By Timothy D. Naegele[1]
What follows is an article that should be read by every American and citizen of the world. If that seems like hyberbole, it is not. The article discusses events that may lead us into World War III.
So, US President Joe Biden got off a big plane in Tel Aviv on Wednesday and embraced a war criminal whose war crime-addicted military had, only hours earlier, committed yet another war crime of such horrendous nature and scale that it is destined to reverberate in memory and history.
That will be the sick, defining image of Biden's presidency: a hug on an airport tarmac with an Israeli prime minister who has always revelled in killing Palestinians, even desperate children, women and men who thought they were beyond Benjamin Netanyahu's malevolent reach on the grounds of a hospital in besieged Gaza that, bit by bit, is being erased in blatant acts of genocide.
It is worth remembering amid all the touching scenes of fraternity that Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have spent much of the past three years distancing themselves – to put it charitably – from a politician whom a lot of Israelis believe is not only a career crook, but a rank authoritarian.
Rather than hold Netanyahu close to their loving bosoms like the suddenly smitten Biden, hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets, week after week, demanding his conviction and resignation using blunt, hard-to-miss language.
Not too long ago, Biden and Blinken were so eager not to be seen with the accused swindler turned Machiavellian despot that they have not invited Netanyahu to the White House, lest, I suppose, they were stained by the stench of his toxic presence and character.
But times and fickle attitudes have, of course, changed.
Biden hopped on Air Force 1 for a quick, presidential vote-eve date in Israel to tell his beau not to worry, all is forgiven, while shoring up his “tough guy” credentials and support with a powerful constituency that he needs to win re-election – the thousands of mutilated, maimed and dead Palestinians be damned.
True to indecent form, leave it to a tactless American president to invoke a grotesque sports analogy to try, predictably, to deflect fault for an atrocity that compounds all the lethal indignities, deprivations and wanton violence already visited upon an imprisoned people by their occupier – not for days, weeks, months or years, but decades.
The “other team”, Biden said, was to blame for the massacre of hundreds of defenceless Palestinians holed up at al-Ahli Arab Hospital on Tuesday.
Apparently, the forgetful octogenarian commander-in-chief requires reminding that his “team” has concocted exculpatory “evidence” and lied again and again – I know this must come as a shock to him – to cover up its complicity in the killing of countless Palestinians, including the murder in 2022 of 78-year-old Omar Abdulmajeed Asaad, whom he and his diplomatic sidekick, Blinken, could not have cared less about, despite the fact that the retired grocer carried a US passport.
I need to remind Biden and Blinken of these other flagrant facts:
His “team” is depriving millions of Palestinians in Gaza of the necessities of life – food, water, fuel and electricity.
His “team” is determined, in effect, to starve and dehydrate Palestinians in Gaza to death.
His “team” is carpet-bombing Palestinians in Gaza with US-supplied weapons to kill as many of them as possible, in the shortest time possible, in advance of a ground invasion that will, inevitably, result in more appalling massacres.
His “team” is attacking schools sheltering Palestinians with nowhere else to turn since escape is impossible.
His “team” has showered Gaza with white phosphorous meant to permanently disfigure and burn children, women and men to the bone.
His “team” may permit humanitarian assistance to reach Palestinians who, even if they receive that blockaded help someday, will likely be killed by his “team” anyway.
His “team” has held millions of Palestinians “hostage” in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem from Israel’s inception.
His “team” is shooting Palestinians on sight in the West Bank for daring to resist the occupation and decrying the murder of their brothers and sisters in Gaza who took refuge at a hospital.
His “team” has described Palestinians as “animals”, “savages” and “vermin” who need to be eradicated in order to strip them of their humanity, and justify its ethnic cleansing and plans to establish a fortified “buffer” between Gaza and Israel.
The result: His “team” – in a repeat of the ruinous Nakba in 1948 – is forcing millions of Palestinians to abandon the shattered remains of their homes and businesses with the barrel of a high-powered gun pressed against their hearts and heads.
Joe Biden owns all of this – every despicable aspect of the calamity unfolding in Gaza perpetrated by America’s ever-reliable and obedient proxy, Israel.
The cataclysm that the world is witnessing is the by-product of the, by now, familiar mantra at the core of every modern US president’s so-called Middle East “foreign policy”: Kill first, think later.
In the aftermath of Hamas’s ruthless assault, the urgent moment required a temperate mixture of outrage and calm. Instead, Biden opted, on cue, for bluster and self-aggrandising posturing.
Instead of understanding that the pursuit of blind vengeance and the use of incendiary rhetoric would not dampen the prevailing bloodlust, but only fuel the breathtaking loss and awful scenes of grief and despair, Biden chose hysteria over statesmanship.
Instead of taking care with his words and actions, Biden trafficked in hideous fabrications at hastily held news conferences that he subsequently had to “walk back”.
