President Biden recently condemned Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians. “It’s abhorrent,” he said. “The brutality of Hamas’ bloodthirstiness brings to mind the worst rampages of ISIS.”

Our aged commander-in-chief must have forgotten the $6 billion in “humanitarian aid” he sent to Iran over the last month. Though the Biden administration is scrambling to freeze the transfer, it’s too late; Iran has already freed up its own funds to support terrorist activity. 

Despite White House calls for ceasefire and deescalation, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Hamas’ new war is partly funded and coordinated by the Iranian terrorist regime, which has been reinvigorated with billions of dollars from the American government. America needs to rethink its copious “humanitarian” support of hostile states.

For starters, the U.S. should stop sending aid to corrupt nations that want to see it wiped from the face of the earth. 

Over 1,400 Israeli civilians have been massacred in Israel, and thousands more injured. Hamas is openly celebrating its military support from Iran: “We thank the Islamic Republic of Iran who provided us with weapons, money and other equipment! He gave us missiles to destroy Zionist fortresses, and helped us with standard anti-tank missiles!” 

This is nothing new. In 2006, Hamas received $22 million from Qassem Soleimani -- the Iranian general killed under Trump in 2020. In 2018, Deputy Hamas chief Salih al-Arouri complimented Iran on its support of the Gaza “resistance,” stating, “What Iran provides the resistance is not symbolic or superficial. It is real, central and essential to the resistance’s undertaking…”

In 2021, Iranian commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh admitted how, “all the missiles you might see in Gaza and Lebanon were created with Iran’s support.”

The U.S. even has its own report showing how the regime spends $1 billion a year on terrorists.

So why are we sending billions in “humanitarian aid”? And why has the Biden administration been so diligent in enacting sanction waivers to allow Iran to work with China and Russia on nuclear developments?

With the massacre unfolding, Ayatollah Khamenei tweeted a video of Israelis fleeing in terror with the caption: “God willing, the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region.” That $6 billion in freed-up funds is not being used for humanitarian purposes. We shouldn't forget that Iran executes its own citizens for speaking out against the regime’s abuses. 

This isn’t the first time American involvement led to humanitarian crises. Ukraine's 2014 Euromaidan uprising against Russian-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych was supported by the CIA. Reports show how, since 2015,  the agency trained neo-Nazi groups like Azov to radicalize local populaces for Western interests. 

We have given over $100 billion for what is looking to be Ukraine's war to lose. Almost half a million are now dead as a result, and American weapons are stolen, captured, and sold off by Russian forces to Iran. 

Biden’s haphazard Afghanistan retreat left $8 billion in military equipment -- including drones, tanks, and machine guns -- to the Taliban. Despite this, Afghanistan still receives American money: over $2 billion in “humanitarian aid” since 2022. It’s been reported by Sama News Agency, a Palestinian paper, that small arms abandoned in Afghanistan have been spotted being used by Hamas in Gaza. 

The Biden administration's careless foreign policy shows how disastrous interference actually is. Money officially intended for “humanitarian aid” is evidently emboldening terrorist groups to carry out their heinous attacks. We’re funding the very people who want to see us, and our allies, six feet under. Our track record proves how bribing hostile states will only incentivize them to commit more atrocities, not less. 

The horrors in southern Israel were funded by American tax dollars and military equipment. This has to stop. 

Connor Vasile is a law student and Young Voices contributor who writes on American politics and economics. You can find him on Twitter @connor_vasile.

Image: AFP