There was a time when American Secretaries of State and Defense were respected. It usually coincided with administrations that were also respected.
For three years our administration, foreign policy, and by extension our heads of the State Department and the Department of Defense have become laughingstock.
They also go a long way to help in that perception as well.
The inarguably disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan was a combined effort of these geniuses, and the current advice they have for Israel demonstrates that not much has been learned in the last three years.
Both chose to weigh in on Israel’s return to its mission of exterminating the vermin known as Hamas this past week.
Just for context keep in mind that Hamas was said to have taken captive 240 hostages. As the temporary pause dragged on they were able to release roughly a hundred. They also admitted that a handful had died and returned their bodies.
The pause concluded because Hamas literally couldn’t find any more hostages being held or even a “list” with names of the remaining ones.
This must understandably strike fear into the hearts of the remaining hostage families. Hamas wanted desperately to keep trading. They begged for more time to look. But at the end of the day they were unable to find any more. Were they killed in captivity? Will we ever know?
For several weeks prior to the pause Hamas took one strategic loss after the other. Their depots, stockpiles, and safe places were obliterated. Their strategic command posts now sit in rubble. And most of their command leadership has been eliminated. But with a six day stoppage the terror network had hoped to reorganize. Israel intuitively knows that this is precisely why the offensive must continue until every one of these terrorists are exterminated.
Enter Secretary Blinken and Austin this past week.
At the State Department the Secretary’s press conference was received as a speech of support by the terrorists and simultaneously unthinkingly critical of our actual ally Israel. It sent the wrong message to every entity involved. What should’ve been made clear long and loud: “We stand with Israel! Hamas must be destroyed,” was anything but. Blinkin also intimated that unless Israel made public its plans to protect Palestinian “innocents” then they had no right to resume their mission.
In a completely different setting Defense Secretary Austin claimed not having such a plan publicized amounted to a “strategic loss.”
The idiocy of such critiques are a massive failure to our ally. The one consistent reality is that both Secretaries are equally bad at their jobs and should be another reason to remove the Biden administration in 2024.
Know nothing mush minds have no business advising our allies—much less having a hand in our own national interests.
For the record—and demonstrating the ignorance of the Secretaries (and the administration for which they work)—Israel has had civilian protection plans in place. They have dropped leaflets before bombing strategic regions warning people to get out. They have formed human tunnels of the ranks of the IDF allowing civilians to pass when Hamas had been shooting them previously if they tried to leave. IDF doctors and Israeli hospitals have helped treat injured Palestinian “civilians.”
They are required to do none of that.
Blinkin and Austin would better serve their administration and the American people by openly holding Hamas responsible for all of the death in the region. It would serve everyone more honestly if they would acknowledge that it was Hamas who had broken the cease-fire on 10/7, and could not sustain the pause this weekend because they’ve misplaced 140 plus hostages.
If they can not serve honestly and loyally to the force for good, the least they could do is to keep their traps shut.
It’s my hope that Israel ignores the minor league amateur act the Biden administration is putting forward. The world will be a better place if they eliminate Hamas from existence, if they find the hostages and if they prevent this level of horror from ever being able to happen again.
Stand with Israel. Eliminate Hamas.
It’s not that hard to understand