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US President Joe Biden, in his address from the Oval Office, slammed 'terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin' and hailed the US as a 'beacon to the world', despite a chequered American interventionist record abroad that has left a trail of anarchy-fueled terrorism in West Asia and Afghanistan during the formative decades of the 21st century.

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Biden's address came after his wartime visit to West Asia that was forced to be cut down to only Israel after Jordan called off a four-way summit between the top leaders of Washington, Amman, Cairo and Ramallah—the de-facto administrative capital of Palestine Authority. The development emerged as a setback for the Biden administration which had deployed its Secretary of State Antony Blinken for engagements in the region in the immediate days following the beginning of the war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. 

Biden said that during his visit to Israel, he told the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "we cannot give up on peace" while referring to the purported "mistakes" the US made in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. The "mistakes" that Biden referred to, include an invasion of Iraq under the false pretext of Weapons of Mass Destruction that left over 300,000 Iraqis dead, according to Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

This was preceded by an invasion of Afghanistan as a "war against terror" that concluded twenty years later in August 2021 following a devastating American withdrawal that reinstated hardliner Taliban as the country's rulers. 

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Biden hails India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor amid Israel-Hamas war

Biden, however, hailed the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor -- announced earlier this year at the New Delhi G20 summit -- as a project that is aimed at building a "better future for the Middle East", and the one that will make West Asia "more stable, better connected to its neighbours". 

Biden said that with the "innovative projects such as India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor that we announced earlier this year in the summit of the world's biggest economies", the region will benefit with "predictable markets, more employment, less rage and less grievances."

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"It benefits the people of the Middle East. It benefits us."

Russia and Hamas are out to 'annihilate' democracies: Biden

Biden on Thursday (October 19) claimed that Hamas and Russia are both out to "annihilate" democracies and made the case for assistance to Ukraine and Israel as a vital US interest.

Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin "represent different threats but they share this in common: they both want to completely annihilate a neighbouring democracy," Biden said.

Biden said that he would ask the US Congress to approve massive funding to help Ukraine and Israel, stating that it would become an investment that would strengthen the United States' future as a global leader.

"It is a smart investment that's going to pay dividends for American security for generations," Biden said.

"America is a beacon to the world. Still. Still," he said.

The White House is reportedly preparing a huge request to Congress for a $100 billion package that would include funding for Israel in its war against Hamas and also for Ukraine amid its war with Russia.

Right before the speech, Joe Biden spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Also read : Ukraine attacks Russian targets with missile system secretly given by the US

In Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Biden backed Israel's effort to dismantle Hamas after the October 7 attacks by the Palestinian group left more than 1,400 Israeli civilians dead.

Biden is credited with having brokered a deal to get limited aid through Egypt into the Gaza Strip, where Israeli bombing since has killed at least 3,785 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments on the Israel-Palestine conflict after the Hamas attacks. However, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos. 

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