Some 5% of Gaza’s population has reportedly been killed, maimed, or is missing, according to recent numbers.
The United States has launched dozens of strikes in Iraq and Syria over the last week in an ostensible act of retaliation for the death of 3 US soldiers at a base near the Syria-Jordan border.
The deaths of the US troops were the first American casualties amid months of outrage over the country’s backing of Israel’s Gaza campaign. The United States, meanwhile, has killed some 40 people in their retaliatory attacks, with civilians reportedly represented among the casualties.
“There is a military objective, but it’s so broad,” said Beirut-based journalist Esteban Carrillo, responding to recent events Tuesday on Sputnik’s Fault Lines program.
“It’s so unachievable, honestly, because they say, ‘okay, we want the attacks to stop,’ you know, what is the way to get the attacks to stop? It’s to stop sending weapons to Israel,” said Carrillo. “It’s to get Israel to stop killing people in Gaza. It’s as clear as that.”
Carrillo criticized US arguments that the Iranian government is orchestrating strikes on American troops, arguing that militants in the region “are acting independently towards a common cause because the Palestinian issue is a common cause across the Arab world, including Iran.” The treatment of Palestinians was among the founding principles of Iran’s 1959 revolution that ushered in the country’s modern-day political system.
Iran has also taken a strongly anti-imperialist stance, frequently criticizing the role of the United States in the Middle East. Iran fell victim to a US-backed coup in 1953, among the first successful operations of the newly-created Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Carrillo argued that challenging Israel’s deadly Gaza incursion, which has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians, is the only way to achieve deterrence against attacks on US troops. “It seems like the people at the White House like to pretend like they don’t understand this, they like to pretend like all of these conflicts are unrelated,” said the analyst. “[Biden National Security Advisor] John Kirby last week went in front of reporters and said that he doesn’t believe what is happening in Yemen and what is happening in Iraq and Syria is related to what’s happening in Gaza.”
“He’s out of his mind,” responded host Jamarl Thomas as Carrillo agreed Kirby’s stance is “complete insanity.”
Meanwhile, groups supporting the Palestinian cause throughout the Middle East enjoy significant support for their resistance to US objectives in the region. “Hamas’ popularity is through the roof,” noted the journalist. “This is the same with Iran, it’s the same with Hezbollah, it’s the same with Yemenis – their popularity is rising. Why? Because they’re standing on the right side of history.”
Conversely, US President Joe Biden has faced significant opposition as he attempts to navigate tensions between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian constituencies in the United States.
“Joe Biden’s polling on Israel is less than 30%,” Carrillo noted. “Meaning, what does Joe Biden have to lose? Joe Biden should come out and be like in the same way he capitulated to Republicans [on immigration]… He should do the same thing on this, come out and say ‘You know what? I’m sick of the killing.’”
Some 5% of the population in Gaza has been killed, is missing, or is wounded, according to recent reports. Meanwhile Israel faces significant political opposition with a recent finding by the International Court of Justice determining that charges of Israeli genocide are plausible.
The United States has historically been a strong supporter of Israel. Former US President Harry Truman described his motivation for backing Israel in blunt terms to a White House advisor.
“I have to answer to hundreds of thousands who are anxious for the success of Zionism,” said the US President. “I do not have hundreds of thousands of Arabs among my constituents.”
