Noah Rothman: Joe Biden Just Made America and the World Much Less Secure
Eighty years ago, the West’s appeasers howled in unison “Why Die for Danzig?” Why wouldn’t today’s “peacemakers” be just as inclined to question the value of a global war against Russia over Tallinn? At least, that’s what the Kremlin’s hungriest revanchists must be asking themselves.Melanie Phillips: The rout of America
It’s a perfectly rational question. After all, even America’s allies were shocked to watch the United States so callously sacrifice an ally for no discernible strategic purpose and under no perceptible pressure from the voting public. Our caprice has shaken the faith that we will defend our partners’ interests around the world if we’re unwilling to bear the modest burdens associated with preserving our own.
As the Washington Post’s Liz Sly reported over the weekend, U.S. allies are fit to be tied over the shambolic handling of Afghanistan. “U.S. allies complain that they were not fully consulted on a policy decision that potentially puts their own national security interests at risk,” Sly reported. One German official raged over the Biden administration’s haughty disregard for European security. “We’re back to the transatlantic relationship of old, where the Americans dictate everything,” she snarled. Another British parliamentarian wondered aloud about whether America under Joe Biden would or even could stand up to its peer competitors if it is “being defeated by an insurgency armed with no more than [rocket-propelled grenades], land mines, and AK-47s?” And in the Middle East, which continues to be menaced by an increasingly extroverted Iran, some are now conceding that American involvement in the region ends up ultimately being more trouble than it’s worth.
Advocates for American retrenchment abroad fancy themselves a serious sort. They don’t think America should commit its resources to the defense of interests on purely moral grounds. So, if they are not moved by the sight of Afghans we abandoned to the Taliban clinging to U.S. transport planes, tumbling to their deaths from hundreds of feet up, perhaps they will be moved by they will be moved by the grave implications to U.S. interests and global security. If not, we can safely assume that their interests are not as benign as they insist. Perhaps pursuing what’s best for America at home and abroad isn’t their only or even foremost motive.
In the unholy armoury of the enemies of the west, their single most important weapon is their understanding that the west is no longer willing to do what it needs to do to defend itself. It is no longer willing to be in it for the long haul. It no longer has the stomach for a fight.David Singer: Israel boosts Biden image while blunting UN and EU Jew-bashing
In baleful contrast, jihadis take the longest possible view. They have been waging holy war against the enemies of Islam — as they view them — since the seventh century; and for them this holy war won't end until the whole world is under Islamic rule or the world itself ends, whichever comes first.
The west just doesn’t understand that mindset. It doesn’t understand cultures so very different from itself, and tries fatuously to fit them into a western template. It doesn’t understand that in Islamic societies negotiation is regarded as a sign of incipient surrender and therefore incites further aggression to achieve final victory. It doesn’t understand that Islamic religious fanaticism is fuelled not by helplessness or despair but by exultation.
When in the 1980s America and Britain rejoiced in the defeat of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan in the war fronted by the Afghan mujahideen, they ignored the warnings from a prescient few that the people who had been energised and incentivised were Islamists who viewed their victory over the Soviet empire as a precursor to and augury of their forthcoming victory over the American empire.
Those warnings were borne out. Afghanistan became the crucible of al Qaeda, providing a base for Osama bin Laden and resulting in the 9/11 attacks. Now Afghanistan is poised to become jihad-central with rocket-boosters. The Taliban have already released thousands of terrorists from Afghan prisons. Afghanistan will become a magnet and an inspiration for jihadis from all over the world.
For the abandoned Afghan people, the consequences are likely to be hideous. But the malignant effects of this disaster are already rippling way beyond this epicentre of terror.
America’s allies can now see that the US is a faithless friend, the weak link in the chain of western defences and with untold consequences for their own security.
With America on its knees, other enemies of the west — Iran, China Russia — must be rubbing their hands in glee over the opportunities for evil now opening up for them as a result.
The decision will give President Biden’s image a much-needed boost in the international arena as his administration battles with the results of his disastrous decision to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan.
This breakthrough represents an affirmative response to the following emotive-packed question posed by UN-Habitat:
“What do you do if you are told you need a permit in order to build a home that would not be demolished, but it is all but impossible to acquire such a permit? This is the situation facing many Palestinians living in Area C in the West Bank.”
UN-Habitat’s own in-depth response is revealing:
“The vast majority of Palestinian applications for Israeli building permits in Area C are rejected by the Israeli authorities on the grounds that the relevant area has not been zoned for construction. This is the case even when the land for which the permit is requested is undisputedly owned by the Palestinian applicant. Consequently, it is virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits: according to data obtained by the Israeli organization Peace Now from the ICA, between 2009 and 2018 only two per cent of all requests submitted by Palestinians for building permits in Area C were granted (98 out of 4,422).”
Jewish Israelis fare no better.
Both the UN and EU have condemned demolitions of illegally built Arab residences in Area C.
The EU has also become increasingly embroiled in planning and financing unauthorized structures in Area C – which UN-Habitat has confirmed:
“Based on certain criteria, the European Union (EU) collectively, as well as certain individual EU members states, sometimes support the construction of essential infrastructure projects in areas covered by pending local outline plans, despite the risk of demolition and confiscation.”
An EU Report covering 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 openly admits:
“According to UN OCHA [UN office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs – ed] 318 Palestinian owned structures were demolished or seized… 38 structures were funded by the EU or EU Member States. 50% of the targeted structures were residential in nature. 30% were agricultural and livelihood related. The total losses were estimated at EUR 124,725, which represents a nearly 40 % increase in financial injury compared to the 36 EU-funded structures demolished during the equivalent period in 2019 that were valued at EUR 89,219”
The EU’s blatant intervention in Area C – and the resulting tensions caused between Israel and the EU - will hopefully be diminished in the future following Israel’s latest decision.
Prime Minister Bennett has vowed to extend Israeli sovereignty to Area C – offering Israeli citizenship to its Arab residents. Treating Jewish and Arab building applications in Area C on an equal footing will blunt UN and EU criticism of Jews being granted permission to build there.
Decisions taken by Bennett’s coalition Government continue to surprise and impress.