America in the Middleground

Biden strives to keep the U.S. engaged in an increasingly chaotic world without hastening its slide into greater disorder

Iranians shouting anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans while celebrating Iran's IRGC UAV and missile attack against Israel in downtown Tehran, Iran, on April 14, 2024. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Watching dangerous real-time events unfold through the lens of Twitter/X is always a harrowing experience. This was certainly the case on Saturday, as hundreds of drones and missiles launched from Iran and its proxies across the Middle East made their way toward Israel that afternoon and evening. Some on the far left swooned as they imagined this was the start of a long-hoped-for deadly assault on the Jewish state that would culminate in the “Zionist entity” being extirpated from the region. Many on the right gave voice to their own fantasies of bloodlust against the mullahs in Tehran, with Israel and the U.S. hopefully poised to join forces in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities and maybe even decisively undermining the theocratic regime in the bargain.

Meanwhile, back in reality, Joe Biden was trying to be responsible, coordinating defensive military action on Israel’s behalf with key allies in the Middle East and Europe, focused on the goal of repelling the assault and keeping tensions from spiraling out of control and into a regional war.

America’s Middle Path