The U.S. has been careful in its response to the deadly raid and has not joined the international condemnation of Israel's use of force to stop the ships after its commandos were attacked as they rappelled down from helicopters.
"Israel has an absolute right to deal with its security interest," Biden said in an interview on PBS's "Charlie Rose" show, while reiterating the Obama administration's support for a transparent, impartial investigation of what happened.
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A day earlier, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs did not question Israel's motives in trying to enforce its 3-year-old blockade of Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas, designated by the State Department as a foreign terrorist organization.
Of course, it's hardly surprising the United States won't condemn an at best questionable blockade, as that might raise questions about some other blockades.
What is interesting is that as a spokesman for the US government, the vice-president seems to be endorsing the idea that Israel is not bound by international law. The legal case is fairly clear: Israel has no business attacking ships sailing under a foreign flag in international waters and murdering passengers on board those ships. What Israel did constitutes either piracy or an act of war against Turkey.
Except according to the White House, Israel doesn't seem to be subject to any kind of law. Again, it isn't that surprising that the United States don't want military actions to be put under too much juridical scrutiny, but still. If, say, an Arab state were to violate international law, you can be sure we'll never hear the end of it, not to mention how hideously awful it is when an organization like Hamas violates an international agreement. But strangely, when Israel does the same thing, it's defended.
It's depressing, but again, not surprising, to see that the Obama administration is equally in thrall to the Israel lobby as the previous administrations were. And it's even more depressing, and actively disgusting, to see Israel's useful idiots dress up an act of piracy in international waters as "self-defence".
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