Joe Biden is not up for the Israel-Hamas war challenge — but at least he’s awake for it

Desperate for good news in a world ready to explode, I found a report about growing concern among White House officials to be oddly uplifting.

Beyond the fact that misery loves company, the report temporarily eased my worries that the entire Biden administration is asleep at the switch as the world burns. 

Axios writers Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen find that U.S.S officials believe “this confluence of crises poses epic concern and historic danger.” 

They add, “Officials tell us that inside the White House, this was the heaviest, most chilling week since President Biden took office just over 1,000 days ago.” 

The authors also write that former Defense Secretary Robert Gates told them “America is facing the most crises since World War II ended 78 years ago.” 

It is a measure of how grim things are — and my low expectations of Biden — that the fact his team is alarmed passes for relatively good news.

At least they’re not oblivious. 

Clueless 

Then again, I don’t believe they and their boss are up to the enormous challenges America faces.

They still refuse to see the destructive role their policies played, especially toward Iran, and act as if it’s just a coincidence the confluence of crises is happening on Biden’s watch. 

Even in his prime-time address last Thursday, where he sought to link the war in Ukraine with the terrorist slaughter in Israel, the president the president mangled some of his message.

His war-time visit to support Israel did not sit well with many of his party’s far-left flank, so he tried to make a false equivalency between the extent of Islamophobia and antisemitism in the US. 

Is he even aware of the shocking explosion of Jew hatred on campuses and in cities across the country?

Not to mention some congressional members of his party. 

He also repeated the slanderous disinformation that there was rampant hatred of Muslims by Americans after 9/11. 

Those passages, along with his later statement that he went to Israel primarily to force it to allow humanitarian aide into Gaza, remind that Bob Gates once said Biden “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” 

Gates said that in 2014, and later cited the chaotic withdrawal of Afghanistan in 2021 as further proof.

So now it’s five decades. 

Nothing Biden is doing suggests he’s changed his stripes.

He keeps repeating the fundamental mistake of ignoring the ancient Roman adage, “If you want peace, prepare for war.” 

Quitting Afghanistan in such a sloppy, deadly hurry signaled a weakness that our adversaries took as an invitation to test him.

Their aggressions show they don’t believe he’s learned his lesson. 

The Hamas slaughter in Israel, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, shows an unrestrained Iran.

By unleashing its psychopathic proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran is acting as if it is not afraid of the Little Satan or the Great Satan, as it calls Israel and the United States. 

Although Biden dispatched a naval carrier strike group to the Eastern Mediterranean and another is on the way, it is not certain Iran regards them as the deterrence Biden envisions.

They may wonder if the president would actually use them. 

Consider, too, that the 15 drones and four cruise missiles the USS Carney shot down Thursday in the Red Sea were aimed at Israel, and were likely fired by the Houthis, another Iranian terror group. 

Also, American military bases in Iraq were targeted four separate times by drones and missiles late last week, as was a base in Syria.

In each case, Iranian proxies are suspected. 

Worse, Iran is not the only dangerous nation on the march. 

Russia’s war in Ukraine grinds on and shows no signs of ending.

China’s Xi Jinping, joined by Vladimir Putin last week, put his cards on the table by saying he envisioned a new world order — one dominated by China. 

In a Beijing conference, Xi cast his country as an alternative to the leadership of the United States, saying, “When China does well, the world will do even better.” 

Hong Kong begs to disagree, as does Taiwan, knowing it’s in Xi’s crosshairs. 

Appeasement failed 

Throw in North Korea, which is sending arms for Putin’s use in Ukraine, and the new axis of evil is making moves around the world. 

Appeasement won’t stop them, as the failure of the Iran policy demonstrates.

Biden is repeating the Obama-Biden approach, which believed Iran could be bribed and sweet-talked into becoming a peaceful economic power. 

Instead, it has used every concession and freed-up dollar to aggressively spread its poisonous terror — all while moving its nuclear program forward.

Even much of Iraq, where America spent so much blood and treasure, is now Iranian-controlled territory. 

Although the president has been praised for the significance of his trip to Israel and pledge of assistance, the cost to Israel is now coming into view. 

Reports that Biden, who participated in a war council meeting, demands Israel hold off indefinitely on its ground invasion of Gaza confirm concerns among Israelis that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacrificed the Jewish’s state’s autonomy in exchange for Biden’s visit. 

The Friday release of two American hostages on “humanitarian grounds” similarly evoked mixed emotions. 

Hamas killed more than 1,400 Israelis, most of them civilians and many of whom were tortured and burned alive. It kidnapped and raped women and stole 20 or more children, including toddlers. 

Also among the approximately 250 people taken back to Gaza were scores of adults over 60 who suffer from various health issues and an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor. 

Some of the hostages reportedly suffered gunshot or shrapnel wounds. 

If they are all alive, they are probably being held at gunpoint in harsh conditions in tunnels.

Reuters says dozens of the hostages are from other countries, including about 10 from the United States. 

‘Don’t fall for it’ 

Thus, the decision to release just two last Friday is rightly seen as a ploy for Hamas and Iran to buy time.

The fact that they were Americans shows the terrorists are playing to Biden and Americans, not Netanyahu and Israelis. 

The release became a public relations bonanza for the terrorists when photos showed the former captives, a mother and daughter from Chicago, talking on the phone with Biden. 

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley immediately smelled a rat, telling Fox News that Hamas is “going to throw two hostages out there to see if they can weaken us to keep Israel from going into Gaza.” 

She also gave Biden good advice, saying, “Don’t fall for it. We’ve got 200 more hostages in there. And don’t forget what happened on Oct. 7. They want everybody to forget. We can never forget.” 

The concern is not that Biden will forget how to deal with terrorists.

It is that he never knew and refuses to learn.