Despite Israel constantly stepping over his “red lines” on Gaza, President Biden continues to support a genocidal onslaught against Gaza wholeheartedly. The Biden administration has recently approved a further $1 billion in arms sales to Israel, further underlining that it will do nothing to stop the bloodshed.
Taking matters into their own hands, a flotilla of ships was destined to sail from Turkey to break the Gaza blockade and deliver much-needed aid. The ships were full of hundreds of peace activists and notable figures from around the world willing to risk their lives. But at the last minute, Israel managed to pull strings behind the scenes to prevent the flotilla sailing.
One of the people destined to crew the ships was Coleen Rowley, an FBI whistleblower who came to the nation’s attention in 2002 after she testified to Congress about 9/11 and the intelligence failures that allowed it to happen. Later that year, she was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year.
Since leaving the FBI, Rowley has become a peace activist, campaigning to end forever wars, drawing attention to intelligence misdeeds and supporting the actions of other whistleblowers.
On today’s show, she sat down with MintPress News director Mnar Adley to discuss Gaza, the U.S. empire, the decaying two-party system and America’s forever wars.
When asked why she joined the international flotilla, Rowley said she was inspired by a larger cause and hoped to ignite widespread social change in the U.S.
If you can break Israel’s siege of Gaza – it’s been attempted, and it has been unsuccessful [in the past] – but if you could do that, it could be the tipping point where a lot of things could change.”
President Biden is currently trailing Donald Trump in the polls, in no small part because of his Gaza policy, which has angered millions of voters. A majority of Democrat supporters consider Israel’s actions to constitute genocide. And Biden is enabling it.
Trump, meanwhile, has said he would support Israel more forcefully than Biden, including crushing any and all domestic protests against it.
For Rowley, supporting the incumbent is unconscionable. As she told MintPress News,
Who is the lesser evil?” “I could never figure out between the two parties at this point who is the lesser evil. The greatest evil right now, in terms of a crime, is genocide. And, to be honest, I don’t know how anyone is going to be able to vote for a person who authorized a genocide and allowed it to happen.”
This does not equate to an endorsement of Trump, however. “The choice between the Democrat and the Republican is the choice between syphilis and cholera,” she added.
Thus, whether Biden manages to hang on for another term is largely irrelevant to the people of Palestine, who will see the same policies enacted regardless of whether Team Red or Team Blue are in the White House.
From there, the pair discussed the long, steady decline of the U.S. empire, its addiction to endless wars, and the sustained war on American whistleblowers.
Watch the full interview here, exclusively at MintPress News.
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Mnar Adley is an award-winning journalist and editor and is the founder and director of MintPress News. She is also president and director of the non-profit media organization Behind the Headlines. Adley also co-hosts the MintCast podcast and is a producer and host of the video series Behind The Headlines. Contact Mnar at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter at @mnarmuh.
