That's absolutely one of the key reasons the US supports Israel. However, that doesn't mean it can turn a blind eye to what Israel actually does.
The West, especially the United States, has the ability to exert a lot of influence on Israel and yet it seems that they're not trying. Withholding military aid, among other things, goes a long way.
I really wonder what it is I'm missing when it comes to why they won't exert pressure the way it seems they should.
“That son of a bitch, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad fucking guy!” Biden declared privately about the Israeli prime minister to one of his associates in the spring of 2024 as Israel’s war in Gaza intensified, Woodward writes.
“He’s a fucking liar,” Biden said privately of Netanyahu, after Israel went into Rafah, Woodward writes.
“Bibi, what the fuck?” Biden yelled at Netanyahu in July after an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hezbollah military commander and three civilians in Beirut, according to Woodward.
“You know the perception of Israel around the world increasingly is that you’re a rogue state, a rogue actor,” Biden said to Netanyahu.
If this is how Biden privately talks about the guy, I have to wonder what's keeping him from being public about it. I understand this is politics, but I want to hope that there's more to it because the United States and other Western nations sure as hell should not be complicit in the slaughter of Palestinians simply because of politics.
While riding home with my son this evening, I found myself apologizing to him. This world today--the people--are a profoundly unbelievable mess. He brought up things he's read in the news and I hardly know what to say. We both understand how insane it all is, but people still believe it... truly...
I get it. The world has always been a mess. This mess today is simply uniquely ours at this time in history.
It's heartbreaking that this completely utter rubbish exists at all and more still that it will be believed and there's nothing no one can do to convince the believers otherwise. 😖
To mitigate the impact of a second Trump presidency, Nato countries should support the creation of an allied multilateral lending institution, in practice a Nato bank, it says. This could “save nations millions on essential equipment purchases, offer low interest rates on loans to alliance members and introduce a new line of financing with longer repayment timeframes. The bank would be funded with initial subscriptions from Nato members in return for authorised capital stock”.
I won't pretend to understand the financial workings of this. Trump is a menace and NATO leadership has good reason to feel as they do. What that said though, I think this may be a good decision regardless of who wins the presidency.
Perhaps not an actual reclassification since, until now, all two letter TLDs have been exclusively for countries. But for the right price, I imagine convincing them to maintain the two character TLD... for "posterity" ... and... "backwards compatibility"...
coughs, clears throat, and pushes 💰 across the table_
"In his last days, he chose to stay near the main hospital in Nabatieh to help the elderly, disabled, injured, and those who simply couldn't financially afford to flee," Jawad's family said. "He served as their guardian, provided them with food, mattresses, and other comforts, and anonymously paid off their debts."
😥
One American citizen identified as Karam toldAl Jazeera that she "called the U.S. embassy in Beirut for help fleeing the violence," but "was told to find a way out of the country by herself," the outlet reported.
"Karam, who chose to be identified by her nickname out of fear of retaliation, drew a contrast with how the US State Department swiftly chartered special flights and a ship to evacuate American citizens in Israel after Hamas' October 7 attack last year," Al Jazeera noted.
"Americans of Lebanese descent have been treated as lesser U.S. citizens than Israeli U.S. citizens," she said. "It is as if we don't exist."
M'kay.