Who feels as or safer under Biden versus Trump

[*pally*]

(10-11-2023, 12:35 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Try and relax, you are going to hurt yourself. My comments are not personal.

I will start with Talib, she refused today to answer a question about 10 times, is it OK to cut off the heads of babies? Her lack of answer was an answer and the world knows it.

I like a gallop poll. I am not sure why your news sources would ignore any poll, let alone a gallop poll. Hamas is the Gaza military who represents Palestinians. They have an option, they could throw them out of their country, but they don't because they agree with the goal of slaughtering Jews, in eliminating Jews.
They are funded by another country who wants. to wipe Jews (and Americans) off the planet Iran. To act as though the majority of Democrats do not support Israel kills your argument.

It amazes me that smart people like you are too busy being political, you can't see the forest for the trees. Joe Biden was great today, he said I stand with Israel, not like you and others who want to debate if beheading people is an acceptable counter attack.

The WH briefing calling out the squad, shocked the heck out of me. But, they ended the debate. Maybe you and your fellow liberal friends can see this atrocity for what it is, a slaughter of innocent babies, women, children and adults of all ages who were celebrating one minute, the next without warning they were either dead or taken hostage.

I stand with Joe Biden and the rest of America with Israel. No apologies and no discussion needed.

You’re making things up again as usual. You have your own little preconceived ideas and you will continue ignore any notion that doesn’t fit the narrative you’ve been fed.

Whatever…I’m done with you. There is no conversation to be had with someone like you who makes up his own facts and parrots lies. You’re not worth the energy

[*Nately120*]

(10-11-2023, 12:13 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: LOL

But you were OK when the Chinese hacked Hillary Clinton's classified emails?????

I voted for Gary Johnson in 2016.

(10-11-2023, 12:20 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Look at the facts. Trump's foreign policy of peace through strength or Biden's foreign policy of appeasement to special interests and open borders.

Let's be real, Trump scared the hell out of foreign leaders that reside in NK, China, Russia, Iran and the entire middle east. Biden can't even pull out of a war without getting thousands of people killed and billions worth of equipment left in Afghanistan.  I have a hunch some of that equipment is being use by Hamas and other terrorists groups.

But, hey tell us any great foreign policy Joe Biden has executed as POTUS. Our border is a sieve and national security high risk all on Joe Biden and Democrats.

Meh, Trump alienates our allies, simps for our enemies and spills and leaks top secret information without even being waterboarded first.  It's cool you and a bunch of dudes who paste his head on Stallone's ripped manly body think he's some kind of scary badass though.  Have you seen that NFT where he's a cowboy astronaut?  I wouldn't want to mess with him.

[GMDino]

(10-11-2023, 12:20 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Look at the facts. Trump's foreign policy of peace through strength or Biden's foreign policy of appeasement to special interests and open borders.

Let's be real, Trump scared the hell out of foreign leaders that reside in NK, China, Russia, Iran and the entire middle east. Biden can't even pull out of a war without getting thousands of people killed and billions worth of equipment left in Afghanistan.  I have a hunch some of that equipment is being use by Hamas and other terrorists groups.

But, hey tell us any great foreign policy Joe Biden has executed as POTUS. Our border is a sieve and national security high risk all on Joe Biden and Democrats.

https://www.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2019/

Quote:In April 2016, a Hamas member carried out a suicide attack on a bus in Jerusalem, killing 20.  The group was also held responsible for several Gaza-based rocket attacks, including a July strike in Sderot that hit a kindergarten and damaged several buildings.

Hamas-organized protests at the border between Gaza and Israel continued throughout much of 2019, resulting in clashes that killed Hamas members, Palestinian protestors, and Israeli soldiers.  Hamas claimed responsibility for numerous rocket attacks from Gaza into Israeli territory throughout 2018, and the Israeli military reported that some rocket attacks in 2019 came from Hamas launchers.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/north-korea-launched-no-missiles-2018-isn-t-necessarily-due-n949971

Quote:Before and after Trump's election and inauguration, North Korea was conducting a flurry of nuclear and missile tests.


