NewsNation’s Chief Washington Anchor Leland Vittert was a foreign correspondent for four years in Jerusalem. He provides expert analysis and insight into the Israel-Hamas war in the Nov. 14 edition of War Notes.
(NewsNation) — Why should China be scared of us if Biden won’t even stand up to Iran?
President Joe Biden meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow. The White House would like you to believe Biden is coming from a position of strength. He is not.
- Iranian militia attacks on American troops in the Middle East now number above 50. Clearly, “deterrence” isn’t working when the thing Biden is trying to deter keeps happening.
The White House all but confirms the New York Times reporting that Biden personally vetoed the Pentagon’s bombing plans on Iranian militias.
- U.S. Central Command tweets this.
- Thought bubble : The ability to “rapidly project combat power” is useless without a commander in chief willing to use it.
Without deterrence, the U.S. bases and dozens of Navy ships become good target practice for Iran.
Xi will exploit that.
Remember many of the drones used by Hamas come from China. The China-Iran relationship continues to grow, and Xi loves nothing more than helping Iran undermine American interests in the Middle East.
As Biden left for San Francisco, he said his goal of the summit with Xi was something along the lines of getting “back on a normal course of corresponding.”
- Ground truth: The White House believes talking proves the success of its policy goals, rather than seeing meaningful actions from the Chinese.
Biden also had a message for the families of American hostages in Gaza: “Hang in there. We’re coming.”
- Given he has tied the hands of American soldiers in responding to direct fire from Iranian militias, does anyone believe we will exert enough pressure on Iran to get our hostages back?
We predict 💭: There will be a growing divide between the United States and Israel over the hostages for a five-day pause offer from Hamas that Israel rejected. Five days of time for Hamas to rearm, move hostages and set new defensive lines is an eternity on the urban battlefield.
Media Coverage of Israel
What’s going on at the Al-Shifa hospital? Last night, all three major network newscasts led with “Israel sieging a hospital trying to care for babies,” but as soon as Israel showed what Hamas does in hospitals, the story went away.
But the Washington Post continues to take Hamas’s word for everything.
- “Israel alleges that Hamas uses hospitals — especially Shifa — to conceal their bases.”
- That’s despite the State Department verifying the claims and telling Hamas to vacate hospitals and stop using human shields.
The same is true with MSNBC. When Hamas claimed civilian deaths and hospitals running out of fuel, Andrea Mitchell was outraged.
- U.S. intelligence verified Israeli claims backed up by video, and MSNBC still says it hasn’t seen that intelligence.
Go further: If the State Department says it, why won’t the press secretary or the president? Perhaps they want one message to be for the international community and one for domestic political consumption.
- In addition to reporting Hamas propaganda as fact, the Washington Post neglects to point out that “fighters” never die in Gaza because Hamas fighters wear civilian clothes. Thus, they are counted among “civilian” casualties — never mind that wearing civilian clothing to hide and attack among the civilian population is a war crime.
But Hamas builds really amazing tunnels and pretty sophisticated rockets and bombs.
Is it really too much to think these “kids” leading pro-Hamas rallies would go back home and use their MIT education in aerospace and similar fields to help Hamas?
Today’s Pro-Israel March in D.C.
The Department of Homeland Security declared today’s pro-Israel march a “Level 1” security event akin to a Super Bowl. It called out the National Guard to protect tens of thousands of Jews who came to D.C.
So far:
- Nobody is wearing masks.
- There are no calls for genocide.
- No one broke into the White House.
If, as we were told, all the marches last weekend were just peaceful pro-Palestinians demanding a cease-fire, why would the Jews marching today need protection?
Speaking of last weekend’s march, it has been ten days since the angry mob tried to break into the White House, and there are still no arrests.
Tune into “On Balance with Leland Vittert” weeknights at 7/6C on NewsNation. Find your channel here.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of NewsNation.
