Terror attacks in Israel over the weekend have heightened concerns about the United States’ ability to provide a unified and coherent response to a globe that seems to be spiralling out of control.
Many Republicans, Democrats, and outside experts voiced concerns that the disorder in US politics sent a frightening message to the rest of the world as the House of Representatives slid into disarray last week. But nobody could have predicted how soon the country’s response to a major global crisis would be put to the test by the stalemate in Washington.
Hundreds of Israeli civilians have been slain and the country’s sense of security has been destroyed as a result of horrendous Hamas attacks, which have pushed the Middle East to the brink of a new era of bloodshed and instability. This came after a time of peace and after numerous failed attempts over many years by US presidents to remove American forces from the area.
A bigger regional war might break out as a result of Israel’s reaction to the devastation produced by a significant Iranian proxy, further unsettle the already shaky global order caused by the conflict in Ukraine and China’s open challenges to Western authority.
A crisis of this magnitude calls for a measured, coherent, and well-considered response from the United States, one that enjoys bipartisan backing. It will be impossible to unite the country at this critical time given the current state of American politics, which is beset by internal extremism, challenges to democracy, and the hyperpoliticization of foreign policy.
The loss of the Republican Party’s ability to rule in the House after Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s expulsion last week by his party’s extreme elements may slow down lawmakers’ efforts to immediately register support for Israel and to provide further aid to its government.
There has never been an election season like this one in the United States. A president who is unpopular and facing doubts about his age may face up against a Republican nominee who is under investigation for a felony by the time of the election. The United States will, at best, spend the next few months distracted with its own political problems. The world’s superpower protector of free elections may contribute to more international unrest.
In a rush to capitalise on the situation, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump blamed President Joe Biden’s “weakness” for sparking the clash.
Joe Biden sold out Israel and he sold out the United States. Trump has pledged, “As president, I will once again stand with Israel.”
US elections are rarely decided by foreign policy problems. Yet another international crisis may spread the narrative that the world is in disarray, American influence is waning, and Biden is helpless, which is bad news for Biden and an opportunity for Trump. Trump has made turmoil his ally both at home and abroad in his pursuit of the ideal conditions for budding autocrats offering strongman control.
Israel and Ukraine, who rely heavily on American support as they fight Russia’s unjustified invasion, aren’t the only countries that stand to lose from the current state of American politics. Iran, the principal backer of Hamas, together with Russia and China, may be encouraged to believe that the United States is so deeply divided that it cannot effectively defend its interests because of this spectacle.
“The idea to remove the speaker wasn’t mine. I thought that was risky,” Rep. Michael McCaul, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, stated on AWN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. What kind of message are we giving to our adversaries when we can’t govern, when we’re dysfunctional, and when we don’t even have a speaker of the House? I look at the world and all the threats that are out there, and I don’t know who will be the next speaker of the House.
The Texas Republican continued, “How does Chairman Xi in China look at that when he says democracy doesn’t work?” How does the Ayatollah feel about the fact that we are unable to execute our jobs? As for the message it delivers, I believe it’s awful.
This is the message of US weakness and anarchy.
As the House remained dark and empty, it sent an especially harmful message about the state of the United States and the democratic system of government it promotes abroad. As Hamas rockets rain down on Israeli cities, the Biden administration is able to deliver quick military aid, including JDAM precision-guided munition kits and additional interceptors for the Iron Dome air defence system. But there could be dire consequences if the House fails to seat a new speaker and form a working majority quickly.
Democrat Joe Biden would have won a redrawn New York congressional district in 2020, but Republican Rep. Michael Lawler, who is up for reelection this year, says the turmoil in Congress must cease. The Middle East issue with one of our closest allies in the world makes it imperative that we bring this to a swift conclusion, Lawler told AWN’s Dana Bash. “And so, I think it is imperative, frankly, that this nonsense stop, that Kevin McCarthy be reinstated as speaker,” Lawler continued.
