Biden warns Israel against occupying Gaza as ground invasion appears near​

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN
3 minute read
Updated 11:56 PM EDT, Sun October 15, 2023

CNN —
President Joe Biden warned Israel against occupying Gaza in one of his most notable public calls for restraint as the Israelis respond to this month’s terror attacks by Hamas.

In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that aired Sunday, Biden said it would be a “big mistake” for Israel to occupy Gaza. Israel has been signaling it is preparing for a ground invasion of Gaza, even as a humanitarian crisis grows inside the coastal Palestinian enclave. Biden has called for the protection of civilians, and the United States has been working to alleviate shortages of food, water and gas.

“What happened in Gaza, in my view, is Hamas and the extreme elements of Hamas don’t represent all the Palestinian people,” Biden told interviewer Scott Pelley.

Biden said he believes Hamas should be eliminated entirely, “but there needs to be a Palestinian Authority. There needs to be a path to a Palestinian state.”

The comments amount to one of the few times the US president has called on Israel to use some sort of restraint in responding to the Hamas attacks that left 1,400 dead. In its response, Israel unleashed a massive bombing campaign against the northern Gaza Strip, from which Hamas launched its attack.



Michael Herzog, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that Israel does not intend to occupy Gaza after the conflict ends.

“We have no desire to occupy or reoccupy Gaza. We have no desire to rule over the lives of more than 2 million Palestinians,” Herzog said.

In the “60 Minutes” interview, Biden notably did not say it was time for a ceasefire.

“Look, there’s a fundamental difference. Israel is going after a group of people who have engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the Holocaust,” he said.

“So I think Israel has to respond. They have to go after Hamas. Hamas is a bunch of cowards. They’re hiding behind the civilians. … The Israelis are gonna do everything in their power to avoid the killing of innocent civilians.”

The situation in Gaza has quickly become a humanitarian disaster, and the Israelis told civilians living in the northern part of the area to evacuate to the south ahead of an anticipated invasion. However, many human rights organizations have called that impossible as Israeli strikes have damaged infrastructure and Palestinians face a lack of housing in one of the most densely populated places on Earth.


Israel and US discussing possible Biden visit after Netanyahu extends invitation

Biden told Pelley he believes that there needs to be a humanitarian corridor to help civilians trapped amid the fighting and that Israel will abide by the “rules of war.”

“I’m confident that Israel is going to act under the measure … the rules of war,” Biden said. “There’s standards that democratic institutions and countries go by. And so I’m confident that there’s gonna be an ability for the innocents in Gaza to be able to have access to medicine and food and water.”

The president said he does not anticipate American troops engaging in combat in the area as Israel readies its ground counterattack. The US will provide Israel “everything they need,” Biden said.

He added “there is no clear evidence” that Iran is behind the attacks on Israel.

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Should I note that they are not "our wars" -- despite all the efforts to make them our wars?

Democratic leaders spoke on the steps of the Capitol and dialed up their rhetoric against Republicans for nominating a conservative firebrand to be the next House speaker.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images file


Oct. 13, 2023, 8:12 PM CDT
By Sahil Kapur and Julia Jester

WASHINGTON — Democrats are standing firm in their refusal to bail out the House Republican majority as it struggles to elect a new speaker 10 days after booting Rep. Kevin McCarthy.

They're also dialing up the rhetoric against the GOP’s new nominee for speaker, prominent Donald Trump ally Jim Jordan of Ohio, blasting him as an insurrectionist, election denier and extremist.

“House Republicans have selected as their nominee to be the speaker of the people’s House the chairman of the chaos caucus, a defender in a dangerous way of dysfunction, and an extremist extraordinaire,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said Friday on the steps of the Capitol, flanked by dozen of Democratic lawmakers. “His focus has been on peddling lies and conspiracy theories and driving division amongst the American people.”



House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., labeled Jordan an “insurrectionist” and said he would be on a glide path to becoming speaker if not for the unified opposition of Democrats.

