its status as a proven trusted friend to tell Israel not to follow the path the U.S. did after its moment of trauma.

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