Immediately following the start of the war, Israeli officials began to circumnavigate the globe, shuttling between many countries that are directly or even nominally involved in the conflict. Early last month, Israeli President Isaac Herzog flew to Istanbul to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This meeting was “a turning point in relations between Turkey and Israel,” according to Erdogan.

Though “Israel is proceeding cautiously with Turkey,” Lahav Harkov wrote in the Jerusalem Post, Herzog hopes that “his meeting with… Erdogan is starting a positive process toward improved relations.” These “improved relations” are not concerned with the fate of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation and siege, but with a proposed gas pipeline connecting Israel’s Leviathan offshore gas field in the Eastern Mediterranean to southern Europe via Turkey. This project will improve Israel’s geopolitical status in the Middle East and Europe. The political leverage of being a primary gas supplier to Europe would allow it even stronger influence over the continent and would certainly tone down any future criticism of Tel Aviv by Ankara.

That was just one of many Israeli overtures. Tel Aviv’s diplomatic flurry included a top-level meeting between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and a succession of visits to Israel by top European, American, Arab and other officials.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Israel on March 26 and was expected to put some pressure on Tel Aviv to join the US-led Western sanctions on Russia. Little of that has transpired.

For years, Israel has hoped to free itself from its disproportionate reliance on Washington. This dependency took on many forms: Financial and military assistance, political backing, diplomatic cover and more. Many Palestinians and others believe that, if the US ceased its support for Israel, the latter would simply collapse. However, this might not be the case, at least not in theory. Writing in March 2021 in The New York Times, Max Fisher estimated that US aid to Israel in 1981 “was equivalent to almost 10 percent of Israel’s economy,” while in 2020, the nearly $4 billion of US aid was “closer to 1 percent.”

Still, this 1 percent is vital for Israel, as much of the funding is funneled to the Israeli military, which in turn converts it into weapons that are routinely used against Palestinians and other Arab countries. The Israeli military technology of today is far more developed than it was 40 years ago. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute placed Israel as the world’s eighth-largest military exporter between 2016 and 2020, with an estimated export value of $8.3 billion in 2020 alone. These numbers continue to grow, as Israeli military hardware is increasingly incorporated into security apparatuses across the world, including the US, the EU and also in the Global South.

Much of this discussion is rooted in a document from 1996, entitled “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm.” It was authored by Richard Perle, former US assistant secretary of defense, jointly with top leaders of the neoconservative movement in Washington. The target audience of that research was none other than Benjamin Netanyahu, who was then the newly elected Israeli prime minister. Aside from the document’s detailed instructions on how Israel can use some of its Arab neighbors, in addition to Turkey, to weaken and “roll back” hostile governments, it also made significant references to the future relations Tel Aviv should aspire to develop with Washington.

Perle urged Israel to “make a clean break from the past and establish a new vision for the US-Israeli partnership based on self-reliance, maturity and mutuality — not one focused narrowly on territorial disputes.” This newly “self-reliant” Israel “does not need US troops in any capacity to defend it.” Ultimately, such self-reliance “will grant Israel greater freedom of action and remove a significant lever of pressure used against it in the past.”

An example is Israel’s relations with China. In 2013, Washington was outraged when Israel sold secret American military technology to China. Tel Aviv was quickly forced to retreat. Eight years later, despite US demands that Israel must not allow China to operate its Haifa port due to Washington’s security concerns, the port was officially opened in September 2021.

Israel’s regional and international strategies seem to be advancing in multiple directions, some of them directly opposite to those of Washington. Yet, thanks to continued Israeli influence in the US Congress, Washington does little to hold Tel Aviv accountable. Meanwhile, now that Israel is fully aware that the US has changed its political attitude in the Middle East and is moving in the direction of the Pacific and Eastern Europe, Tel Aviv’s clean break strategy is moving faster than ever before. However, this comes with risks. Though Israel is stronger now, its neighbors are also getting stronger.

Hence, it is critical that Palestinians understand that Israel’s survival is no longer linked to the US, at least not as intrinsically as in the past. Therefore, the fight against Israeli occupation and apartheid can no longer be disproportionately focused on breaking up the “special relationship” that united Tel Aviv and Washington for more than 50 years. Israel’s independence from the US entails risks and opportunities that must be considered in the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.

Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an internationally-syndicated columnist and the editor of PalestineChronicle.com. His book is My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto Press, London), now available on Amazon.com

Source: https://www.eurasiareview.com/05042022-israels-clean-break-from-us-gathering-momentum-oped/

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“We also share and are united in addressing the challenges posed by Iran, including it’s nuclear program. There is no daylight between us on the fundamental proposition that Iran must not be allowed to acquired a nuclear weapon.”

He says the US will maintain that stance regardless if a new Iran nuclear deal is reached.

“Deal or no deal, we will continue to work together and with other partners to counter Iran’s destabilizing behavior in the region,” he says.

He hails Israel’s “important diplomatic efforts” to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv, and praises Israeli humanitarian support such as the establishment of a field hospital in western Ukraine.

Blinken also reiterates US support for a two-state solution and welcomes meetings between Israeli ministers and top Palestinian Authority officials, “including Defense Minister Benny Gantz.”

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/blinken-deal-or-no-deal-well-keep-working-with-israel-to-counter-iran/

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“Unfortunately there’s a difference between what Russia says and what it does, and what we’re seeing is no meaningful pullback,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday in an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America.

The number of Russian troops ringing Ukraine’s borders on three sides has grown to 150,000, President Biden said Tuesday.

Commercial satellite imagery has shown their numbers swelling in recent weeks, including large deployments of attack aircraft to locations near Ukraine’s borders. In Belarus, to Ukraine’s north, some 30,000 of Russia’s troops are participating in joint military exercises.

Late last week, U.S. officials sharply escalated warnings about the situation in Ukraine, urging Americans to leave the country as soon as possible ahead of an invasion that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said “may well happen soon.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, officials said that Russia’s military preparations for a full-scale invasion were complete and that an invasion was possible at any point this week.

That assessment has not changed, Blinken said Wednesday.

“President Putin’s put in place the capacity to act on very short notice. He can pull the trigger. He could pull it today, he could pull it tomorrow, he could pull it next week,” Blinken said.

Putin has consistently said that Russia does not intend to attack Ukraine. At a news conference Tuesday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Putin said that it is Russia’s intention to reach an agreement “by diplomatic means.”

Putin added that Russian military leaders had decided “to pull out part of the troops.”

But outside of Russia, officials said they would reserve judgment until seeing evidence of such a drawdown. “We’ve had other instances where they’ve made similar claims, and, in fact, the facts on the ground have proven otherwise,” Julie Smith, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, said Wednesday.

NATO sees no signs of Russian withdrawal
NATO, the defense alliance that has long drawn ire from Russia, has come to similar conclusions as U.S. officials.

“So far, we do not see any sign of de-escalation on the ground. No withdrawals of troops or equipment,” said Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday. “What we see today is that Russia maintains a massive invasion force ready to attack.”

NATO is considering establishing new battlegroups in central and Eastern Europe, Stoltenberg said. The alliance has had a greater presence in Eastern Europe since Russia’s invasion of Crimea — including battlegroups stationed in each of the three Baltic states and Poland. The U.S. oversees the group based in Poland.

Stoltenberg did not say exactly where new battlegroups would be based, but one likely setting is Romania, which borders western Ukraine. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is participating in the meetings this week.

The window for diplomacy may still be open
With Russia indicating it remains open to a diplomatic way out of the crisis, the frenzied pace of efforts by the West have not slowed. Scholz’s visits to Moscow and Kyiv this week follow a similar tour by French President Emmanuel Macron last week. In recent days, Biden has spoken by phone with Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Macron and Scholz.

Although the Kremlin has cast Western warnings of an invasion as “hysteria,” Putin also says that his most important demands — which include barring Ukraine from joining NATO and the withdrawal of NATO troops from Eastern Europe — have been ignored.

On Tuesday, Biden repeated that the U.S. will not “sacrifice basic principles” of Ukraine’s right to territorial integrity and freedom to “choose with whom they will associate” — namely, NATO.

But Biden added that the U.S. had proposed a set of measures covering arms control, transparency and strategic stability. “As long as there is hope of a diplomatic resolution that prevents the use of force and avoids the incredible human suffering that would follow, we will pursue it,” he said.

Additional reporting by Teri Schultz in Brussels.

Source: https://www.npr.org/2022/02/16/1081276661/russian-troops-ukraine-nato

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to warn Israel against continued Chinese investments in the country’s infrastructure and hi-tech industry when he meets with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Washington on Wednesday.

“We will be candid with our Israeli friends over risks to our shared national security interests that come with close cooperation with China,” a senior State Department official told reporters during a briefing ahead of the meeting.

Blinken is also expected to meet with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday.