“He was directly involved in the right-wing coup that sought to overturn the 2020 election,” she said, referring to Jordan and the 147 congressional Republicans who objected to certifying presidential election results on Jan. 6, 2021.

"Every Republican who cast their vote for him is siding with an insurrectionist against our democracy,” Clark said.

The fiery comments represent an early marker from Democratic leaders about how they would seek to tie the GOP majority, particularly swing-district members they’re targeting in 2024, to Jordan’s brand if Republicans elect him speaker.

"I think moderate Republicans should be freaked out with Jim Jordan as speaker," said Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif., a member of Democratic leadership. He predicted that Jordan would "push for a national abortion ban" and for impeaching President Joe Biden.

Lieu also warned that if Jordan is speaker, he would fight to avoid certifying a potential Biden re-election victory in 2024: "Jim Jordan is one of the leaders of not respecting the will of American people in elections, and he will absolutely do everything he can to not certify a Biden victory. That's what he did before."

Republican allies of Jordan defended him Friday, with Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., saying “a bunch of us” will help him get the votes to become speaker.

Asked what Jordan can do to change minds, Armstrong said: “Talk to people, listen to people. He’s really good at it. Everybody sees the partisan brawler on TV because he’s on message, he’s an effective communicator, but he’s the only guy that has the credibility with our base to do what we need to do and not get beat up.”

Jeffries said Democrats want “a bipartisan path” to reopening the House but didn’t outline what that would look like. Democrats unanimously nominated Jeffries to be speaker, but there’s no chance of him winning when Republicans have a 221-212 majority. Still, Democrats say the onus is on the GOP to negotiate with them and make concessions if they want help electing a speaker.

There are no serious discussions taking place on a coalition speaker picked with bipartisan votes, according to senior lawmakers and aides in both parties.

“No Republican has come to leadership to have a serious conversation of substance,” said a senior Democratic aide. “This is on Republicans to come to the Democrats to try to find a compromise.”

A quartet of centrist Democrats — Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Susie Lee of Nevada, Ed Case of Hawaii, and Jared Golden of Maine — sent a letter to temporary speaker Patrick McHenry of North Carolina supporting an enhancement of his powers, in 15-day increments, so that the House can conduct business while it is without an elected speaker. But that letter is unlikely to have much of an impact as McHenry lacks the ability to enhance his own power without a majority of the House voting to give him that authority.

Many Republicans oppose that idea. They adjourned for the weekend after nominating Jordan in a 124-81 vote behind closed doors. On a second ballot, asking members if they could support Jordan on the House floor, he won 152 votes with 55 opposed. He’ll need 217 floor votes to win the job.

With no immediate path to achieving that, Republicans adjourned the House for the weekend.

Despite all the chaos in their ranks, conservative Republicans say they have no concern that some in their party may heed the calls by Democrats to join them and elect a bipartisan speaker.

“That’s the thing that gets you beat in a primary,” said Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla.

“You’d get your a-- beat,” said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, said those discussions have only happened outside the GOP conference, not among Republican lawmakers.

“People can talk a big game about that. I haven’t personally heard anybody talk about that; it’s only hearsay,” he said. “But I think that’s pretty nuclear. Let’s keep this conventional.”

Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., who chairs the Democrats’ campaign arm, rejected Republican claims that Democrats are at fault for the predicament due to their votes to remove McCarthy.

“It’s really appalling that they can’t even own their mess,” she said. “They’ve been unable to govern from the beginning of this Congress and unable to work with Democrats. All they seem focused on is fighting each other.”

“When I’ve gone through battleground districts across the country, folks want to see governance work,” DelBene said. “All they’ve seen from the Republican side is chaos and dysfunction.”

... our defense had just two missed tackles last night; I thought there were more, but whatever, their tackling was much improved. When the opportunity is right, can you ask Riley or Grinch what they attribute that to, given it's been an issue all year?

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Notre Dame up 6 spots to No. 15

We waited a while for the press conference -- with Lincoln Riley, Caleb Williams and Jamil Muhammad (who wasn't asked anything) -- and that's all the interviews we got.

