President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter in Israel on Wednesday what made him confident that the Israelis weren’t behind the explosion that killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital on Tuesday.

Biden responded that it was “the data I was shown by my Defense Department.”

Two U.S. officials told ABC News the Pentagon independently concluded the Gaza hospital blast was likely caused by an errant Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that fell short of its target.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    93
    arrow-down
    50
    ·
    1 year ago
    1. He was asked on the street by a random reporter.

    2. His quote includes “likely”

    3. For the last couple years Bidens off the cuff remarks haven’t exactly been reliable.

    Yet people are treating this as an official stance of the US Government…

    • li10@feddit.uk
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      56
      arrow-down
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      I’ll take what the president says as the stance of the US government, and I don’t think that’s remotely unreasonable…

      If he’s making mistakes with off the cuff remarks, then he needs to stop making off the cuff remarks.

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        1 year ago

        I’ll take what the president says as the stance of the US government

        It’s certainly more likely to be the correct way if looking at it than it was a few short years ago.

        • fubo@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          23
          arrow-down
          4
          ·
          1 year ago

          Nobody thinks it was Hamas. Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a different Iran-supported group.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            13
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            No one from the US government has said it was anyone…

            Just “it doesn’t look like Israel is responsible”

            Yet people are acting like it’s undeniable proof…

              • Fades@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                arrow-down
                2
                ·
                edit-2
                1 year ago

                The same people who jumped on the Israel definitely bombed that hospital bandwagon are now so sure that nothing short of 100% proof could ever sway them

      • rambaroo@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Biden’s been making stupid off the cuff remarks since the 80s, it’s practically what he’s known for.

    • vertigo3pc@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      46
      arrow-down
      8
      ·
      1 year ago

      “Iraq has WMD’s” is a similar statement, backed by an entire administration, that also led to unnecessary deaths.

      Its a political statement, because if Israel did attack the hospital, then that’s another outright war crime right after Israel was threatened by Jordan, Lebanon, and Iran.

    • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      32
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      Uh, did you miss this part?

      Two U.S. officials told ABC News the Pentagon independently concluded

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        19
        arrow-down
        17
        ·
        1 year ago

        The embedded tweet:

        While we continue to collect information, our current assessment, based on analysis of overhead imagery, intercepts and open source information, is that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday.

        So the investigation isn’t concluded, there might not have even been an official investigation, and all they’re saying is Israel “isn’t responsible”.

        None of what OPs headline claims.

        • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          18
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          That’s a tweet from the white house national security council. That’s completely independent of the article’s claim that two pentagon officials gave them info.

          • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            6
            arrow-down
            18
            ·
            1 year ago

            So those two officials haven’t officially said it…

            And even if they did say it to journalists, there’s nothing to back it up?

            • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              16
              arrow-down
              6
              ·
              1 year ago

              What exactly are you trying to get at? I’ve literally rebuked every claim you’ve made, but your stance just seems to boil down to “they are lying.”

      • gmtom@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Wow shocker the pentagon is defending its close partner in the war. Ill beleive them when they actually release evidence not just “The pentagon said so.”

    • Stamau123@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      4
      ·
      1 year ago
      1. He was asked on the street by a random reporter.

      Out of anything this is the strangest complaint. Why wouldn’t he answer a street reporter?

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        31
        ·
        1 year ago

        Because Biden’s biggest fans have spent years defending his misspeaking by saying his stutter makes him get words mixed up when he’s randomly asked questions…

        So when he’s stopped to get asked a random question, we need to wait a day or two to see if that’s what he really meant to say, or if his stutter made him somehow say the wrong words again.

        • NewNewAccount@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          14
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          If the administration comes out with a revision or clarified updated statement then I’ll likely accept that too. For now, words out of the presidents literal mouth are as much of an official statement that I need.