The drumbeat reached a peak in 2017, when Kim Jong Un's regime launched its first intercontinental ballistic missiles — theoretically capable of striking the United States mainland. It also tested its most powerful nuclear weapon to date, which it claimed was a miniaturized hydrogen bomb.


Verbal sparring between Trump and Kim escalated and appeared to elevate the threat of a devastating war.



[color=var(--inline-video--info--color)][color=var(--inline-video--title-color)]Trump on North Korea: Rockets 'no longer flying in every direction'[/color]
SEPT. 25, 201801:58

[color=var(--social-share-inline--share-list--color)][/url][url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Trump%20on%20North%20Korea%3A%20Rockets%20%27no%20longer%20flying%20in%20every%20direction%27&via=nbcnews&url=https://www.msnbc.com/hallie-jackson/watch/trump-on-north-korea-rockets-no-longer-flying-in-every-direction-1328700995816&original_referer=https://www.msnbc.com/hallie-jackson/watch/trump-on-north-korea-rockets-no-longer-flying-in-every-direction-1328700995816][/color][/color]
Then it all stopped. 


North Korea conducted its last nuclear test in September 2017 and its last missile launch a month later. Trump has gone from ridiculing Kim as "little rocket man" to saying he "fell in love" with the young dictator.


"The missiles and rockets are no longer flying in every direction, nuclear testing has stopped," Trump told the United Nations General Assembly in September.

The president has pointed to this as evidence that his strategy to defang Kim's government is working.
However, many experts point out that although the eye-catching weapons displays may have ceased, other more subtle parts of North Korea's weapons program continue apace. Tests are only part of the story.
"Kim has not changed his policy ... but claims that he's now moved from research-and-development and onto mass production," said Cristina Varriale, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank.



[color=var(--inline-video--info--color)][color=var(--inline-video--title-color)]North Korea still building ballistic missiles, say U.S. officials[/color]
NOV. 12, 201801:10

[color=var(--social-share-inline--share-list--color)][/url][url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=North%20Korea%20still%20building%20ballistic%20missiles%2C%20say%20U.S.%20officials&via=nbcnews&url=https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/north-korea-still-building-ballistic-missiles-say-u-s-officials-1368698435834&original_referer=https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/north-korea-still-building-ballistic-missiles-say-u-s-officials-1368698435834][/color][/color]
North Korea continues to produce fissile material and develop missile bases around the country, according to experts and analysis of detailed satellite images.
This transition from testing to production should come as no surprise — it's exactly what Kim told the world he would do at the beginning of the year.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/10/13/trump-ordered-rapid-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-after-election-loss/

Quote:Trump ordered rapid withdrawal from Afghanistan after election loss[color=var(--isCover,var(--atype-theme-on-primary))][color=var(--isCover,#fff)]
[color=var(--bylineByColor,var(--atype-theme-grey-900,#111))]By [color=var(--authorColor,var(--atype-theme-primary,#000))]Leo Shane III[/color]
[color=var(--atype-theme-grey-800)][color=var(--atype-date-color,var(--atype-theme-grey-700,#333))] Oct 13, 2022[/color][/color]
[/color]
[color=var(--atype-theme-grey-800,#ccc)]President Donald Trump ordered an immediate evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Somalia after his election loss in November 2020, according to multiple senior officials in his administration. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)[/color][/color][/color]

President Donald Trump ordered a rapid withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan and Somalia in the wake of his 2020 election loss, but senior officials never followed through on the plan, according to testimony released by the congressional January 6 committee on Thursday.

“The order was for an immediate withdrawal, and it would have been catastrophic,” said Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of two Republican members of the special panel. “And yet President Trump signed the order.”

Witnesses who spoke to the committee about the surprise withdrawal plan included Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, former national security advisor to the vice president Keith Kellogg, and several other senior officials in the Trump administration.


Committee officials played video clips of their testimony during Thursday’s 10th hearing on the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. The event is expected to be the final public meeting of the panel.