Let's get it started early -- why not?!

Looks like the rain is supposed to taper off in South Bend in the early afternoon, but it will be low 50s/high 40s for the game, so elements still unlike any so far this season.

The 118th Congress, under the GOP majority, has been in a nonstop race to the bottom.

Oct. 11, 2023, 1:14 PM CDT / Updated Oct. 11, 2023, 3:57 PM CDT
By Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Democrat representing Texas's 30th congressional district

From fighting voter suppression in the Texas House to calling out Republicans in the House Oversight Committee for their brazen lies, I have always been committed to protecting and amplifying the fight for democracy. Recently, I went viral for displaying a photo taken by federal authorities of our national defense secrets stacked up in Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago bathroom. In that moment, when I said Trump was keeping our national secrets “in the s------,” I was big mad. While Democrats were fighting to keep American families afloat and our government open for business, House Republicans were bringing about a sham impeachment inquiry, wasting government resources, legislative time and American tax dollars.

Since its inception, the 118th Congress, under the GOP majority, has been in a nonstop race to the bottom. It began with Kevin McCarthy giving up every concession to gain the speaker title — in a 15-round marathon vote — just for him to end up with absolutely nothing. This unraveling revealed that he wasn’t a skilled nor trusted negotiator, and certainly not a leader. It proved he could never hold a candle to his predecessor, Nancy Pelosi, who governed with the same slim majority.

A country in disarray is truly our enemies’ dreams. This is a matter of national security and people need to wake up.

What exactly has the House GOP, better labeled as the “chaos caucus,” managed to accomplish in my first 10 months in office? They have panicked the markets, left Ukraine on edge, downgraded our credit rating and allowed the farm bill to lapse — causing uncertainty for farmers and SNAP recipients alike. Their biggest accomplishment has been bending the knee to a con man who has been held liable for sexual abuse: the twice-impeached, four-time indicted, 91-criminal-count-facing Donald Trump.

When the chaos caucus failed to do one of the basic jobs of Congress — fund the government by Sept. 30 — 99% of Democrats and only a little more than 50% of Republicans pulled together to avert a GOP-manufactured crisis.

So where are we now that a 45-day extension passed? Without a speaker, no bills can move. Time moves right along, but Congress is at a standstill. The chaos caucus failed to support Ukraine in our extension, which sent a dangerous message to our allies and our enemies. And within a week of the House speaker drama unfolding, the ongoing conflict in Israel escalated, as Hamas attacked Israel. How can anyone trust Republicans to solve our most complex issues around the border, national security, foreign affairs or the economy, when they literally can’t even choose a speaker or pass a budget?




We are all suffering as the House remains paralyzed by extremism and ineptitude. Financially supporting the self determination of democracies keeps the U.S. safer and protects the rest of the world. The chaos caucus has caused international embarrassment. Frankly, a country in disarray is truly our enemies’ dreams. This is a matter of national security and people need to wake up.

This chaos is the exact reason Republicans don’t want people to be “woke.” They know that an educated people is vital for our survival as a free people. Our freedom and rights derive from our founding principle of democracy. Imagine living in a place where you aren’t free at all: where you have no freedom of speech, no ability to select your government officials, no protections against brute government force and no economic opportunities.

The dysfunction in Congress puts our country and the rest of the world at risk. I cannot underscore the importance of electing serious people, based upon their dedication to our democracy. The safety of the United States, and the world is endangered, because of the former president, and now the chaos caucus. It is far past time for them to get the House in order for the good of not only our country, but for our allies around the world.

What would you say your biggest surprise has been through six games?

For me, it’s the general feeling that the team just doesn’t seem fully prepared for these games. They have been getting outschemed, there is confusion both offensively and defensively, bad special teams sans Branch, poor situational management, etc. In short, they just haven’t looked like a well-coached team up to this point. I don’t remember exactly what it looked like last year, but I feel like it wasn’t this bad.

