Joe Biden, Middle East Realist
With Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Syria, the new president proves neither warmonger nor dove
The United States bombed a group of buildings in Syria, and condemnation came from both left and right.
Progressive Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) asserted that Biden ran “roughshod over Congressional rules & procedures to launch military strikes abroad.” Nathan Robinson, editor of the left-wing Current Affairs, claimed Biden committed a “serious abuse of power” by “ordering the deaths of 22 people in sovereign foreign territory in violation of the Constitution and international law.” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called the strikes “foolish military adventurism” and said “dragging the US into Syria’s civil war is a huge mistake.” Fox host Tucker Carlson complained that “the U.S. is attacking the Assad government.”
All that’s misguided or overblown.
Here’s what happened: Iraqi Shia militias periodically fire rockets at Iraqi military installations, including those used by the United States, and on February 15 one hit an airbase at Erbil International Airport in Iraqi Kurdistan. The strike injured nine, including an American soldier, and killed a Filipino contractor. 10 days later, the U.S. bombed an Iraq-Syria border control point used by various Iraqi Shia militias. Reports…
