(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Israeli War in Palestine is About American Elections [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-12-25

For Putin, at least, that is what it’s about and why he orchestrated the attack on Israel. Let’s step back and look at the events, and how it got to this point.

With Putin steadily losing the war in Ukraine, he needed to slow the conflict down and give himself time to reorganize, rebuild supplies, recruit, and perhaps even get a friendly face in the White House; a person that would look the other way, allowing him to finish his conquest. Nobody would fill this role better than Donald Trump — he is right, DJT would be great for Putin, he would be exactly what he needs at this moment — and for the next few years. So, he hosted Hamas in Moscow last year, and and then again this year, he sent Wagner forces to train up Hamas, he armed them with Russian drones and missiles, and when the time was right, they did what they were trained to do, attacking Israel in October, killing over 1,200 people.

Putin knows Netanyahu very well; he also knows Biden well. He’s dealt with both of them for decades and has the full psychological and intelligence profiles on them. Putin knows that Netanyahu is a criminal, he knows he’s a bloodthirsty crook, and he knows that given enough rope, Netanyahu would hang himself with it. He also knows that Biden is a Zionist (Biden has openly stated that), and he knew how Biden would respond to the conflict in I/P, correctly predicting that Biden would eventually help Israel above all, even if it cost him his own re-election.

This is all planned, these are all Putin’s machinations, and we are watching them unravel in real time. Putin’s gambit here is that Netanyahu will be who he is, that Biden will be who he is, and that eventually who they are will erode the democracy in the US, setting up the stage for a Trump re-election. How will this happen, you may ask.

Well, it’s simple. It will divide the Democrat vote. It divides the Democrat party from within, with one side fully siding with Zionism, no matter the cost, and the other side supporting Palestinians, angry about the needless loss of life. Some Democrats will say that we need to uphold our ideals and principles, that we need to protect all life and call for a cease fire. Others will say Israel can do whatever they want to in their defense, and will look the other way as the graves pile up. The civilian death count may go up into the tens of thousands over the next few months as the war campaign continues. The anger will brew. Some will say they could never vote for a Zionist president, and will want someone who places our own American values above those of Zionism and the Israeli government. All of this divides us and places us, as a whole, in a weaker position than we were at before the war started. The longer it continues, the greater the divide within us, and more of the vote Biden loses among what were previously all his voters.

Dismayed, some may choose not to vote at all in 2024, while others may choose to write in an alternate: Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson, or Bernie Sanders perhaps. After all, they may tell themselves — Bernie is very progressive isn’t he, it may not feel that bad to write in a vote for him. Except it will get Trump in the White House again. But Bernie is Jewish and he doesn't call himself a Zionist, as Biden does, and he openly condemns all of the war crimes. He is consistent. He may take some voters away even if he doesn’t ask for them directly. Even if he doesn’t run, which I don’t expect he will, he may still get a solid share. Many others may just switch independent and go with West or Kennedy.

The biggest issue I have with this is that Biden knows this is happening, he knows that Putin is playing games with him, he knows that he may lose support among his own voters, and that it may even cause him to lose the re-election — but he is still doing what Putin counted on him to do — relentlessly and blindly supporting Zionism and the indiscriminate killings in Palestine. He can’t help himself. He would even allow Trump back in the White House, because he’s incapable of saying no to Israel. This is a problem. This is a big problem. And Putin predicted it all very well.

Now, we have made military mistakes in the past, some will say. Yes, we have, but we have not dropped 2000lb bombs directly on civilian residential buildings, with the sole intent of wiping out entire families. These are not American values, these are not our principles, this doesn’t match who we are. And that is the problem here: Biden is placing Zionism, and his support of this war above American values and ethics. Putin knew this, his profile of both Biden and Netanyahu was correct, they are playing exactly into his schemes. Some may say, but we did this under Kissinger, or that under Bush — yes, we have… we have made mistakes in the past, but we are not those people, and those are not our leaders or national advisers today. We can do better; we can be better. As Americans, we should always uphold American values — freedom, equality and human rights for all.

Biden may think that Netanyahu will end his war campaign quickly, maybe in two to three months from now, but he will be wrong if he believes that will be the end of it. It will not end quickly and Biden may not detach us fast enough. It is Putin’s goal to make this war as much of an issue for our elections as abortion will be. And he has other cards he can play. When things seem like they are wrapping up, he will orchestrate another terrorist attack on Israel. Even if Israel wipes out Hamas in a few months, Putin will start up a conflict between Israel and Syria, or Lebanon; perhaps even with Iran. And Netanyahu will respond the only way he knows how to — brutally. Israel will keep fighting wars all next year, perhaps longer. We must not be complicit. We have to uphold our values, not only domestically, but also abroad. If we don’t, we will be divided and Biden will lose.

What can we do about all of this? Well, we need to urge Biden to find his moral center and give Netanyahu an ultimatum. Finish it in a month or we withdraw military support — no more selling of bombs and weaponry that kill thousands of children. That is not us. That’s not who we are.

From that point on we only provide humanitarian support and financial aid for rebuilding Gaza. He needs to push for a cease fire, and for an international contingent of peacekeeping forces to be deployed to the Israeli borders with all the malicious actors.

He cannot be a ‘useful idiot’ to Putin, irrespective of his Zionist beliefs. It is one thing to support Zionism and Israeli sovereignty, but it is a whole another ballgame to support war crimes and indiscriminate killings. He needs to listen to Bernie Sanders and the other progressives when they ask for military support to be cut off and a cease fire executed.

This has to be done, or he will bleed support and lose his own voters. And this may usher in the unthinkable — Donald Trump back in the White House. This is a bigger problem than Israel. He needs to understand, if he doesn’t already, that this is no longer about Israel, this is a choice between continued support for Israel or losing our own democracy. The stakes are that high. We have to choose our own democracy and the continuation of our Republic, sans a dictatorship that is a very real threat.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/25/2213813/-Israeli-War-in-Palestine-is-About-American-Elections?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/