So my biggest surprise is that we sit here in Year 1.5 and are questioning the coaching of this team above all else. I think Lincoln could do significant damage to his reputation if they end up losing three games this year, because of how those losses would inevitably come. I’m at the point now where I actually believe that Grinch is a symptom, not the problem.

I don’t expect you to be this harsh, but what has been your biggest surprise so far?

Stephen,

Among the four of us, we’ve worked for candidates at every level. Members of Congress, Senators, Presidential candidates, and Presidents.

We know that in times of global crisis, the world looks for American leaders for moral clarity and leadership.

In short, we know what it takes.

In the wake of the horrific terrorist attacks in Israel, President Biden has displayed the leadership and moral vision required of the U.S. President. In one of the most important speeches of his presidency, he stood in solidarity with our ally and emphasized the need to respect human rights as the conflict unfolds.

It’s the same leadership he displayed and has continued to display throughout Russia’s war in Ukraine. And it’s the leadership the American public has come to expect from the Oval Office.

Then, we have the former President. After witnessing the inhuman violence in Israel, Trump complimented Hezbollah, a terrorist organization and ally of Hamas. Instead of showing solidarity with Israel in their time of need, he stood with terrorists and called Israel weak.

It was disgusting. And exactly what we’ve come to expect from him.

When the world is in crisis, and evil rears its head, it is paramount that the U.S. President provides strong moral leadership.

Joe Biden is that President. Trump is not.

The OL is bad, the D is bad, but the WRs were supposed to be elite. I think they may actually be the most disappointing unit on the team.

Mario can’t catch and makes boneheaded plays. Rice drops too many. Singer is a complete ghost. MJ3 is just ok. Hudson does nothing. Raleek quit.

Taj is solid and Branch is a complete stud but I’m ready to see what Duce, jakobi and Lemon can do.

They oppose any aid to help Ukraine fight the Russian invasion, but they’re licking their chops to back Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Ben Burgis​

Published Oct. 11, 2023 1:05PM EDT
OPINION



A video making the rounds on social media makes a shocking claim: Officials at Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense sold weapons to Hamas that were used in last weekend’s attacks in Israel.

The claim is backed up with multiple layers of supposed authority. The video is done in the style of an explainer video from the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) and there’s a BBC logo in the corner. The on-screen captions say that the purported Ukrainian arms deal with Hamas was confirmed by the fact-checking and “open source intelligence” source Bellingcat.

No one should be surprised that it’s all complete nonsense. A lie from start to finish. Straight-up intentional disinformation.

To begin to unpack this falsehood, the idea that Ukraine would be selling arms to anyone while they’re in the middle of a bitter and prolonged land war with Russia—and need all the gear they can possibly get their hands on—should stretch credulity. The idea that they would sell them to Hamas, which would infuriate the countries whose aid Ukraine is totally reliant on—the United States and its allies—seems even less likely.

Unsurprisingly, Bellingcat has “confirmed” exactly none of this and whoever made the video has no connection to the BBC. The more interesting part is who’s been spreading this bit of low-rent fraud—and why.

The claim has spread like wildfire and been boosted by at least one MAGA Republican, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Relatedly, Donald Trump, Jr. pushed the conspiracy theory that Hamas’ weapons were supplied by the Taliban, after being abandoned by the U.S. military when it withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021. (There is no evidence for either of these claims.)


Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)

Of course, this isn’t the first time that either of them have played fast and loose with the truth—or spread fanciful conspiracy theories (like QAnon and the Big Lie about the 2020 election, for example).

What’s interesting, though, is that the “Ukraine is arming Hamas” conspiracy theory is a kind of transitional fossil in the rapid political evolution of their wing of the right. For the last year and a half, President Joe Biden has championed U.S. funding for the war in Ukraine. Many on the right have been led by their partisan positioning to disagree, with some MAGA firebrands cosplaying as critics of the military-industrial complex. About a week ago, Greene even did a photo-op with protestors from the peace group, Code Pink.

Now, as Israel prepares a massive assault on Gaza, they’re all changing their tune.