The US has been concerned about the UAE’s use of Chinese Huawei Technologies in its communication system in light of its pending sale of advanced F-35 fighter jets to the Emirates, but when speaking of China it focused only on its concern with Israel.

The highlight of the day is expected to be a trilateral meeting Blinken will host with the two foreign ministers that is designed to highlight the success of the Abraham Accords, brokered by the former administration.

The accords allowed for Israel to normalize ties with the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan last year, of which ties with the Emirates are the most advanced.

At the trilateral, Israel and the UAE are expected to announce two new working groups, one on religious coexistence and another that would focus on water and energy.

But the range of the topics that will be brought up in all meetings are fairly wide and include China, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Lapid, in his public comments in Washington on Tuesday, will focus on the strong US-Israel bilateral ties and the special relationship Israel has with America and the Biden administration.

Though US officials echoed those same sentiments at the briefing, they also discussed topics of discord in the relationship.

Biden administration officials had spoken about China with National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata when he was in Washington earlier this month.

But State Department senior officials remained vague on Tuesday with respect to their specific concerns on China.

“The US views China as a competitor that challenges the existing international rules-based order; our relationship with China will be competitive when it should be,” the official stated.

ON IRAN, a senior State Department official said that Washington’s main objective at this time is the revival of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, known as the Iran deal, which Israel has traditionally opposed.

Both the US and Israel are joined in their opposition to a nuclear Iran but have differed about how best to achieve that objective.

Lapid said on Tuesday that Iran was one of the major focal points of his Washington trip.

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the senior State Department officials said that at Wednesday’s meetings, Blinken will “reaffirm our belief” in the benefits of a two-state solution. He will also express his appreciation for “Minister Lapid’s recent, strong statement condemning settler violence in the West Bank.”

The Israeli government is split on how best to approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett opposing a two-state resolution to the conflict while Lapid has supported it.

But Lapid’s visions of the borders of those two states differ from those envisioned by the Biden administration, which has not advanced a peace process. The senior State Department officials did not mention any movement on that front, except for stating that “we seek to advance it when we can, as best as we can.”

An official said that the accords are not a substitute for the two-state solutions and suggested that they could be used to push for progress toward a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“We hope that normalization can be leveraged to advance progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track,” the official said.

An official also spoke of the Biden administration’s commitment to maintaining Israel’s qualitative edge and its support for supplemental funding for the defensive Iron Dome system it provides Israel to protect Israeli citizens against Hamas rockets.

The officials repeated their opposition to Israeli settlement activity and the Palestinian Authority’s monthly stipends to terrorists and their families.

Separately, during Lapid’s trip, Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz will meet with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/us-to-warn-israel-china-ties-are-a-joint-national-security-risk-681833

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock met in Washington on Wednesday to discuss various issues between the two countries. One critical issue was that of the increase of Russian troops along the border of its former Soviet neighbor Ukraine. The build-up is said to be caused by Ukraine’s attempts to join NATO, which the U.S. and Germany are both members of. The two representatives agreed that this military presence can be dangerous.

“Both Germany and the United States see Russia’s actions toward Ukraine as an immediate and urgent challenge to peace and stability in Europe,” said Blinken. “We condemn Russia’s military buildup on Ukraine’s borders, as well as Russia’s increasingly harsh rhetoric as it continues to push the false narrative that Ukraine seeks to provoke them. That’s a little bit like the fox saying it had no choice but to attack the henhouse because somehow the hens presented a threat.”

Without using analogies like her American counterpart, Baerbock agreed that Russia’s actions are a form of intimidation.

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“We jointly reiterated that Russian actions and activities come with a clear price tag,” she explained, “and a renewed violation of Ukrainian sovereignty by Russia would have severe consequences.”

The Blinken-Baerbock meeting followed a telephone call last week between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a conversation Sunday between Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and a group discussion Tuesday among Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan and his counterparts from the five Nordic nations.

It also preceded a flurry of meetings involving NATO foreign ministers, senior U.S. and Russian officials, the NATO-Russia Council and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe set for next week.

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“The real question is whether Russia is serious about diplomacy, serious about de-escalation,” Blinken said. “Let’s see where this goes over the next weeks.”

Western officials have hinted at any number of economically crippling sanctions that could be imposed should Russia act. Those include near-total cutoff from the international financial system and steps toward greater NATO integration with non-allied European nations.

But, there have been very few specifics and Blinken again declined to discuss them. “I’m not going to telegraph them publicly, but I can tell you with great confidence that a tremendous amount of work has been done already. There is very strong coordination and collaboration and very strong agreement on measures that would be taken in the event of renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine.”

