Biden administration privately warned by American diplomats of growing fury against US in Arab world

[TheProle]

The Biden administration has received stark warnings from American diplomats in the Arab world that its strong support for Israel’s destructive and deadly military campaign in Gaza “is losing us Arab publics for a generation,” according to a diplomatic cable obtained by CNN.

The cable underscores profound concern among American officials about the growing anger against the United States that erupted soon after Israel launched its operations against Hamas, following the militant group’s attacks in Israel on October 7 that left over 1,400 Israelis dead.

“We are losing badly on the messaging battlespace,” reads a Wednesday cable from the US Embassy in Oman, citing conversations with “a wide range of trusted and sober-minded contacts.”

The robust US support for Israel’s actions is being seen, the cable warns, “as material and moral culpability in what they consider to be possible war crimes.”

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/09/politics/biden-diplomats-warn-middle-east-fury

[Wounded Bear]

1. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get off the oil standard...

and stop buying from them?

[Irish_Dem]

2. This is part of the reason for the attack on Israel.

To stir up hatred and animosity toward the US internationally.
And to divide the US internally.
Make it harder for Ukraine to get funds.

Also, when Putin faces war crimes accusations he can also point to the US and Israel now.

I have to give the devil his due. Putin engineered all of this to perfection.

[ananda]

6. This is also a part of the Catch-22 for us.

It's a no-win situation no matter the outcome.

[Irish_Dem]

7. Yes that was the brilliant part of Putin's plan.

He set it up so the US could not win.
No matter what the US did or didn't do.

[ananda]

13. Nor Israel.

The whole thing is just a mess!

[Irish_Dem]

14. Exactly, Israel was brutally attacked but amazingly every one hates them.

Last edited Sat Nov 11, 2023, 02:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Really Putin is a true evil genius.

[ananda]

15. I like the way you think. It really couldn't be going any better for Putin.

I hate this whole scenario with a passion!

[Irish_Dem]

16. Yes his goal of gaining control over the US is going quite well. :(

[yardwork]

8. So true.

[AntiFascist]

21. Wannabe autocrat Netanyahu is playing his role as well...

by calling for indefinite occupation of Gaza, ongoing war and conflict may ensure that he stays in power, eroding democracy further.

[Irish_Dem]

24. Yes anther western democracy leader who doesn't like democracy.

The the US GOP.

[Chainfire]

3. Is that supposed to be a surprise?

Biden also needs to be aware that there are a large number of American's that do not approve of the way this war has been executed and I wonder if that is a surprise?

[BannonsLiver]

17. You planning on voting for Biden next fall?

[Chainfire]

20. How is that relevant to the post you are replying to?

[BannonsLiver]

25. Oh it's plenty relevant

There is an election next fall and you wrote “American's that do not approve of the way this war has been executed”.

I take it you don’t approve of his Israel-Gaza policies. Does that mean you won’t be voting for him next fall?

[Chainfire]

27. I am sorry but your assumptions are wrong, insulting, but wrong.

[maxsolomon]

4. Which Arab generations hadn't we already lost?

The '08 Obama-inspired Arab Spring that turned into a disaster nearly everywhere (Syria, Egypt, Libya) probably lost a generation.

Iraq War 2 lost a generation.

9/11 showed us we'd already lost a generation when there were celebrations in the Arab streets.

Unwavering support for Israel in '67 lost a generation.

Lots of generations lost.

[Igel]

9. It presupposes that they were "ours" to lose.

That's a nice assumption, if you can afford it; but it's only useful in the losing, and even then only to some.

[Happy Hoosier]

5. Yes, Hamas should be permitted free reign...

Apparently.

[Igel]

10. Usually "rein."

Although in this case I'll consider it a pun.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/usage-free-rein-vs-free-reign

It's like "deep seeded" instead of "deep seated".

Or what's become standard for those below a certain age, re-defining "stay the course." Sounds like it means "keep a fixed course" when "stay the course" is parallel to "stay the night." To "stay the night" means to be there for the entire night; to "stay the course" meant to be there for the duration of the course. Sounds like a naval term---it's a racetrack expression. If a horse stayed the course, it ran until it completed the course.

[dalton99a]

11. Yep. Better be careful or else they'll destroy the World Trade Center or something

AND raise oil prices

[Jedi Guy]

12. It's a truism of life that doing the right thing frequently incurs a cost, and sometimes a heavy one.

The US has never been popular in the Arab world for a number of reasons, and I won't say all of their dislike is unjustified. And yes, our support for Israel is one of the chief reasons, but if we abandon Israel now, we would at best win ourselves a gaggle of fair-weather friends at the cost of abandoning our only real ally in the region. Furthermore, that gaggle of fair-weather friends would turn on us the moment we did something else they didn't like.

The reality is that the so-called "Arab street" is not going to be kindly disposed towards the US no matter what we do. Winning their affections by abandoning Israel would be temporary at best and by no means worth the cost, in my opinion. You don't ditch your friend to go hang out with people who not-so-secretly hate you. Most of us learned that lesson in high school.

[ripcord]

18. My fury is growing with Arab nations

Their treatment of women and the LBGTQ is medieval and disgusting

[Hekate]

19. How about "the Arab world" stops supporting Hamas in the first place?

[Butterflylady]

22. My son told me once.....

We can't be the worlds policeman. We have enough problems in our own country. We have our own home grown terrorists and who knows what will happen after next year's presidential election.

Yes, we have to help our neighbors and our friends but not at expense of American citizens.

[LexVegas]

23. Fuck 'em. nt

[bucolic_frolic]

26. It's on CNN, it doesn't sound too private to me /nt

[gulliver]

28. We needed to stress the system

We've got evil moron (and visually unappealing rat face) Putin. We've got Evil Liberace running the Republicans. We've got the dumb version of Evil Liberace running Israel. We've got an organized society of Columbine shooters who think they're religious. And we've got a huge, huge number of people who have no idea what the movie's about but like the popcorn and the car crashes.

Quite the test.

Oh, and we've got Biden, and Zelensky and people like that. Hundreds and thousands of them.

[Eko]

29. I dont think this will affect us too much in terms of geopolitics.

A large part of the populace of Arab countries don't like us very much even prior to this. Our Arab allies generally run countries where the general opinion of the civilians doesn't keep them from taking our money and arms and letting us have bases there. Not saying I like it but that's my take.
Eko.