Republicans Reverting to Form​

For most of my life, the GOP was the party of America’s most rabid militarists. When I was a kid, Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush between them sent troops to Lebanon and Somalia, bombed Libya and Iraq, invaded Grenada and Panama, openly supported the proto-Taliban mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan, illegally armed and funded Contra death squads in Nicaragua, and somehow propped up both sides of the Iran-Iraq War.

In my early 20s, President George W. Bush responded to the 9/11 terrorist attacks by declaring that the entire world was “with us or against us.” He cluster-bombed, invaded and occupied Iraq and Afghanistan, tortured suspected terrorists in CIA “black sites” around the world, and declared that since the entire planet was one big battlefield in the “global war on terror” the U.S. had a right to extra-judicially execute alleged terrorists sitting outside cafes in Pakistan with unmanned drones.

In between these Republican presidents, Democrats Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were hardly doves. Clinton bombed Iraq and Yugoslavia, and Obama helped overthrow the government of Libya and dramatically expanded George W. Bush’s drone program.

But the GOP was the party of the most extreme hawks. Throughout the 1990s, Republicans attacked Bill Clinton for supposedly endangering American readiness by cutting military spending. Fox News hosts railed at Barack Obama for being a wimp who wouldn’t say the magical words “radical Islamic terrorism.” How, they asked, could we effectively fight our enemies to the death if we weren’t able to apply this label to them?

As hard as this can now be to remember, Republicans during the Obama years often attacked the president for being soft on Russia, particularly criticizing him for refusing to send heavy weaponry to Ukraine for that country’s war against Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas. (Obama worried that doing so would escalate the conflict.) They also attacked him for not deepening U.S. involvement in the civil war in Syria, even after Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad used chemical weapons.

And, of course, their most consistent attack was that Obama wasn’t “strong” enough in backing America’s ally, Israel.

The GOP’s super-hawks considered Israel’s war of occupation in the Palestinian territories to be a front-line conflict in the broader war between “the west” and “radical Islamic terrorism.”

On a superficial level, all this started to change with the rise of Donald Trump to the leadership of the Republican Party in 2015 and 2016.

Trump was retroactively critical of Bush’s war in Iraq, although his claim to have opposed the invasion at the time doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. He would sometimes talk like a peacenik, and indeed many of his supporters have convinced themselves that he “kept the peace” as president—although they have to retcon away a lot of inconvenient facts to make that narrative work.

In reality, Trump doubled the rate of drone strikes, tore up Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, assassinated Iranian Gen, Qassem Soleimani, tightened the embargo on Cuba, vetoed the Senate’s attempts to stop U.S. funding of Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen, bombed Syria, and oh, by the way, reversed Obama’s decision not to send heavier weaponry to Ukraine. Even so, the myth of Trump the Dove persisted.

And during the Biden presidency, many Republicans really have reversed their party’s historic position. While the majority of Republicans in Congress have repeatedly voted for U.S. military aid to Ukraine, a substantial majority have opposed that intervention. While some simply want other western powers to pick up the tab, some have actually talked about de-escalation and peace negotiations. Some of them have used anti-war rhetoric that have made them sound disconcertingly like Noam Chomsky or (full disclosure) me. When Republican presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley sparred about Ukraine at the first GOP debate this year, Ramaswamy snarked, “I wish you success on your future career on the boards of Lockheed and Raytheon.”

I can see how a casual observer could look at all that and wonder if a genuine partisan realignment was happening on issues of war and peace. Or at least I can understand how someone could have thought that—last week.

This week, they’re back to sounding like Obama-era Republicans screaming about “radical Islamic terrorism” and a clash of civilizations.

​

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the war has presented a “great opportunity” for Republican candidates. Here’s why conservatives should look inward instead.


Oct. 14, 2023, 6:49 AM CDT
By Ja'han Jones

Considering Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel’s claim that the Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel presented a “great opportunity” for GOP candidates, it seems conservatives are eager to use the conflict to their rhetorical and political advantage.