Still, the deep and sinister damage was done. Palestinians – every one of them – had been dehumanised once more to condone killing them indiscriminately and en masse.
As I said: Kill first, think later.
But that is the American way: in South East Asia, South and Central America, Africa, and Iraq and Afghanistan – graveyards all, brimming with the innocent victims of the arrogance and ignorance of a succession of cocky presidents who blundered their way into war without pausing to consider the disastrous and, ultimately, humiliating consequences.
Is it any wonder that Biden is being praised by the same unrepentant, evangelical keyboard cavalry who applauded the wholesale destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan yesterday, and are applauding the wholesale destruction of Gaza today?
They will never learn from the past because they are consumed by the moment.
It is too late to retreat from the abyss. Biden’s hubris, blindness and obstinacy will not permit it. The cruel course has been fixed. The cement is set. The horrors have just begun.
That will be Joe Biden’s shameful legacy.[2]
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© 2023, Timothy D. Naegele
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[1] Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass). See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6 and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/ He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University. He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at The Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams. He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com
[2] See https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/19/joe-biden-owns-this
I'd like to think the author is not has horrible as he sounds. Maybe he can clear most of this up by answering a simple question. Mr. Naegele:
Do you condemn the Hamas terorrist attack on October 7th, and agree that there can be no justification for the senseless slaughter and torture of innocents, including children?
I assume this is a pretty simply answer and if you were just unequivical about it, you would likely get most of these people off your back. You sound like you actually support Hamas and ISIS which I can't believe is actually the case. So please clarify for us.
It's very sad that the author harbors such horrible biases, and couldn't even bring himself to stand against something as universally condemned as the murder of innocent babies.
By far the majority of Americans support Israel in this war. Only people with a history of anti-semitic comments disagree and blame israel which is absurd. People that can't bring themselves to call out Hamas for their barbaric behavior are clearly biased and irrational.
I can not fathom why you are unable to condemn them and are incapable of offering any sympathy to Israel. Instead you call the victims Nazis. Is it any wonder people are calling you out? Why would any one want to be on team Hamas/Isis?
What do you expect. This is the same man who called our Vice President a whore and implyiedthe only way women can get to the top is by sleeping their way up. He's trapped in the 1950's.
If people are universally condeming your words, maybe you should take a deeper dive and examine why that might be. Perhaps your thought process on this matter is actually flawed.
Alexandra Gray's comments, and outright threats, have no place here. But the censors do nothing; and instead, they censor my comments and "mangle" them. Clearly, free speech is a victim here, but nothing is done about those who would threaten me and others. Shame.
I've been following this thread and see no evidence of "censorship." Why do you claim there is? Maybe you are just getting confused about what you've written and where. Like how you are confused which are the bad guys... the guys killing babies, or the babies being killed.
I read throuugh all the comments and don't see a single threat against you. The most people discussed is cancel culture, which is hardly a physical threat, but a natural reaction to comments they find offensive. And any decent human being would find your comments offensive. If people don't like a company's or person's views, they'll take their busines elsewhere. That's an American right.
I wish someone would censor your comments, but no one seems to be. I think you are showing early signs of dementia or Alzheimer's. And no one threatened you - stop being such a drama queen. If you don't like normal people finding your abhorrent comments so offensive, then maybe you shouldn't flaunt your bigotry and antisemitism for all to see.
The author should be so ashamed of himself. He can't even bring himself to condemn Hamas and their slaughter of innocent babies. I didn't think terrorist and Nazi sympasizers still existed but clearly they do.
I never supported cancel culture before but these kind of comments have no place in civilized society. I do hope he finds himself persona non grata wherever he goes.
It is tragic that rank censorship exists here, but it does. Whoever is censoring comments should be terminated forthwith. I have seen it before.
Clearly, the following statement by the Leftist J Street, condemning Israeli actions, will be censored or deleted by someone here.
In a statement issued today, the group noted:
"Over the past two weeks, J Street has been unequivocal in expressing our condemnation of the brutal and unprecedented terror attack by Hamas, and ongoing attacks by Hamas and other terror groups, against the state and people of Israel.
We have expressed our support for Israelis and applauded President Biden and his administration for standing staunchly behind the Israeli people at one of the most challenging times in the country’s history.
J Street also cannot be clearer in our denunciation of those Israelis who appear to be seizing this moment as an opportunity to pursue a campaign of lethal, violent retaliatory attacks against Palestinians and their communities in the occupied West Bank.
We are deeply alarmed by reports of Israeli security forces firing live ammunition into crowds of Palestinian protesters and violent gangs of settlers killing and terrorizing civilians, in some cases with the participation of Israeli soldiers
Extremist settlers have launched over 100 documented attacks on Palestinians in just the past two weeks, killing and injuring multiple civilians – including children – and vandalizing homes, cars and farmland.
