Trump will give Israel ‘blank check’ which may mean all-out war with Iran, says ex-CIA chief
theguardian.com
Summary
Former CIA Director Leon Panetta warned that Trump’s return to the White House could embolden Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, giving him a "blank check" in the Middle East and increasing the risk of war with Iran.
Panetta expressed concern that Trump would support Netanyahu's aggressive stance against Iran without restraint, potentially worsening regional instability.
Panetta also predicted Trump might allow Russia to retain parts of Ukraine if he returns to office, though he doubted Trump’s negotiation skills.
He criticized Trump’s approach to foreign policy, suggesting Trump would be inclined to "capitulate" to authoritarian leaders, which may not sit well with some Republicans.
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So no real change from Biden or Harris then?
Yes, apart from the blank check part and Trump telling Netanyahu to "finish the job" on national TV, no real change at all.
Oh, and also the impending genocides of brown and queer people, but I was told before the election that those weren't important and/or wouldn't happen.
Biden and Harris was/is still finishing the job. Trump may have said it out loud, but it's happening right now.
Harris abandoned queers, brown people, and the entire progressive side of the party and needed to pay the consequences.
I hope those right wing votes they courted were worth their efforts
Ah, another new excuse to avoid any responsibility. "It doesn't matter that I didn't vote for Harris because it will be just as bad in Gaza either way."
Anything to help you sleep at night.
I voted for Harris. Most leftists I know also voted for Harris.
Doesn't mean we can't be critical. She took every wrong turn after getting handed the keys to the campaign. Including not supporting a ceasefire and cease of arms transfers until the last few days before the election.
Maybe if she would have advocated for that at the start, things would have turned out differently. But then again you can say that about many things her campaign did wrong.
This was her's and the establishment Dems' campaign to lose, and they did with flying colors.
No, the queer community, brown people, disabled people, etc will now pay the consequences. gg
This brown queer person says that Harris was the wrong person for the job, we have our own agency and don't need liberals to speak on our behalf. We're capable of speaking for ourselves. Many Brown queer people that I'm familiar with felt the same and voted accordingly
Well, they know who you are, and you better believe that you are on several of their lists. So hopefully you will be able to take solace in the fact that you "took the high road" during the last real election this country will ever have, when you're huddled up in some white person's basement, hiding from the government.
So brave of you to try and come white knight for us as our protector. What would we do without white CIS people to guide us?
If you can't even do the most basic thing to help push the tiniest bit to prevent the worst from happening to you, why would anyone else care?
Is that what you took away from that comment?
Learn some fucking history, because it's repeating.
None of that changes whether you will be among the primary groups to pay the consequences, which is all I said.
They were courting anyone from the political spectrum who was still a constitutionalist, lefties included, to unite against whatever trump's mood happens to be that day.
What in the past 13 months has made you believe that Biden is not giving Israel a blank check to what they want and just finish the job?
The fact that it hasn't happened?
It is happening. Look at what they're doing in Northern Gaza. Look at the townhalls they have where they openly talk about settling it once they wipe out that entire area. And you think it's going to stop there? Look at them banning the UNRWA and look at how they now passed a new law aimed at deporting anyone related to "terrorists". Look at how they're now starting to demolish homes in the West Bank too.
It's fucking happening already. What are you waiting for to say that Biden is supporting it? For Israel to finish the fucking job?
Israel has not been given a blank check from the U.S. It simply hasn't. I'm not sure why you're trying to claim otherwise.
I just gave you the fucking reasons. Why don't you give me why you think they haven't?
Because congress allocated a specific amount of money for arms sales to Israel. This isn't a secret.
What are you even trying to say? That because there's a number on a sales package that can be renewed on a whim that this means Biden isn't giving them whatever they want? Keep in mind that the DOJ are sitting on 500 documented cases of Israel using American weapons to commit war crimes. Biden is not fucking stopping them in the slightest. The only difference between them is that Trump just openly says it.
I don't think you understand what 'blank check' means.
It could be worse than a blank check. Quid pro quo all over again.