As the Biden administration moves to build international consensus around a set of possible punitive measures, Germany is clearly the linchpin. Securing the support of Europe’s biggest economy will be key to both messaging and implementation of whatever is decided.

Baerbock is the top diplomat in the first German government in 16 years not headed by Angela Merkel. She has struck a tougher tone on Russia than her predecessor. But Germany has adopted a less confrontational stance toward Russia compared with many other European nations.

Germany’s business ties with Russia could provide leverage, but they could also prove a hindrance for forging a united front toward Moscow. Despite strong criticism from the U.S., the center-left government of new Chancellor Olaf Scholz hasn’t shown itself willing to block the start of natural gas deliveries through a newly built pipeline linking Russia and Germany—a move that would hurt both countries.

Under Merkel, Germany persuaded the Biden administration last year not to impose sanctions on the company building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which many believe will leave Europe beholden to Russia for energy and Ukraine more vulnerable.

Blinken noted that the pipeline, while completed, has yet to go into operation and said gas flows through it would be unlikely if Russia invades Ukraine.

“If Russia renews its aggression toward Ukraine, it would certainly be difficult to see gas flowing through it in the future,” he said. This actually gives the EU leverage over Russia, he said, rather than the other way around.

Baerbock sidestepped the question of whether the pipeline would be operationalized in the event of a Russian intervention. However, she said the new German government would abide by an agreement signed last summer with Washington that says Russia will not be allowed to use energy as a political weapon against Europe.

“We agreed on this, together with our European partners, that we would take effective measures together with our European partners, should Russia use energy as a weapon or should it continue its aggressive acts against Ukraine,” Baerbock said.

Blinken did not directly address her response but said the U.S. would press ahead with joint measures on the pipeline if necessary.

“We will continue to work in a way that I hope can be effective in dealing with energy issues and challenges, including those posed in our judgment by Nord Stream 2, and also in a way that preserves what is so vital, and that is strong trans-Atlantic solidarity. That is the most effective response and most effective tool that we have in countering Russian aggression,” he said.

Nord Stream 2 is a topic of major concern in Washington, and Congress is expected to take up two bills related to it and other Russia sanctions next week, just as the meetings in Europe are happening. A GOP bill would automatically impose Nord Stream sanctions, while a Democratic version would impose a wider range of penalties on Russia should it invade Ukraine.

Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Washington have blamed Nord Stream 2 for increasing Russia’s leverage over Germany and limiting what Berlin would be willing to do in response to a new invasion. Germany, like much of the European Union, is heavily reliant on Russian natural gas.

Blinken said the U.S. has delivered weapons to Ukraine and would continue to do so in the event of a further Russian military assault on the country.

Echoing concerns by some in Germany that this could stoke military tensions with Russia, Baerbock said “we have a different position on arms supply to Ukraine,” but noted that Berlin has provided a military hospital to the Ukrainian army and support in treating wounded soldiers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/us-germany-say-russia-military-buildup-ukraine-poses-immediate-urgent-challenge-1666076

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Biden and Bennett met in the White House in late August, but are not believed to have spoken since. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Bennett in early December, Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Blinken in DC two weeks ago and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met with Blinken in DC in October.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan landed in Israel earlier today and is expected to meet Bennett this week, and President Isaac Herzog later tonight.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/biden-reportedly-hasnt-taken-bennetts-calls-in-several-weeks/

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RIGA, Latvia — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Tuesday that the U.S.-led military organization must prepare for the worst as concern mounts that Russia could be preparing to invade Ukraine.

NATO is worried about a Russian buildup of heavy equipment and troops near Ukraine’s northern border, not far from Belarus. Ukraine says Moscow kept about 90,000 troops in the area following massive war games in western Russia earlier this year, and could easily mobilize them.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that his country’s intelligence service had uncovered plans for a Russia-backed coup d’état. Russia denied the allegation and rejected the assertion that it is planning to invade Ukraine.

“You can discuss whether the likelihood for an incursion is 20% or 80%, it doesn’t matter. We need to be prepared for the worst,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Riga, Latvia, after chairing talks among NATO foreign ministers focused on the threat posed by Russia.

“There is no certainty, no clarity about exactly what are the Russian intentions, and they may actually evolve and change,” the NATO chief continued. Referring to Russia’s seizure in 2014 of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Stoltenberg added: “They’ve done it before.”

