General Charles Q. Brown Jr. was made Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on October 1, 2023. As we all recall, six days later, the world was altered completely, as was the relationship between the US government and its “greatest ally in the Middle East,” Israel. As part of that major alteration, presumably, Brown told reporters on Thursday that the US is not providing Israel with all the weapons it needs to continue the war on Hamas in Gaza.
“Although we’ve been supporting them with capability, they’ve not received everything they’ve asked for,” General CQ Brown said, adding, “I don’t make those kinds of decisions on what goes or doesn’t go.”
Brown also emphasized that Israeli requests are evaluated using the same criteria applied to requests from other nations – considering their potential implications for US military preparedness. Or, as he put it, “It is a constant dialogue.”
One is reminded in this context of the dialogue between a guy who borrowed money from the mob and the nice men who lent him the money.
By the way, in 2020, Brown was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world.
Someone in the Dept. of Defense likely realized Brown’s statement was not cool, and so his spokesperson, Navy Capt. Jereal Dorsey, quickly issued a statement saying the General’s comments about giving or not giving weapons to Israel were “solely in reference to a standard practice before providing military aid to any of our allies and partners.”
Of course, they were. Because top US Generals often assemble military reporters to teach them about the protocol of weapons procurement.
Capt. Dorsey charged ahead anyway, saying, “We assess US stockpiles and any possible impact on our own readiness to determine our ability to provide the requested aid. There is no change in US policy. The United States continues to provide security assistance to our ally Israel as they defend themselves from Hamas.”
A nice save, and only a couple of days before the opening of baseball season.
GALLANT’S VISIT
As you may recall, earlier this week, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Washington, reportedly outlining a list of desired weapons capabilities sought from the US. His requests come as Israel pursues its ongoing months-long campaign aimed at neutralizing the Hamas threats. In other words, General Brown was not talking in a vacuum.
Eventually, as Brown’s chat with the reporters lingered, it became clear why he said what he said about tightening the supply lines to Israel. Referring to Gallant’s talks in Washington regarding Israel’s plans for the campaign in Rafah, the last vestige of Hamas’s Nazi criminal leaders, Brown said that the Israelis had provided “broad concepts” of their operational plan for Rafah, and he and his chiefs wanted more information.
“We got a little more detail on some of the broad concepts of the humanitarian plan and moving civilians than we got on the operational piece, so I’m anxious to hear both of those and how that all comes together,” ” Brown said.
Dangling an imaginary Galaxy planeload of much-needed military supplies to Israel, Brown said knowing more details about the coming Rafah operation “will help tell us a bit more of the feasibility of their plan and how they’re going to execute.”
Did you have an aunt who insisted you first kiss her before she gave you your birthday gift? Well, look out, Minister Gallant, General CQ Brown is puckering his lips.
