President Biden promised he wouldn’t start any new wars. He’s completely gone back on that promise.
Because this new Biden admin war announcement will leave you utterly furious and astonished.
In July of 2019, Joe Biden had just announced his campaign to run for president in the 2020 election cycle and went off to the races making promises that he likely never had any intention to keep. Probably the biggest one he made was that he would be an anti-war president who wouldn’t get the U.S. involved in any new wars.
During campaign stops all over the nation, Joe Biden said he would do everything to stop the “endless wars” that the U.S. had been involved in, like in Afghanistan. Interestingly, he criticized Donald Trump for supposedly “appeasing” and “embracing” dictators around the world, even though Trump actually kept his promise of preventing the U.S. from getting involved in any new wars.
The Biden administration, however, is finding it extremely hard to keep that promise. In fact, they’ve already gone back on it entirely. There’s almost no argument left that he hasn’t plunged the U.S. into new un-winnable wars that could last for years and potentially decades. Especially after the latest news coming from the Pentagon on Gaza.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin made it clear on Tuesday that positioning troops at a humanitarian pier near Gaza doesn’t equate to having boots on the ground, but he didn’t rule out the possibility of engaging in combat with attackers. This statement seems to contradict the Biden administration’s efforts to reassure the safety of the 1,000 U.S. troops constructing the artificial port.
When asked if the troops in the region effectively means that there are U.S. troops getting involved by having “boots on ground” in the war, Lloyd Austin said “it does not.”
Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz criticized the administration’s stance during a House Armed Services Committee hearing, suggesting that having troops stationed at a pier connected to the ground and involved in firing into Gaza should count as boots on the ground.
The Department of Defense (DOD) revealed that over a thousand U.S. service members are engaged in constructing the floating port, pier, and causeway system to facilitate humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza. The Pentagon asserts it’s coordinating with Israel to safeguard U.S. troops and ensure the pier’s connection to shore, while adhering to Biden’s pledge of no American boots on the ground in Gaza.
“But importantly, we reassess security every single day. And as he would do in any mission, the commander of U.S. Central Command will make a final determination on moving forward with JLOTS placement based on the security situation at the time,” a Biden administration defense official shared in a statement.
Despite concerns, a senior defense official emphasized the daily security reassessment and the final decision by the commander of U.S. Central Command on continuing the pier project based on the security situation.
Pier-building begins
Construction of the floating JLOTS pier in the Mediterranean is underway.
The pier will support @USAID and humanitarian partners to receive and deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. @USTRANSCOM and @USEUCOM support the movement of… pic.twitter.com/tC9J12wz4Z
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 29, 2024
Incidents have already occurred, endangering lives. Terrorist groups launched mortar rounds while U.N. officials were inspecting the area, prompting their retreat to safety.
During the hearing, Gaetz pressed Austin on whether armed U.S. troops would respond to fire from attackers on shore. Austin acknowledged this possibility, leading to a debate on whether such actions constitute boots on the ground.
“That could happen right? Shots from Gaza on our service members and then in response our armed service members shooting live fire into Gaza. That is a possible outcome here, so that we can become the port authority and run this pier, right?” Mr. Gaetz asked of Austin at the Congressional hearing.
“That’s correct, and I expect that we will always,” Austin responded before being cut off by Gaetz.
Gaetz accused the administration of misleading the public, arguing that there’s no real distinction between placing troops on Gazan soil and exposing them to danger or potential conflict due to the administration’s Gaza policy. He suggested the American people might see it differently.
Austin tried to argue that it doesn’t meet their criteria for their definition of “boots on the ground,” which has just started a debate about what it actually means to have “boots on ground” if having soldiers literally on the ground in a region who could be at risk of engaging in warfare doesn’t count.
How long can the Biden administration keep up this facade that he is an anti-war president when he continues to inch the U.S. to being directly involved in wars like in Ukraine and now in Gaza?
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