Milley said he was shocked when he saw the withdrawal orders, signed by Trump on Veterans Day 2020, just four days after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 presidential election.

“It is odd. It is nonstandard,” Milley said in his recorded testimony. “It is potentially dangerous. I personally thought it was militarily not feasible nor wise.”

Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general, said after seeing the order he told senior staff the idea was “a tremendous disservice to the nation” and implementing it would be “catastrophic.”

At the time, about 8,000 troops were still stationed in Afghanistan, helping train government security forces and conduct counter-terrorism operations. Fewer than 1,000 U.S. troops were in Somalia on similar missions.

Journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa referenced the surprise memo in their book “Peril” on the Trump presidency, released last month. They wrote that the idea did not go through any of the traditional chain of command protocols, and ultimately senior staff believed it did not have legal standing requiring them to follow through with the plan.


But members of the committee argued the move showed acknowledgement by Trump that he had lost the election.


“Knowing that he had lost and that he had only weeks left in office, President Trump rushed to complete his unfinished business,” Kinzinger said.


“These are the highly consequential actions of a president who knows his term will end shortly.”

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/u-s-review-of-chaotic-afghanistan-withdrawal-blames-trump

Quote:U.S. review of chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal blames Trump

Politics Apr 6, 2023 2:34 PM EDT



Read the full report here.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. review led by the National Security Council of the chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan largely lays the blame on former President Donald Trump, saying President Joe Biden was “severely constrained” by the decisions of his predecessor.

The White House on Thursday publicly released a 12-page summary of the results of the so-called “ hotwash ” of U.S. policies around the ending of the nation’s longest war, taking little responsibility for its own actions during some of the darkest moments of Biden’s presidency.

The administration said most of the after-action reviews, which were transmitted privately to Congress on Thursday, were highly classified and would not be released publicly.

“President Biden’s choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by his predecessor,” the White House summary states, noting that when Biden entered office, “the Taliban were in the strongest military position that they had been in since 2001, controlling or contesting nearly half of the country.”

READ MORE: A historical timeline of Afghanistan
[/url]
The report does fault overly optimistic intelligence community assessments about the Afghan army’s willingness to fight, and says Biden followed military commanders’ recommendations for the pacing of the drawdown of U.S. forces.

The White House asserts the mistakes of Afghanistan informed its handling of Ukraine, where the Biden administration has been credited for supporting Kyiv’s [url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/ukraines-zelenskyy-visit-tightens-bonds-with-poland-amid-russian-war]defense against Russia’s invasion. The White House says it simulated worst-case scenarios prior to the February 2022 invasion and moved to release intelligence about Moscow’s intentions months beforehand.

“We now prioritize earlier evacuations when faced with a degrading security situation,” the White House said.
In an apparent attempt to defend its national security decision-making, the Biden administration also notes that it released pre-war warnings over “strong objections from senior officials in the Ukrainian government.”

Republicans in Congress have sharply criticized the Afghanistan withdrawal, focusing on the deaths of 13 service members in a suicide bombing at Kabul’s airport.

Former Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, who was badly wounded in the explosion, told a congressional hearing last month that the withdrawal “was a catastrophe” and “there was an inexcusable lack of accountability.”


WATCH: Mark Frerichs on what his freedom means after being held hostage in Afghanistan for years


National Security Council spokesman John Kirby credited U.S. forces for their actions in running the largest airborne evacuation of noncombatants in history during the chaos of Kabul’s fall.


“They ended our nation’s longest war,” he told reporters. “That was never going to be an easy thing to do. And as the president himself has said, it was never going to be low grade or low risk or low cost.”


Since the U.S. withdrawal, Biden has blamed the February 2020 agreement Trump reached with the Taliban in Doha, Qatar, saying it boxed the U.S. into leaving the country. The agreement gave the Taliban significant legitimacy and has been blamed by analysts for undercutting the U.S.-backed government, which would collapse so quickly a year later.


