Trump and Biden on the Middle East
REESE ERLICH
05/09/2020
( 48hills.org) - We all know that President Donald Trump's foreign policy
has been a disaster. But is Joe Biden's any better?
Trump promised to stop America's endless wars but has stationed some 80,000
troops in the Middle East. He pulled out of the Iran nuclear accord, and
imposed harsh sanctions and even sent drones to assassinate a top Iranian
Revolutionary Guard. But Iran still has more political influence in Iraq
than the United States. His administration negotiated an agreement with the
Taliban, only to see it rejected by the US-installed Afghan government.
Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee, sharply
criticizes Trump but, unfortunately, continues to defend many of the failed
policies of the Obama Administration.
During Biden's time as Vice President, the White House went from fighting
two active wars (Afghanistan and Iraq) to seven (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya,
Syria, Yemen, drone war in Pakistan, and escalation in Somalia).
Biden now says he disagreed with some of Obama's interventionist policies,
most notably in Libya. Today Biden calls for easing Iran sanctions,
returning to the Iran nuclear accord, and reestablishing relations with
Cuba.
"Biden represents the return of the classical foreign policy establishment,"
Alan Minsky, executive director of Progressive Democrats of America, tells
me. "Biden is running a campaign as a restoration candidate."
But given significant changes in the world's balance of power, it's not all
that clear what Biden could restore.
A changing world
Many corporate, State Department, military, and intelligence
officials-otherwise known as the Deep State-hate Trump for his nationalist,
America First policies.
The President imposed tariffs on allies around the world. He's questioned
the need for NATO. China and Russia have grown stronger economically and
politically on the world stage, even after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even card-carrying members of the Deep State acknowledge Washington has no
reason to keep fighting in the Middle East. Martin Indyk, a former US
ambassador to Israel, says what's "been hard for many in the American
foreign-policy establishment, including me, to accept: Few vital interests
of the US continue to be at stake in the Middle East."
In a major mea culpa in The Wall Street Journal, Indyk admits, "[A]fter the
sacrifice of so many American lives, the waste of so much energy and money
in quixotic efforts that ended up doing more harm than good, it is time for
the US to find a way to escape the costly, demoralizing cycle of crusades
and retreats."
Whoever wins the election in November will face an economy wracked by
recession, an electorate wary of more long-term military interventions, and
other countries determined to go their own way.
What kind of foreign policy will that produce?
Biden boasts
Biden boasts of his foreign policy credentials. He chaired the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee from 2001-2003 and 2007-2009. While generally
hewing to interventionist Democratic Party policies, he has taken some
independent stands, for example, by voting against the 1991 Gulf War.
By far Biden's most reprehensible stand was his strong support for the 2003
invasion and occupation of Iraq. As documented by Professor Stephen Zunes in
The Progressive, Biden forcefully supported the war, but later claimed he
opposed it. (Of course, Trump lied about his support for the war as well.)
When the Iraqi occupation failed in the mid-2000s, Biden infamously called
for splitting Iraq into three parts along sectarian lines, so the United
States could continue imperial control at least in Kurdistan.
Even today, Biden favors maintaining some troops in the region, using the
excuse of fighting ISIS. "I think it's a mistake to pull out the small
number of troops that are there now to deal with ISIS," he's said.
Biden hasn't learned the lessons of the Afghan war either. After nineteen
years of failed war and occupation, he still wants to maintain some troops
in the country.
"I would bring American combat troops in Afghanistan home during my first
term," Biden tells the Council on Foreign Relations. "Any residual US
military presence in Afghanistan would be focused only on counterterrorism
operations."
But whoever wins in November will have to face the new reality: People in
Afghanistan and the United States are fed up with the war. All foreign
troops will have to withdraw.
Venezuela
Besides his bad record in the Middle East, Biden continues to support US
domination in Latin America. Both Trump and Biden call for the removal of
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, for example. Last year they supported
efforts by Juan Guaido, the former head of the National Assembly, to anoint
himself president.
The Venezuelan government accuses Washington and Guaido of trying to
overthrow Maduro by armed force. Rightwing, former military officers tried
to assassinate Maduro with a drone strike last year. Then on May 4, a group
of mercenaries-including two US Army vets-landed on the Venezuelan coast
intending to overthrow Maduro and install Guaido in power. The coup plot was
organized by a Florida private security company. It has the earmarks of a US
intelligence operation, although not surprisingly, Trump denies it.
While Biden has not formally called for regime change in Venezuela, neither
has he criticized the armed coup attempts. And he favors economic sanctions
to cripple the economy, saying: "The US should push for stronger
multilateral sanctions so that supporters of the regime cannot live, study,
shop, or hide their assets in the United States, Europe, or Latin America."
In my opinion and that of many others, Bernie Sanders offered a far better
foreign policy program than Biden. But Biden will at least restore the Iran
nuclear accord, normalize relations with Cuba, and take steps to end the
Yemen War. On the whole, Biden is better than Trump.
Biden has the potential of attracting working class and young voters
disillusioned with Trump's aggression overseas. Younger voters have seen the
country at war their entire lives, says Erik Sperling, executive director of
the advocacy group Just Foreign Policy. "They know that, at a minimum,
30,000 people die every year in the US from lack of health insurance.
Fighting endless wars is not their priority."
Biden will respond to anti-war activists far more readily than Trump. If
Biden wins on November 3, then starting on November 4 progressives should be
pressuring Biden to do more than "restore" US foreign policy.
After the election, says Minsky, "We will be poised and ready to oppose a
whole range of issues pursued by a Biden Administration."
Via 48hills.org