Offering Unconditional Support Is Always a Mistake

The conceit that the U.S. gets “pulled back” into pursuing bad policies in the Middle East is a popular one in Washington.

A new Financial Times report on Biden and the war in Gaza included an unintentionally revealing quote from a Democratic think tanker:

“This war is in a sense his Michael Corleone moment on the Middle East, every US president has one,” says Brian Katulis, senior fellow and vice-president of policy at the Middle East Institute, referencing the iconic scene in the Godfather III when the Mafia boss complains of getting pulled back in to a life of crime.

The conceit that the U.S. gets “pulled back” into pursuing bad policies in the Middle East is a popular one in Washington. It relieves policymakers of their responsibility for perpetuating those policies and makes it seem as if costly entanglements in the region are inevitable. It encourages an acceptance of the bankrupt status quo by making it seem as if there is no way to get out of it or to change it. According to this view, Biden didn’t leap headfirst into supporting Israel’s war out of excessive attachment, but was pulled in by ineluctable forces. This is a way of giving Biden a pass for making a profound error in judgment when he decided to offer unconditional support, and he shouldn’t get a pass.