JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, first, Dana, every loss of innocent life, Palestinian, Israeli, anyone, is a tragedy, every single one. And we grieve for those who have been lost, those innocent lives who have been lost. At the same time, what Israel is facing is a terrorist enemy who hides among civilians, who uses civilians as human shields. And so it has an added burden of trying to prosecute this campaign against that terrorist group while distinguishing between terrorists and innocent civilians. That doesn't lessen its responsibility to operate according to the rules of war, and we have continued to make that point both publicly and privately, and we will continue to do so as we go forward. BASH: Is Israel operating according to the rules of war? SULLIVAN: Well, Dana, I'm not going to sit here and play judge or jury on that question.Flashback:
CNN — The US government has formally declared that members of the Russian armed forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Wednesday.This isn't a defense of Russia. It just isn't my job to pretend these people don't just make up whatever happens to be convenient at the moment, and pretend it's operating according to some noble moral and legal framework.
Not the important thing, but there's this thing about these overcredentialed eggheads genuinely thinking people can't see what they're doing. And, since they own the microphones, will misrepresent your criticisms and get away with it.