Biden Has to Reject the “Mission Accomplished” Delusion

It’s notable that Saudi Arabia, in its capacity as member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), supports the South African case, currently being reviewed by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The OIC is based in Saudi Arabia. Saudi diplomats have insisted that they are unwilling to sideline the Palestinian cause.

Further evidence that the fallout of the Gaza war is isolating the United States from the Arab world can be seen in the paltry alliance that Biden has built up behind the recent attacks on the Houthis: The United States is joined by the United Kingdom (the only other country making a substantial contribution of troops and matériel), with largely symbolic support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and South Korea. This is an even more motley collection of junior partners than the ragtag “coalition of the willing” George W. Bush assembled in 2003 for his Middle Eastern crusade. Major European states—notably France, Italy, and Spain —have rebuffed calls to join Biden’s retinue even as symbolic partners. Notably, Biden was only able to coerce one Arab country, the tiny dependency of Bahrain, into this fool’s errand.

A further reason not to revive the Abraham Accords is that they commit the United States to permanent repression of Arab democracy. This is built into the very logic of the Abraham Accords. Israel is intensely unpopular with the Arab masses, although often admired by Arab political elites who have little regard for democracy or liberalism. This unpopularity will remain so long as the dispossession of the Palestinians remains a reality. The only way an alliance system like the Abraham Accords can function is if the Arab member states remain autocratic.

The pillars of American power in the region rest on allies that are all antidemocratic in various ways: the religious theocracy of Saudi Arabia, the military autocracy of Egypt, and the herrenvolk democracy of Israel. The Abraham Accords would lock the United States into maintaining this dismal status quo far into the future. Given the instability of such regimes—brittle because they ultimately rest on force rather than consent—this means the United States will continue to be complicit in violent repression. The Abraham accords promise that the counterrevolutionary violence that accompanied the backlash to the Arab Spring will be replicated time and again, as will the mass slaughter we’re seeing in the killing fields of Gaza.

According to Akbar Shahid Ahmed’s reporting, the McGurk plan is controversial and receiving pushback from the foreign policy elite. But the White House’s response to Ahmed’s article was disheartening and disturbing. As Ahmed posted in Twitter, spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said, “This story is not true. Quotes attributed to US officials are made up.” Ahmed rightly compares this response to Trump’s habitual claim of “fake news” used against any critical or damaging reporting. MSNBC host Chris Hayes accurately described Watson’s response as “utterly embarrassing, gross and unprofessional.” Dylan Williams, vice president of government policy at the Center for International Policy, made a similar observation:

Disputing press reports is part of the job, but claiming a reputable journalist made up quotes is a serious charge. Defaming reporters would be unbecoming of Biden’s White House, to put it mildly, and reminiscent of its predecessor. It should substantiate its claim or retract it.

Responding to a query from the news site Semafor, a NSC spokesperson simultaneously claimed to stand by Watson’s criticism while narrowing it down to a complaint about a single document and one quote in an extensive article. HuffPost executive editor Whitney Snyder responded by noting that the NSC clarification was a “marked departure from yesterday’s comment, which was a broad rejection of HuffPost’s entire story and an allegation that Akbar fabricated multiple quotes from multiple officials…. It is deeply disappointing to see you stand by such a damaging statement. HuffPost stands by this story.”

This churlish response to a critical article is symptomatic of a much larger disorder.

Joe Biden’s foreign policy is careening out of control. Privately, the president is reportedly fulminating about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bellicose behavior. Speaking with Axios, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen summed up the situation by noting, “At every juncture, Netanyahu has given Biden the finger.”

But Biden shows no public willingness to put a stop to the pummeling of Gaza despite all the dangers it brings to the region, to the United States, and to the world. And America’s escalations against the Houthis give the lie to Biden’s claim that he’s dampening down on a larger war.

Like the president, Biden’s top advisers seem caught in nostalgic delusion. They can’t acknowledge the costs of alienating Arab public opinion, the damage to America’s reputation in the Global South, and the simple fact that American hegemony in the region is losing whatever level of popular consent it had. Nor do they accept the fact that America’s failures to permanently subdue either Iraq or Afghanistan exposed the futility of a foreign policy of military dominance.

Not being able to accept the realities of the Middle East, Biden and advisers prefer to wallow in fantasies of an earlier era when hegemony—or at least the appearance of hegemony—seemed within reach. This is why they are now pondering the crackpot proposal of an Abraham Accords 2.0. But history has already shown that simply reciting “Mission Accomplished” doesn’t make you a winner; it makes you a laughingstock.