The Bankruptcy of the 'No Daylight' Approach

If the administration won’t draw a line at the deliberate starvation of innocent people, there is practically nothing that it won’t permit.

Ed Luce writes that Biden is missing in action:

This is no time to skirt tough decisions. Yet that is precisely what Biden is doing. Of these, the most urgent is the rising spectre of a full-blown war between Israel and Hizbollah. Biden’s response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s self-declared pre-emptive strikes on Hizbollah has so far followed the same course as on Gaza. Biden believes that the closer he is to Israel, the more leverage he has over what it does. There is no evidence that this works with Netanyahu. 

The “no daylight” approach to dealing with clients cannot succeed in pressuring the client, because the patron refuses to use its clout and the client understands that there is nothing it can do that will jeopardize the support it receives. The U.S. gives its clients every incentive to ignore its advice and requests by making it clear in advance that there is no cost to ignoring or defying Washington’s preferences. When a client has no fear of losing support, it sees no need to change course.

It is impossible for a client to fear losing support when the patron goes out of its way to lie and cover for their outrageous and criminal behavior.