Arya News - Outgoing President Joe Biden’s Middle East policy has been disastrous, undermining the US’s global standing due to its blind support for Israel and driving regional adversaries ever closer together, former UK Ambassador to Syria Peter Ford told Sputnik.
According to the veteran UK diplomat, Biden"s Middle East policies could have been regarded as successful if "the sole yardstick was advancing Israel"s interests." Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas have been humbled, and Syria has undergone a regime change, Ford observed. Ford noted that Biden"s "one sensible policy," withdrawal from Afghanistan, was the one on which he has drawn most flak from the "Washington warmongering establishment." Any predictions about incoming President Donald Trump"s policies "can only be guesses," Ford continued. His picks for Middle East-related posts suggest he may "double down" on Biden"s mistakes, but Trump could still "surprise on the upside," according to Ford. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Wednesday that the involvement of Trump’s team had been "absolutely critical" in reaching the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas in the final week of Biden"s presidency. Trump had previously warned that there would be "all hell to pay in the Middle East" unless the hostages taken during the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel were released before his inauguration.