During his first public statement addressing the horrific terror strike by Hamas against innocent Israeli citizens, President Biden assured the nation, Israel, and the rest of the world, “We will stand with Israel”—which, depending on one’s point of view, could mean just about anything or absolutely nothing. The ambiguity of his language demonstrates timidity, vagueness, and uncertainty, hallmarks of a listless foreign policy and an administration unable to identify the nation’s true enemies and existential threats.
The president’s meaningless reassurance was, as most of his other remarks, predictable and completely forgettable. Yet, in a perverse way, they were quite revealing for anyone who listened carefully for what the president did not say and did not acknowledge. I heard a president who had no intention (or leadership capacity) to change course and move beyond policies of appeasement.
