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Biden has the leverage to stop the war in Israel

Biden has the leverage to stop the war in Israel

But it only works if he decides to use it. What is he waiting for?

Analysis | Video Section
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Saying that the U.S. has the right to defend itself doesn't mean the United States must defer to Israel on all things, especially when it is harming American interests abroad. Washington officials say are concerned about protecting civilians amid ongoing Israeli military operations on the ground in Gaza, but these same officials continue to support $3.8 billion a year in military aid, plus more on the way.

Meanwhile, the war in Gaza increases the risk of the United States itself getting into a wider war. Biden's unwavering support is putting U.S. global standing at risk and harming its national security.

The president has the leverage to stop this. But leverage doesn't work unless you specify a cost or apply real pressure, a step the Biden administration has so far, been unwilling to take. Watch more below:


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How Biden Can End the War in Gaza
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Analysis | Video Section
Aargh! Letters of marque would unleash Blackbeard on the cartels
Top photo credit: Frank Schoonover illustration of Blackbeard the pirate (public domain)

Aargh! Letters of marque would unleash Blackbeard on the cartels

Latin America

Just saying the words, “Letters of Marque” is to conjure the myth and romance of the pirate: Namely, that species of corsair also known as Blackbeard or Long John Silver, stalking the fabled Spanish Main, memorialized in glorious Technicolor by Robert Newton, hallooing the unwary with “Aye, me hearties!”

Perhaps it is no surprise that the legendary patois has been resurrected today in Congress. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) has introduced the Cartel Marque and Reprisal Reauthorization Act on the Senate floor, thundering that it “will revive this historic practice to defend our shores and seize cartel assets.” If enacted into law, Congress, in accordance with Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, would license private American citizens “to employ all reasonably necessary means to seize outside the geographic boundaries of the United States and its territories the person and property of any cartel or conspirator of a cartel or cartel-linked organization."

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Gaza tent city
Top photo credit: Palestinian Mohammed Abu Halima, 43, sits in front of his tent with his children in a camp for displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, Gaza, on December 11, 2025. Matrix Images / Mohammed Qita

Four major dynamics in Gaza War that will impact 2026

Middle East

Just ahead of the New Year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit President Donald Trump in Florida today, no doubt with a wish list for 2026. Already there have been reports that he will ask Trump to help attack Iran’s nuclear program, again.

Meanwhile, despite the media narrative, the war in Gaza is not over, and more specifically, it has not ended in a clear victory for Netanyahu’s IDF forces. Nor has the New Year brought solace to the Palestinians — at least 71,000 have been killed since October 2023. But there have been a number of important dynamics and developments in 2025 that will affect not only Netanyahu’s “asks” but the future of security in Israel and the region.

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Sokoto Nigeria
Top photo credit: Map of Nigeria (Shutterstock/Juan Alejandro Bernal)

Trump's Christmas Day strikes on Nigeria beg question: Why Sokoto?

Africa

For the first time since President Trump publicly excoriated Nigeria’s government for allegedly condoning a Christian genocide, Washington made good on its threat of military action on Christmas Day when U.S. forces conducted airstrikes against two alleged major positions of the Islamic State (IS-Sahel) in northwestern Sokoto state.

According to several sources familiar with the operation, the airstrike involved at least 16 GPS-guided munitions launched from the Navy destroyer, USS Paul Ignatius, stationed in the Gulf of Guinea. Debris from unexpended munition consistent with Tomahawk cruise missile components have been recovered in the village of Jabo, Sokoto state, as well nearly 600 miles away in Offa in Kwara state.

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