Asked about the decision to activate NATO’s crisis response planning system, which helps analyze potential crises and prepare a response to them, he said: “Allies agree that we need to have the plans in place to be sure that we are always able to protect all allies against any potential threat.”

The United States has shared intelligence with European allies warning of a possible invasion. European diplomats acknowledge the Russian troop movements, but some countries have played down the threat of any imminent invasion ordered by Moscow.

“We are very concerned about the movements we’ve seen along Ukraine’s border. We know that Russia often combines those efforts with internal efforts to destabilize a country. That’s part of the playbook, and we’re looking at it very closely,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

“Any renewed aggression would trigger serious consequences,” Blinken warned.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas also said “Russia would have to pay a high price for any form of aggression.”

Maas said “honest and sustainable de-escalation steps, which can only go via the route of talks, are all the more important now.”

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 after Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly president was driven from power by mass protests. Weeks later, Russia threw its weight behind a separatist insurgency that broke out in Ukraine’s east.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of sending troops and weapons to back the rebels. Moscow denies that, saying that Russians who joined the separatists were volunteers. More than 14,000 people have died in more than seven years of fighting, which also has devastated Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland, known as Donbas.

A 2015 peace agreement brokered by France and Germany helped end large-scale battles, but efforts to reach a political settlement have failed and sporadic skirmishes have continued along the tense line of contact. Russia has refused recent overtures for talks with France and Germany.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it is NATO that threatens peace in the region.

“Significant units and military equipment of NATO countries, including the U.S. and Britain, are being deployed closer to our borders,” Lavrov said during a news conference in Moscow. He alleged that the West has long provoked Ukraine “into anti-Russian actions.”

Whatever Russia’s intentions, NATO would not be able to provide Ukraine with any substantial military support in time to make a difference against Russian forces, so economic measures like Western sanctions are more likely to be used to inflict a financial cost on Moscow.

Stoltenberg underlined that Ukraine is not part of the military organization and so cannot benefit from the collective security guarantee available to member countries.

Meanwhile, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin announced that Belarus will conduct joint military drills with Russia “to cover the southern borders,” a reference to the border area near Ukraine, according to Belarus state news agency Belta. It’s unclear when this would happen.

Cook reported from Brussels. Dasha Litvinova in Moscow, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Jill Lawless in London contributed.

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/nato-warns-russia-avoid-costly-mistake-ukraine-81463502

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The U.S. and European Union pledged Wednesday to deepen its alliance for the sake of advancing common priorities like artificial intelligence, trade challenges and the “underpin” to global economies: semiconductors.

“Semiconductors are the material basis for integrated circuits that are essential to modern-day life and underpin our economies,” U.S.-EU Trade and Technology Council said in a joint statement. “As such, semiconductors power virtually every sector of the economy, including energy, healthcare, agriculture, consumer electronics, manufacturing, defense, and transportation.”

The council said the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the need to increase stable and reliable supply chains for the production of semiconductors.

CHINESE SWITCH TO FLASHLIGHTS, GENERATORS AMID POWER CUTS 

Chip shortages began under the Trump administration, when supply chains were affected by the trade war with China. But chip shortages were further exacerbated by an increased demand for electronics on everything from laptops to at-home health care during the pandemic.

“We recognize that the semiconductor supply chain, from raw materials, design and manufacturing to assembly, testing and incorporation into end products, is extremely complex and geographically dispersed,” the council said. “The United States and European Union have some important respective strengths as well as ongoing, significant mutual dependencies, and common external dependencies.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo traveled to Pittsburgh to meet with European Commission Executive Vice Presidents Valdis Dombrovskis and Margrethe Vestager to bolster ties, as relations between the U.S. and Europe have become strained.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton warned last week that there is a growing sense that the U.S.-trans Atlantic relationship is “broken” and suggested it was time to “pause and reset” the partnership.

Breton’s comments came after France was sidelined in a U.S.-U.K. deal with Australia that effectively voided an existing submarine contract with the EU nation.

The commissioner was not present for Wednesday’s council meeting in Pittsburgh, but his social media suggested Breton was working to extend the EU’s reach into the global chip market.

On Wednesday Breton announced on Twitter he was in Japan facilitating an EU-Japan “cooperation” and preparing the “ground for our upcoming EU Chip Act.”

The U.S. similarly has looked to strengthen this alliance with Japan and bolster semiconductor production.

The joint U.S.-EU interest in Japan could signal an increased push to distance themselves from China.

