A shift in the party line?

As war(s) drag on, divisions among Dems grow wider.

At a meeting in Brussels, there was an admission that the highly touted Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed, generating friction and second-guessing between Washington and Kyiv and raising deeper questions about Ukraine’s ability to retake decisive amounts of territory. — Washington Post

The Shift

The party line on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza is shifting.

Is it just talk?

At least it indicates some recognition that the US proxy war with Russia in Ukraine is a loser — or at least unwinnable, and that a negotiated peace agreement may be closer than we thought.

There’s also the possibility that the atrocities and war crimes being committed daily by Netanyahu’s IDF in Gaza have become too much for some to swallow, causing divisions within the Democratic leadership.

Or it could be that party leaders are beginning to feel the pressure from the surging global protest movement combined with Biden’s plummeting poll numbers.

In any event statements coming out of the Pentagon and State Department as well as from the White House this week all seem to be preparing us for a shift in stated foreign policy vis a vis Ukraine and Israel. Bad news for Netanyahu and Zelensky. Better news for us.

Take for example, V.P. Kamala Harris’ promise:

“Under no circumstances will the United States permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, the besiegement of Gaza, or the redrawing of the borders of Gaza.”

She said this while Netanyahu was instructing one of his closest aides to explore ways to "thin out" Gaza's population by shipping most Palestinians to countries in Europe and Africa, and while the IDF was forcing the evacuation of all Palestinians from southern Gaza's main city of Khan Younis.

Or how about Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin’s warning of “strategic defeat” to Netanyahu:

“The lesson is not that you can win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. The lesson is that you can only win in urban warfare by protecting civilians. In this kind of a fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.” — Bloomberg

Now we’re hearing from Defense Dept. analysts that the military situation in Ukraine is growing bleaker with the failure of the so-called Ukranian “counter-offensive.” An in-depth WaPo analysis points to infighting among US military advisors with Pres. Zelensky over strategy and tactics; an underestimation of Russian military power.

Zelensky, on the war’s first anniversary in February, had boasted that 2023 would be a “year of victory.” His intelligence chief had decreed that Ukrainians would soon be vacationing in Crimea, the peninsula that Russia had illegally annexed in 2014. But some in the U.S. government were less than confident. — Washington Post

My advice to Zelensky…start packing your bags.

Even Sen. Bernie Sanders has moved a little. Now he says he'll vote no on the upcoming $10B emergency military aid package for Israel but will continue to approve giving Israel billions more for "defensive" weapons. Sanders (I don’t call him Bernie anymore) still opposes ceasefire in Gaza. I look for that to change as well in the weeks ahead.