Other GOPers have used the Middle East war to dubiously bash President Joe Biden and to baselessly accuse liberals of antisemitism for urging peace in both Israel and Gaza.

All the while, Republicans have been dealing with their own scandals related to their relationships with well-known white nationalists and other antisemitic figures.

Two things, in particular, come to mind.

One involves the “ReAwaken America” tour stop this weekend at former President Donald Trump’s Doral resort in Miami, with speakers including conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell and former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

One of Friday’s scheduled speakers was Ian Smith, whom Forbes writer Molly Bohannon described as a “a fitness influencer who spreads antisemitic propaganda and gained notoriety after he refused to close his gym during the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Bohannon added: “Smith is popular among the far-right and has recommended neo-Nazi propaganda such as a World War II movie that paints Germany as the victim and questions the taught history of the war, posts memes denying the Holocaust on social media and said on an episode of the far-right The Pete Quinones Show podcast that Jewish people are behind ‘all of these things that are used to control us.’”

But that wasn’t the GOP’s only such controversy this week.

The Texas Tribune has been covering an ongoing rift in the Texas Republican Party after the head of Defend Texas Liberty, a right-wing political action committee that donates large amounts of money to state and local GOPers, met with white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who has openly compared himself to Adolf Hitler and spread antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Some Texas Republicans have said they will give away their donations from Defend Texas Liberty, but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick — who has received $3 million from the PAC — is refusing to do the same.

In a statement Monday, Patrick condemned Fuentes but also called for the resignation of Texas’ Republican House speaker, Dade Phelan, who has criticized the lieutenant governor for keeping the money.

Patrick, with no apparent sense of shame, accused Phelan of using the war in Israel for “political purposes,” while seemingly doing just that himself.

But that type of deflection seems par for the course for today’s Republicans, who are able to look at the Israel-Hamas war and think to themselves: “Great opportunity.”

We just don’t have the dudes. We downgraded from the unit that got bullied by Utah last year. Unless we get them going on a serious roids cycle, not sure what can be done.

Here are my thoughts:

1) I saw this coming for a few weeks.
2) we do not have a good offensive line no matter what anyone says. Notre Dame’s strength is their secondary. Full stop. ND’s defensive line was stellar tonight and it showed how week our OL is.
3) LR appears to be stubborn with his play calling. Why not get Caleb in a rhythm early with 3 step drops and getting rid of the ball. Easy routes like arrow routes, outs. Quick slants. And, of course, making a concerted effort to run the football. Plus on the play that MJIII caught that ball on some sort of comeback route (score was 7-3 at that point) was a horrible call with ND in a Cover 0 and there being so much open grass in the end zone. I never see easy crossing routes or rub routes. Easy 7 points and we settled for a FG.
4) how are we going to reload on the OL and have the kind of OL that can help you win championships. Don’t say the portal. It isn’t going to happen.
5) I am not a doomsayer as my posts over the years will show. But, I feel like this year can completely unravel from here. We’ll see.
6) most importantly, to not hear LR say in the presser, “ I was out coached, ND had a great defensive game plan, we have a lot to get fixed, etc. He did not succinctly say this loss was on the coaching staff.
7) the defense came to play. Overall, super proud of their effort.
8) if you told me our “pathetic” defense was going to hold ND to 125 yards rushing and 126 yards passing, I would have said we run away with this game.
9) Dan Lanning put todays come from behind win by Washington, squarely on his shoulders 100%. That’s what a head coach does.
10) I don’t think this a quick fix and how are we going to recruit linemen worth recruiting?

We watched the team get off the busses and arrive at the stadium. Gentry and his wing span on full display as he walks in with both hands raised high flipping off everyone watching the team walk into the stadium. An equipment dude had to run up to him and tell him to get his hands down. Something is off with this team. I am dead serious and I couldn’t believe it.

I have zero confidence in Lincoln Riley going forrward. I was really hoping that he could take us to the promised land but I just think that is wishful thinking. I hate this feeling right now.

Georgia Southern is losing to James Madison 20 -6 at halftime.😝

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