But the agreement also gave the U.S. the right to withdraw from the accord if Afghan peace talks failed — which they did.


The agreement required the U.S. to remove all forces by May 1, 2021. Biden pushed a full withdrawal to September but declined to delay further, saying it would prolong a war that had long needed to end.


AP writers Josh Boak and Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.

But then we have on the other side:

[Luvnit2]

Here are the facts on Biden's current grade (polling) on how he has handled foreign policy. As you can see, he is way underwater.
Polling Data
Poll Date Sample
Approve
Disapprove
Spread
RCP Average 9/5 - 9/19 -- 40.0 57.0 -17.0
Economist/YouGov 9/17 - 9/19 1303 RV 41 51 -10
Harvard-Harris 9/12 - 9/14 2103 RV 40 60 -20
FOX News 9/9 - 9/12 1012 RV 38 58 -20
CBS News 9/5 - 9/8 2335 A 41 59 -18
All President Biden Job Approval - Foreign Policy Polling Data

Here is Biden discussing troop withdraw in 2007.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4985031/user-clip-81207-biden-withdrawing-troops

Then he does not do what he said was needed and does a speedy deadly withdraw of troops in Afghanistan. We lose lives, allies lose lives and we leave around billions in equipment and weapons to be used against us in the middle east.

Libs can try all day long, Trump's foreign policy was far superior to Biden's foreign policy. Biden is helping Iran, the #1 state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Biden's team has emboldened Iran, lifting sanctions and giving them 6 billion dollars for hostages. Now, Hamas who Iran sponsors slaughters innocent Jews and takes hostages. Biden has blood on his hands. He showed the world he would negotiate with terrorists.

[GMDino]

(10-11-2023, 10:40 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Here are the facts on Biden's current grade (polling) on how he has handled foreign policy. As you can see, he is way underwater.
Polling Data
Poll Date Sample
Approve
Disapprove
Spread
RCP Average 9/5 - 9/19 -- 40.0 57.0 -17.0
Economist/YouGov 9/17 - 9/19 1303 RV 41 51 -10
Harvard-Harris 9/12 - 9/14 2103 RV 40 60 -20
FOX News 9/9 - 9/12 1012 RV 38 58 -20
CBS News 9/5 - 9/8 2335 A 41 59 -18
All President Biden Job Approval - Foreign Policy Polling Data

Here is Biden discussing troop withdraw in 2007.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4985031/user-clip-81207-biden-withdrawing-troops

Then he does not do what he said was needed and does a speedy deadly withdraw of troops in Afghanistan. We lose lives, allies lose lives and we leave around billions in equipment and weapons to be used against us in the middle east.

Libs can try all day long, Trump's foreign policy was far superior to Biden's foreign policy. Biden is helping Iran, the #1 state sponsor of terrorism in the world. Biden's team has emboldened Iran, lifting sanctions and giving them 6 billion dollars for hostages. Now, Hamas who Iran sponsors slaughters innocent Jews and takes hostages. Biden has blood on his hands. He showed the world he would negotiate with terrorists.

I don't care.

Biden has more experience that the entire Trump family put together.  That Jared and P01135809 gave Israel absolutely everything they wanted doesn't mean they understand foreign policy.

Polls mean nothing.  If we haven't learned that yet I can't help you.

And you ignored all the attacks and foreign leaders who went right on doing what they do even when the fake tough guy was POTUS from 2017-2020

[Luvnit2]

(10-11-2023, 11:13 AM)GMDino Wrote: I don't care.

Biden has more experience that the entire Trump family put together.  That Jared and P01135809 gave Israel absolutely everything they wanted doesn't mean they understand foreign policy.

Polls mean nothing.  If we haven't learned that yet I can't help you.

And you ignored all the attacks and foreign leaders who went right on doing what they do even when the fake tough guy was POTUS from 2017-2020

If Biden was doing a good job on foreign policy, he would have great poll numbers. But he has done a bad job and even Democrats agree he can't handle foreign policy.  Biden's job is to keep or country safe, Trump is no the enemy that Biden and liberals like you go after day after day.