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The council pledged to “stand together” against “unfair behavior of state-owned enterprises,” though the statement did not directly identify China.

“We intend to focus on reducing existing strategic dependencies throughout the supply chain, especially through a diversification of the supply chain and increased investment,” the council said, adding they will “work jointly so that any investment made on our territories is done in full respect of our respective security of supply.”

Source: https://www.foxbusiness.com/politics/us-eu-alliance-global-economies-semiconductors

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A defiant President Joe Biden called the Afghanistan evacuation effort a “success” on Tuesday, in a speech that marked the end of the United States’ 20-year engagement in the country.

“As we close 20 years of war and strife and pain and sacrifice, it’s time to look at the future, not the past,” Biden said. “I believe this is the right decision, a wise decision, and the best decision for America.”

His speech came almost exactly 24 hours after Gen. Frank McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, announced that the last military flights out of Afghanistan had departed Hamid Karzai International Airport.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday there were between 100 and 200 American citizens who “wanted to leave” Afghanistan but remained in the country. Biden confirmed that estimate on Tuesday and said the U.S. and others would continue to work to evacuate people out of Afghanistan.

“For those remaining Americans, there is no deadline,” the president said. “We remain committed to get them out if they want to come out.”

Biden’s tone was remarkably similar to the one he displayed in his speech following the fall of Kabul a little more than two weeks ago. Both were marked with sharp criticisms for the deposed Afghan political leadership and Biden’s unwavering commitment to bring the war to a close.

“I was not going to extend this forever war,” Biden said on Tuesday, “and I was not extending a forever exit.”

Biden’s speech capped a tumultuous month in which the Afghan government and security forces collapsed with breathtaking speed, forcing the U.S. to cooperate with the Taliban in order to ensure that evacuations could continue as countless lives hung in the balance.

Administration officials have stressed that the operation was “the largest noncombatant” evacuation in U.S. military history. More than 123,000 people were evacuated, including 79,000 since Aug. 14.

But the withdrawal was marred by a terrorist attack last week that killed more than 180 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, as well as by the government’s acknowledgement that tens of billions of dollars in military equipment had fallen into the Taliban’s hands.

On Tuesday, military officials tamped down reports that the U.S. had abandoned military dogs in Kabul, underscoring the government’s ongoing battle to counter perceptions that final stages of the drawdown were hasty and chaotic.

“To correct erroneous reports, the U.S. Military did not leave any dogs in cages at Hamid Karzai International Airport, including the reported military working dogs,” John Kirby, the Pentagon’s top spokesman wrote on Twitter. “Photos circulating online were animals under the care of the Kabul Small Animal Rescue, not dogs under our care.”

Throughout the process, the Biden administration remained adamant about meeting its self-imposed Aug. 31 deadline, even as doing so infuriated Republicans — some of whom have called for Biden’s removal from office — raised tensions between the White House and Democrats in Congress, and rankled some of the closest U.S. allies.

The president and his advisers have repeatedly said that they were determined to bring the war in Afghanistan to a close and did not want to extend the timeline for withdrawal — potentially upsetting the delicate balance with the Taliban and putting additional people in harm’s way.

“Leaving August the 31st is not due to an arbitrary deadline. It was designed to save American lives,” Biden said.

The White House is eager to put the Afghanistan saga behind it and refocus on pressing domestic concerns, even as the ramifications appear likely to stretch on for months, if not years.

There are tens of thousands of Afghans and their families who will need to be resettled in the U.S. and other countries — a formidable logistical challenge — and a raft of congressional committees are embarking upon investigations of the exit from Afghanistan.

The international community will also have to figure out its approach with regard to the Taliban now that they have seized control of Afghanistan. The United Nations Security Council on Monday passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the Taliban to honor its humanitarian commitments, although China and Russia notably refused to sign on and argued that it was an attempt to distract from the United States’ handling of the withdrawal.

Blinken said on Monday that the U.S. was relocating its diplomatic presence for Afghanistan to Doha, Qatar, after shuttering its embassy in Kabul earlier this month as the situation deteriorated.

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/defiant-biden-calls-afghanistan-exit-151521841.html

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As Labor Day marks the traditional close to summer, President Biden’s poll numbers are taking a hit.

Facing a barrage of bipartisan criticism for weeks over his handling of the turbulent U.S. withdrawal and evacuation from Afghanistan, and with a surge in new COVID cases due to the spread across the country this summer of the highly infectious delta variant, the president’s approval ratings are slipping.

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/biden-apos-standing-among-americans-105217356.html

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