House Republicans are anticipated to try to make a decision this week between Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (who has Trump’s support) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (who they booted last week). There is no guarantee that strong, new Republican leadership will emerge swiftly due to the demands of extremists in the GOP conference, the problems of a minuscule majority, and the reality that it took McCarthy a marathon 15 rounds of balloting to win the post in January.
While there is bipartisan support for Israel in the House, America’s savagely polarised politics threaten to hamper the reaction to another horrific assault on a vulnerable democracy — Ukraine — in a way that might significantly weaken Washington’s global leadership.
Supporters of Trump on the right are echoing Bush’s stance against sending further weapons and supplies to Ukraine. Any future Republican speaker will likely need Democratic votes to pass aid packages, just as McCarthy did when he tried to prevent a damaging government shutdown (even though the stopgap funding bill did not include Ukraine aid as the White House wanted), meaning that there is still a majority in favour of such measures in the House and the Senate.
There is already widespread fear in Kyiv that the country cannot sustain its war against Russia in its current shape without the more than $20 billion in help requested by the Biden administration.
The prospect of a populist, nationalist wing of the Republican Party under Trump abandoning a democracy under attack from Russia and rewarding the aggression of an autocrat who formed his worldview as a member of the KGB threatens not only to shatter the logic of decades of US foreign policy but also to radically alter the role of the US in the world and the values on which its allies have relied.
Israel and Ukraine are hardly alone in the politicisation of international issues. The unexpected surge of Republican anger against Biden over a Chinese spy balloon that floated over US soil this year threatened to tie the president’s hands when managing the crucial issue of US relations with the Pacific powerhouse.
It is possible that America’s strength will be severely weakened as a result of a rising belief abroad that the country’s political difficulties are limiting its ability to lead worldwide. Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran are all rivals of the United States that, according to US intelligence, have tried to meddle in US elections and have enormous geopolitical incentives in seeing American democracy fail.
Big trouble for Biden
Tragedies like the remarkable and abrupt Hamas attack on Israel, which has been compared to the September 11 strikes in the United States but was considerably bloodier per capita, have the potential to alter the course of history.
The early Israeli retaliatory attacks on Hamas infrastructure have killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, and the onslaught will have far-reaching strategic ramifications that will be felt in the United States.
Evidence of Iranian involvement in the attack’s planning with Hamas would put intense pressure on Israel to retaliate by confronting the Islamic Republic, even at the risk of setting off a wider regional conflict that may pull in the United States.
The bombings and their aftermath will almost certainly derail a United States-led initiative to improve ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. Iran may have had a vested interest in carrying out the Hamas attack because such an accord would drastically alter the area and further isolate it. The United States is still seeking to determine Iran’s role, if any.
The horror in Israel adds to the turmoil in Ukraine and the developing confrontation with China as frightening foreign policy crises that Biden must consider as he mulls a reelection candidature.
It comes as the government is under political pressure to justify its decision to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian cash as part of a deal to free American prisoners held in Iran. Humanitarian and medical goods are the sole permitted uses of the monies by the Iranian government. The transaction occurred too recently for the funds to have funded this attack. But in an election year, nuance doesn’t matter much, and some Republican presidential hopefuls have charged the administration with aiding Iranian terrorism.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken attempted to mitigate the accord’s political fallout. 0% of the funds in that account have been used. And, again, the account is highly supervised by the US Treasury Department, so it can only be used for items like food, medicine, and medical equipment,” he insisted on “State of the Union.”
To be effective politically, however, the Republicans’ claims need only be accepted by a majority of the voting public.
Nikki Haley, a GOP candidate and former US ambassador to the UN, suggested as much on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, suggesting that money Iran no longer has to spend on medicine as a result of the hostage agreement may instead be used to support terrorism.
The fact that Iran’s clerical regime has rarely seemed to prioritise the humanitarian needs of its people while building a huge state military complex undermines Haley’s argument that “Secretary Blinken is just wrong to imply that this money is not being moved around as we speak,” she said.
Republican South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, also running for president in 2024, went even further, calling Biden “complicit” in the attacks. Scott is one of the most outspoken advocates of Israel in Washington.