The enemy is lurking and Biden's open border gave them a huge opening to enter our country. Trump has never said death to liberals, but Iran has said death to Israel and to the US. Yet, liberals choose to go after a political foe versus true threats. The Biden intelligence community was caught flat footed by Hamas. Maybe time for them to focus on countries and terror groups that hate America.

[Luvnit2]

(10-11-2023, 01:44 AM)pally Wrote: You’re making things up again as usual.  You have your own little preconceived ideas and you will continue ignore any notion that doesn’t fit the narrative you’ve been fed.  

Whatever…I’m done with you. There is no conversation to be had with someone like you who makes up his own facts and parrots lies. You’re not worth the energy

Typical, can't have a debate or conversation. I provided you information. Here is some more, but you don't like facts, because facts kill your argument and make you look petty. I will continue to use the #1 cable news source for information. You can choose to use yours.

https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/hamas-attack-israel-war

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., ignored questions Tuesday when a Fox News reporter repeatedly asked for comment on a horrific report that Hamas beheaded Israeli babies.


FOX Business reporter Hillary Vaughn confronted the far-left "Squad" member, who has criticized Israel for the attack, as she walked through a hallway on Tuesday.

"Congresswoman, Hamas terrorists have cut off babies' heads and burned children alive. Do you support Israel's rights to defend themselves against this brutality?" Vaughn asked. However, Tlaib did not acknowledge the questions.

"You can’t comment about Hamas terrorists chopping off babies’ heads? Congresswoman, do you have a comment on Hamas terrorists chopping off babies’ heads?" Vaugh persisted. "You have nothing to say about Hamas terrorists chopping off babies’ heads? Do you condone what Hamas has done chopping off babies’ heads, burning children alive, raping women in the streets? You have no comment about children’s heads being chopped off?" 

Tlaib and her staff entered an elevator without responding. 

Local Israeli news outlet i24News reported Tuesday that as IDF soldiers moved into Kfar Aza, one of the communities Hamas terrorists invaded early Saturday morning, they discovered about 40 dead babies, some decapitated.

"It’s not a war, it’s not a battlefield. You see the babies, the mother, the father, in their bedrooms, in their protection rooms, and how the terrorists killed them," IDF Maj. Gen. Itai Veruv said, describing the scene, i24News reported. "It’s a massacre."

[GMDino]

(10-11-2023, 12:09 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: If Biden was doing a good job on foreign policy, he would have great poll numbers. But he has done a bad job and even Democrats agree he can't handle foreign policy.  Biden's job is to keep or country safe, Trump is no the enemy that Biden and liberals like you go after day after day.

The enemy is lurking and Biden's open border gave them a huge opening to enter our country. Trump has never said death to liberals, but Iran has said death to Israel and to the US. Yet, liberals choose to go after a political foe versus true threats. The Biden intelligence community was caught flat footed by Hamas. Maybe time for them to focus on countries and terror groups that hate America.

No he would not necessarily have good poll numbers.  Depends on who is polled.  Depends on who did the polling.  How ere the questions phrased.

The "enemy" is always lurking.  Some people just choose to ignore it because their preferred leader is in charge without paying attention to the reality of the world.  Creating fear is how these guys get support.  It's why some people prefer dictators and ruthless leaders.

Not naming any names.

[GMDino]

https://x.com/SonofHas/status/1710790199943242211?s=20

[*Nately120*]

(10-11-2023, 12:39 PM)GMDino Wrote: No he would not necessarily have good poll numbers.  Depends on who is polled.  Depends on who did the polling.  How ere the questions phrased.

The "enemy" is always lurking.  Some people just choose to ignore it because their preferred leader is in charge without paying attention to the reality of the world.  Creating fear is how these guys get support.  It's why some people prefer dictators and ruthless leaders.

Not naming any names.

Biden's numbers are low, so low that if a significant portion of the GOP's base weren't absolutely obsessed with Trump they'd almost certainly control all 3 branches of our government after the 2024 election.  This makes the back and forth going on in this thread even more oddly interesting.

