Jake Sullivan wrote an essay for Foreign Affairs that went to print before Oct 7. For the online version that came out yesterday, they let him not just add new material but scrub the sections embarrassed by events. Some deleted gems from the original, not available online

“The Israeli-Palestinian situation is tense, particularly in the West Bank, but in the face of serious frictions, we have de-escalated crises in Gaza and restored direct diplomacy between the parties after years of its absence.”

When Biden became president, “US troops were under regular attack in Iraq and Syria…Such attacks, at least for now, have largely stopped.”

Biden’s “disciplined approach frees up resources for other global priorities, reduces the risk of new Middle Eastern conflicts, and ensures that US interests are protected on a far more sustainable basis.”

“We have acted militarily to protect US personnel, and we have enhanced deterrence, combined with diplomacy, to discourage further [Iranian] aggression.”

“the region is quieter than it has been for decades. The progress is fragile, to be sure. But it is also not an accident... [Biden's] approach returns discipline to US policy. It emphasizes deterring aggression, de-escalating conflicts, and integrating the region...”
----


#biden #palestine #foreign #affaires #iranian