Mixed Messages

The Biden White House continues to send mixed messages about its support for our ally Israel as it fights the Islamic supremacists of Hamas. Joe Biden has made it clear that he does not want Israel to crush the last Hamas stronghold in Rafah. He is even blocking weapons shipments to Israel as it moves to finish the job.

National Security spokesman John Kirby was asked whether the Biden administration supported Israel’s efforts to destroy Hamas. In one breath, Kirby affirmed Israel’s right to defend itself, but then added, “I’ve said many times here, you’re not going to eliminate an ideology through military operations.”

That’s an odd statement from a retired admiral. More importantly, it completely misses the point.

When we sent three million men to Europe to fight Nazi Germany, we didn’t succeed in wiping out Nazism. There are still Nazis today. Sadly, many of Hitler’s ideological heirs are in Hamas and on our college campuses.

But we did crush Nazism’s ability to wage war. We denied Nazism territory from which it could threaten other nations.

When we engaged ISIS in Iraq and Syria, we didn’t end radical Islam. But we did deny them a “caliphate” from which they could expand and threaten more lives in the Middle East.

By wiping out Hamas, Israel is not trying to end the ideology of radical Islam. It is trying to deny the terrorists of Hamas the ability to use Gaza as a launching pad for more attacks against innocent Israelis. Israel has the right and the responsibility to do just that.