• OBJECTION!
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    7 months ago

    The MOU is non-binding. Even if it wasn’t, even formal treaties do not override domestic power structures. Biden even has the power to dispatch troops against Israel, if he wanted to.

    But ok, let’s suppose that the executive, the commander-in-chief, has absolutely zero authority over arms shipments to foreign powers, completely ignoring that it happened before and that the president’s power has expanded considerably since then. Has Biden recinded his threat against the ICC? Has he condemned what Israel is doing as a genocide? For the record, in his time, Reagan accused them of committing “a Holocaust.”

    Is there a single actual, material consequences that Biden has imposed on Israel for refusing to comply? Is there any reason whatsoever to believe that his mild criticisms are anything but keyfabe?

    • tsonfeir@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I’m not going to defend Biden’s choices, because I don’t agree with them. I also don’t agree with a lot of US foreign policy.

      Biden does not have the unilateral ability to dispatch troops against Israel. The President, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, can order military actions, but significant military engagements, especially those against allied nations, would require Congressional approval.

      Either way, Biden is not the reason the genocide started, and he’s not the reason it hasn’t stopped.

      The whole world is letting it happen. And why? My money is on anti-Islam.

      • OBJECTION!
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        7 months ago

        No, the president can unilaterally decide to deploy troops anywhere at any time, without congressional approval. The only limit is how long they can stay.

        Israel is highly dependent on the US for support, and Biden has plenty of ways that he could disrupt that support, both to whip them into line and to avoid giving weapons to people conducting a genocide. He does none of that, because Genocide Joe is fully on board with everything they’re doing, just as he has spent his entire career giving his full unwavering support to them.

        • tsonfeir@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I’m not sure if sending troops into Israel is really the best move politically, as Palestine is not an ally. Nor are they even a member of the UN (it’s a non-member observer state, as I’m sure you know, but others may not). Many of the surrounding countries could consider this a threat. And what do you propose the United States does? Actively attacking Israel would have dire consequences internationally.

          • OBJECTION!
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            7 months ago

            That’s why I never suggested that. Not sure where you got that idea.

            What I said is that he has the power to do it, if he wanted to. To dispel your silly notion that the president can’t even stop weapons shipments, that the most powerful man in the world is somehow just a smol bean who can’t do anything about anything.

            • tsonfeir@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I misinterpreted your comment. My apologies.

              I disagree that the US president is the most powerful person in the world. I don’t think he is a “smol bean” either. I do think Americans often feel they have more influence than they really do.

              • OBJECTION!
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                7 months ago

                Who do you think is more powerful than the commander-in-chief of a military with more funding than the next 9 combined?