[*pally*]

(10-11-2023, 01:44 PM)Nately120 Wrote: Biden's numbers are low, so low that if a significant portion of the GOP's base weren't absolutely obsessed with Trump they'd almost certainly control all 3 branches of our government after the 2024 election.  This makes the back and forth going on in this thread even more oddly interesting.

But, would Biden's numbers be so low if not for the fact that a significant portion of the GOP is absolutely obsessed with Trump?  I don't think so.

[Stewy]

For me it has nothing to do with Biden.

I will feel safe with ANYONE but Trump in the WH. Trump is a narcissistic madman, who cares only about himself.

[Dill]

(10-11-2023, 12:39 PM)GMDino Wrote: No he would not necessarily have good poll numbers.  Depends on who is polled.  Depends on who did the polling.  How ere the questions phrased.

The "enemy" is always lurking.  Some people just choose to ignore it because their preferred leader is in charge without paying attention to the reality of the world.  Creating fear is how these guys get support.  It's why some people prefer dictators and ruthless leaders.

Not naming any names.

It also depends on the kind of disinformation pumped out by the #1 cable news show.

[Dill]

(10-11-2023, 12:13 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote:
But you were OK when the Chinese hacked Hillary Clinton's classified emails?????

Did you hear that on the #1 cable news show?

[Dill]

(10-11-2023, 12:13 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Typical, can't have a debate or conversation. I provided you information. Here is some more, but you don't like facts, because facts kill your argument and make you look petty. I will continue to use the #1 cable news source for information. You can choose to use yours.

https://www.foxnews.com/live-news/hamas-attack-israel-war

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., ignored questions Tuesday when a Fox News reporter repeatedly asked for comment on a horrific report that Hamas beheaded Israeli babies.
FOX Business reporter Hillary Vaughn confronted the far-left "Squad" member, who has criticized Israel for the attack, as she walked through a hallway on Tuesday.
"Congresswoman, Hamas terrorists have cut off babies' heads and burned children alive. Do you support Israel's rights to defend themselves against this brutality?" Vaughn asked. However, Tlaib did not acknowledge the questions.

I think Pally was upset because you provided a little too much information--like claiming your poll showed support for Hamas when it did not. 

So she does not like "facts" created solely in your posts, though I don't think that makes HER look petty.

What was Tlaib's criticism of Israel, by the way?  

[BigPapaKain]

(10-11-2023, 08:06 PM)Stewy Wrote: For me it has nothing to do with Biden.

I will feel safe with ANYONE but Trump in the WH.  Trump is a narcissistic madman, who cares only about himself.

I feel like this pretty much sums up most of American's thoughts on the whole deal.

[BigPapaKain]

(10-12-2023, 08:05 AM)Dill Wrote: Did you hear that on the #1 cable news show?

#1 news show? But wouldn't that mean that it's MAINTSTREAM MEDIA *haunted house noises*?

[*Nately120*]

(10-12-2023, 03:27 PM)BigPapaKain Wrote: I feel like this pretty much sums up most of American's thoughts on the whole deal.

Trump loves America so much that he put himself in great legal jeopardy the likes of which we've never seen in order to protect our top secret information from falling into the hands of crooked Joe Biden who isn't even the president.

Shame on all of us for allowing the liberal media to brainwash us into thinking anything else could even be possible.  

[GMDino]

P01135809 allowed Iran to sell oil by granting waivers in 2018.  He literally funded Iran.  THEN he froze the assets in SK a year later.

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-oil-waiver-iran-hamas-israel-1833864#:~:text=In%202018%2C%20Trump%20granted%20eight,Tehran%20than%20predecessor%20Barack%20Obama.

Quote:In the wake of the Hamas attack against Israel, some Republicans said that the Biden administration helped play a role in the violence by unfreezing $6 billion of Iranian oil money in exchange for the release of five American hostages.