In that time, the United Nations has documented at least 20 Palestinian children killed by Israeli security forces or extremist settlers on the West Bank. One Israeli soldier has also been killed by Palestinian attackers, according to Israeli media.
In one particularly disturbing report, Israeli soldiers and settlers allegedly stripped, bound, tortured, photographed and sexually assaulted a group of three Palestinian men. The IDF has appropriately removed the commanding officer from their post and is investigating.
Over 500 people in the West Bank from 13 different communities have been forced to flee their homes, including over 270 children. The World Health Organization has reported dozens of attacks on medical staff.
There can be no excuse for revenge attacks, indiscriminate violence or the targeting of innocent civilians. Israeli authorities must act to prevent and deter such violence and to hold perpetrators accountable. Political leaders must work to deter, rather than encourage, such attacks as both a moral and security priority.
It is a moral and legal imperative for Israel to protect the rights of all people living on land under its control. It is also in the clear security interests of Israelis, Palestinians and the United States to prevent the further escalation of violence in the West Bank. All efforts must be made to avoid what observers have warned could become a 'third front' for Israel on the West Bank.
We echo advice from security experts and Israeli peace advocates that this is the moment to halt all discriminatory demolitions and evictions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – this is not the moment to double down on these destructive policies. It is vital that Israeli forces abide by international law and use live ammunition only as a last resort and when strictly necessary to protect against an imminent threat to life or serious injury.
With President Biden set to ask Congress to approve an unprecedented new sum of security assistance, this is the moment for the United States to make clear that it expects Israel to intercede to prevent settler attacks against civilians, to ensure that live ammunition is not used against civilian protesters, and to ensure security forces do not participate in revenge attacks against civilians.
We call on the Biden administration, the Israeli government and Palestinian political leaders to act with urgency to stop the West Bank from spiraling further into conflict, which will only add to the devastating suffering that has resulted from Hamas’s horrific crimes against humanity two weeks ago."
Further evidence that you are losing it. No one is censoring anything. If they were, the hate-filled filth you call your articles would have been deleted. Please go back to your alt-right and neo-nazis forums where such beliefs are welcomed. It is not wanted here.
Jstreet condemned Hamas - something you seem incapable of doing. And of course anyone would be concerned about reports of Palestinians being killed by Israel, but luckily those all turned out to be lies spread by Hamasm as usual (e.g. the Hospital, or the supposed Jenin massacre from year ago - if you haven't figured it out, Hamas LIES and controls all the Palestinian organizations operating in Gaza).
And while it's sad that some Gazans had to temporarily relocate South, it was to spare their lives. They were given warning. The Israelis received none before they were massacred. Now hundreds of thousands of Israelis are displaced as well, as the entire Southern and Northern parts of Israel have been evacuated as rockets continue to rain down on them.
You have exposed your antisemitism to all.
Why do you take the word of terorrists and baby murders who are constantly caught lying to the media (Google "Pallywood). There is no human catasrophe. israel warned people to move South to minimize collatoral damage. The South is untouched and markets are open as usual. There are videos of this.
Meanwhile Hamas claimed Israel attacked a hospital and killed over 500 people. Yet it turned out, they launched the attack themselves, it was the parking lot, not the hospital, and only 10 to 20 people died.
But I bet you will blame Israel despite every intelligence agency and media org in the world exonerating Israel. When will you admit you are guided by your hatred of Jews and Israel, and not by any "facts."
While everyone is very passionate about the issues discussed here, I do not appreciate the threats against me. We may disagree, respectfully — which is fine, and expected — but veiled or actual threats, or attempts to intimidate, are inappropriate as you know. expected ‐- but veiled or actual threats, or attempts to intimidate, are inappropriate as you know.
LOL, Can't stop laughing right now. I don't see any threats against you. But how many times have you called for Democrats to be assisinated or hoped that someone would take out Biden. You really are a hypocrite.
These comments have been censored, which happens too often here, and is despicable. The censors should be terminated forthwith.
This comment has been censored by someone here, which is depicable.
Mr. Naegele, I think you really need to watch this video and see what Palestinians think of this war. Don't just listen to Hamas propoganda, or left extremists. Go directly to the people:
What I think of this war - A Palestinian's point of view
Everyone - I think the author has to be joking. No one would really choose the side of baby killing terrorists over people just trying to protect their homes. Only someone truly evil would do that. The author must be being facetious, no?
I don't think the author is joking. I think he really does believe that murdering babies is a legitamate form of expression.
Naegele, who do you think is worse? Hamas, Isis or Bibi?
Cleary he thinks Bibi, which is downright comical since we've never seen Bibi rape or behead anyone. But as these crazies come out of the woodwork, they create their own realities. This dude is clearly off his rocker.
But to answer your question, I vote for Hamas. Their savagery even made ISIS blush. Netanyahu shouldn't even be on the list - he may be corrupt and an ass, but he never killed anyone that didn't deserve killing.
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