Biden’s Straight Talker on Hamas
– By Howard Sierer –
President Biden’s position on the Hamas slaughter of innocents and the Israeli response unfolding now in Gaza was stated in breathtaking and refreshing clarity on Thursday. Biden’s National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, responded to media questions about claims from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health. Kirby used language seldom ever heard in any president’s White House and referred explicitly to the president’s position on the issue.
Here is an excerpt from the official transcript:
Kirby: Well, do you remember that attack on the hospital? And what did the Gaza Ministry of Health put out? Something like 500 [killed]? They slapped the number of 500 on it, you know, within the hour of… that attack… the same ministry of health said it was an Israeli airstrike, so we know that’s not true.
And we’ve now since found out that the numbers aren’t that high, either. They never got up to 500… it was at least a couple of hundred, and that’s terrible. And that’s atrocious. And that’s sad. And we all obviously grieve with the families and loved ones who are affected by that.
But the numbers are not reliable. They’re just not reliable.
And I don’t need to tell you how to do your jobs, but if you’re going to report casualty figures out of Gaza, I would frankly recommend you don’t choose numbers put out by an organization that’s run by a terrorist organization.
Question: So, besides saying that he doesn’t have confidence in these numbers, the President went further to say that innocents will die and that this is the price of the war. You also said that.
Kirby: I have indeed.
Question: Yeah. Don’t you think this is insensitive? There have been very harsh criticism [sic] about it. For example, the Council of American-Islamic Relations said it was deeply disturbed and called on the President to apologize.
Would the President apologize?
Kirby: No.
Question: And does he regret saying something —
Kirby: No.
Question: — like that?…
Kirby: What’s harsh is the way Hamas is using people as human shields. What’s harsh is taking a couple of hundred hostages and leaving families anxious, waiting, and worrying to figure out where their loved ones are. What’s harsh is dropping in on a music festival and slaughtering a bunch of young people just trying to enjoy an afternoon. I can go on and on. That’s what’s harsh. That is what’s harsh.
And being honest about the fact that there have been civilian casualties and that there likely will be more is being honest, because that’s what war is. It’s brutal. It’s ugly… it doesn’t mean that we’re dismissing any one of those casualties. Each and every one is a tragedy in its own right, and each and every one we should try to prevent.
And that is why we’re in close contact with our Israeli counterparts to do everything we can to help them minimize the risk to civilians that are in harm’s way. It would be helpful if Hamas would let them leave — …not shelter in tunnels underneath their houses and in hospitals. And let them get out… of Gaza if they want to leave. We know that there are thousands waiting to leave Gaza… And Hamas is preventing them from doing it. That is what is harsh.
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