The accusation, which has been dismissed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the White House National Security Council (NSC), said the Biden administration's decision to free up $6 billion in frozen money so it can be moved from countries such as South Korea allowed Iran, a supporter of the Islamist militant group, to help Hamas orchestrate the attack.

However, the frozen $6 billion had originated in a decision made by Donald Trump during his time in the White House.
In 2018, Trump granted eight countries, including South Korea, a waiver that allowed them to continue purchasing oil from Iran even after the U.S. imposed sanctions on the Gulf nation after Trump abandoned the Iran nuclear deal as he took a much tougher line against Tehran than predecessor Barack Obama.

This tough line later included the January 2020 assassination of Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Quds Force. Trump then threatened to strike 52 Iranian sites if U.S. assets were targeted.

The 2018 deal meant South Korea held $6 billion in Iranian funds, which were then frozen in 2019 after the Trump administration imposed further sanctions on Iran.



Last month, the Biden administration confirmed that a deal had been struck to free five American hostages in Iran. The deal saw five Iranian prisoners released in exchange, as well as the $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets held in South Korea being freed and transferred to an account in Doha, Qatar, where Iran has not yet accessed it.




...


Trump and several other Republicans suggested Iran used the $6 billion to fund the group designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.



The former president even appeared to suggest that the $6 billion figure was "taxpayer dollars" being given to Hamas by Iran rather than the proceeds of Iran's own oil sales.



On Saturday, soon after Hamas began its attack, the White House National Security Council said the money in question hasn't been accessed by Iran, and even then can only be used for humanitarian purposes.



"Not a single cent from these funds has been spent, and when it is spent, it can only be spent on things like food and medicine for the Iranian people," a spokeswoman for the NSC, Adrienne Watson, said. "These funds have absolutely nothing to do with the horrific attacks today, and this is not the time to spread disinformation."



A similar reassurance was also made by Blinken during an interview on ABC's This Week.



"Not a single dollar from that account has actually been spent to date," Blinken said. "And in any event, it's very carefully and closely regulated by the Treasury Department to make sure that it's only used for food, for medicine, for medical equipment."



Ali Vaez, the International Crisis Group's Iran project director, also rejected suggestions that Iran has accessed the $6 billion in unfrozen South Korean funds.





Then-President Donald Trump signs a document reinstating sanctions against Iran on May 8, 2018, in Washington, D.C. Trump claimed the Biden administration assisted Hamas' attack Israel by unfreezing $6 billion of Iranian oil money.SAUL LOEB/AFP/GETTY IMAGES



"All the U.S. has done is basically moved restricted assets that Iran had in South Korea to restricted asset and restricted accounts in Doha, through which Iran can only submit requests," Vaez told Newsweek.



"The U.S. actually has oversight over every single order that Iran submits to," Vaez added. "It can veto them. It can freeze the funds again. So, this is a deal that is 100 percent in the interest of the United States."



Critics, however, say the fact that Iran knows it will have access to that $6 billion allows it to free up other funds to spend.



The $6 billion prisoner swap was already heavily criticized by Republicans, with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham suggesting in a September 12 post on X, formerly Twitter, that it could "entice rogue regimes, like Iran, to take even more Americans hostage."



The prisoner swap deal has been brought back into the spotlight by several Republicans taking swipes at Biden.



In a Saturday post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "These Hamas attacks are a disgrace and Israel has every right to defend itself with overwhelming force. Sadly, American taxpayer dollars helped fund these attacks, which many reports are saying came from the Biden Administration."



House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, one of two confirmed candidates for the vacant House speaker role, wrote on X on October 7: "The Biden Administration must be held accountable for its appeasement of these Hamas terrorists, including handing over billions of dollars to them and their Iranian backers."




Update 10/12/23, 12:30 p.m. ET: This article was updated with further background information.

[*pally*]

Let's also be clear about that $6 billion...The attack by Hamas was not planned in the less than 3 weeks between the Iranian deal and the attack. The weapons were not obtained in that time period. This attack took months and months to plan and train for. The weapons and missiles were obtained months before the attack