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In reply to the discussion: I'm getting super fed up with Israel/Palestine posts here [View all]shrike3
(4,062 posts)Meanwhile, there's a comment in Vox regarding the Sudan crisis (which interests no one) which I think could apply to the U.S. role in multiple parts of the world:
The series of events in Sudan reveals the limits of US influence. The overall impression is this is a power struggle between Hemedti, Burhan, and their institutions that would have been very difficult for any country alone or in concert to prevent, when each sees the other as an existential threat, says Jeffrey Feltman, who served as the USs special envoy to the Horn of Africa from 2021 to 2022.
His successor as special envoy says that the US did everything it could have, and had only bad options, forced to make deals with a military known for its heinous crimes. At the end of the day, we had to include the military in the dialogue, David Satterfield, a career diplomat, told me. And I would argue to you right now, if there is ever an opportunity to return to a path towards restoration of a civilian-led government, youre going to have to talk to the military then as well.
In effect, this was the argument that won the day in 2021 among the Biden administration and shapes its policies today.
I dont think the US played its hand really well. I also dont think that if the US had played its hand really well, that it would have necessarily averted a disaster, says Michael Wahid Hanna of the International Crisis Group. Its like nostalgia for a mythical past that never existed.