No I really do. You just don't want to equate the 2 people on this topic. The genocide is happening as we speak. It's been happening for a year and everytime Israel needs more money, weapons, or defence systems. Biden is more than happy to oblige. He's gotten more money from pro-Israel lobbyists than any other Senator in history. Both are being paid to provide unconditional and unlimited support to Israel.
This is the last time you get to imply that I am denying a genocide is happening.
You have a habit of putting words in my mouth, this is the 3rd tkme you do in the past few weeks.
We werent arguing over whether or not there is a genocide. We were arguing over the fact that Biden has given Israel virtually unlimited resoruces to do whatever the fuck they want. I've explained myself, unless you're going to do the same to me this conversation is useless.
Put the same amount of bodies on both tracks and it would be accurate.
How so? Trump is about to kick things up to 11
And what level would you say it's at currently?
Realistically: Less than 11.
Armchair: 3 or 4.
Trump's people seem eager to turn this into an open regional conflict with direct US action and boots on the ground. Once that happens we are cruising towards a world war, and no one will even be thinking of Gaza any more.
Edit to be clear: I'm not minimizing what's happening in gaza. It's terrible. But it can get a whole lot worse.
I'm not trying to come across as rude....but have you been living under a rock? How on earth is what's going on currently a 3 or a 4? There's literally an extermination campaign in Northern Gaza where Israel is executing everyone they see and routinely attacking the only functioning hospital left. And I'm saying function VERY loosely. Not to mention all the attacks they do kn the rest of Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, or the regional escalations with Iran.
It's already at 11.
The implication is that 11 is as bad as it gets. Unless you're like a hundred, you've never seen 11. It can get so so worse.
Yes, people are dying. And it's horrible. But acting as though this is the worst it's ever been or will ever be is laughable.
Israel is currently committing a genocide in Gaza with zero intention of stopping. Where do you go to be worse than genocide?
A genocide and a war with another country, which they'd probably like to turn into a genocide as well?
There's also a whole other population of Palestinians they've barely started genociding. Are you saying it'd be no worse if they started killing off people in the West Bank in the same way?
They've started incursions and attacks into the West Bank already. And they're already invading Lebanon with regular strikes on Syria. They've also repeatedly escalated the conflict with Iran as well. All you say that will happen under Trump has already been happening under Biden.
So you're saying it can get worse?
I'm saying it's already getting worse. The escalations have already been happening.
Yeah it's about to go region wide. Many 10s of millions more will be in active combat zones. What we have now is just a primer.
Edit As a highwater, Israel flirts with nuking Iran if they become nuclear capable.
The actions that led to it becoming region wide happened under the Biden administration. The ongoing genocide is happening under the Biden administration. Biden gave Israel virtually unlimited arms and funding to perform all these actions. The middle east is a powder keg right now and whether or not Trump won would have been irrelevant. It's about to blow.
Bidens admin has tried to maintain the status quo. They wish things could go back to say, 2019 status or so. It's still shitty, it's still unjust for Palestine's innocent, but there isn't a full world war happening.
Trump's team wants to get actively involved. They want to go far beyond the status quo. They don't think what is happening today is enough. They want open war with Iran and it's satellites. They want Palestine depopulated and to rebuild vacation condos in its place.
I get it you think it's really bad now. I agree.
But we are about to get someone actively hoping to make it worse. More, more, more.
We stopped being status quo months ago. This is not normal. Biden had the power to make it go back to normal with a single phone call. Israel is America's proxy, not the other way around.
The genocide in Gaza is currently underway. So what's worse than a genocide? I'm honestly asking here. How does it get worse than this? Keep in mind there's also the war with Lebanon and the escalations with Iran to talk about as well.
A wider genocide. A nuclear war. American soldiers actively involved, essentially another iraq war. A US administration not seeking the relative calm of the past but a 2025 with NO Palestine, no Iran, no Yemen.
With all that Israel has been emboldened do you honestly believe they will stop with Gaza? What do you think their incursions into the West Bank or Lebanon have been about?
Incorrect