Perhaps Joe Biden and Merrick Garland got too cute by half this week. In response to the murder of an American held hostage by Hamas, the Department of Justice unveiled an indictment against several leaders of Hamas, rather than treat it as an act of war. The indictment lists the deaths of over 40 Americans, while at least half of the defendants are already dead -- and the US wants to negotiate with two of the three still above room temperature.

Clearly, the US has no intention of arresting Yahya Sinwar. However, Republicans in Congress point out that his co-defendant Khaled Meshaal, now head of Hamas' politburo, resides in Qatar. Surely Joe Biden and Merrick Garland can demand Meshaal's extradition from such a key ally, Senator Ted Budd and other Republicans on Capitol Hill assert:

Multiple Republican lawmakers who’ve been critical of Qatar said they support efforts to ensure that Qatar turns Mershaal over for trial in the United States. Some also said the indictments were long overdue.

“Although the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Qatar, we would expect a major non-NATO ally to comply with any request to extradite a terrorist leader responsible for the murder and kidnapping of U.S. citizens,” Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), a lead sponsor of legislation seeking to reevaluate the U.S.’ relationship with Qatar, told JI. ...

Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) said in a statement to JI that the U.S. should “utilize every resource at its disposal to bring Hamas leaders to justice including a ramped up pressure campaign to demand the Qatari government cooperate with federal authorities and quit harboring terrorists like Khaled Meshaal.”

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) called for “pressure on the Qatari government to facilitate the extradition of Khaled Meshaal so he can face trial in the US,” adding, “We should not allow our security partners to harbor Hamas leaders and help them escape justice.”

Well, why wouldn't the DoJ seek extradition? It's true that we don't have an extradition treaty with Qatar at the moment, but that doesn't prevent the US from requesting it. Given the amount of money and protection Qatar gets from us, we certainly have some leverage, although that already comes with significant strings. Garland and Biden rolled out that indictment as the formal response to the mass (and serial) murders of Americans. If that doesn't necessitate an extradition request, what would?

Biden and Garland likely won't even bother to ask. They refused to comment when Jewish Insider's Marc Rod asked them for a response to the challenge from Republicans in Congress, and probably weren't prepared for the question. The indictment was just lawfare theater in the first place -- a way for Biden and Garland to virtue-signal after the murder of Hersh Goldberg-Polin by Hamas terrorists to prevent his liberation from nearby IDF forces. 

Neither of them seriously desire to prosecute Hamas leaders for these acts of murder and terrorism. Biden is too desirous of negotiating with Meshaal and Sinwar to achieve some sort of foreign-policy victory at any cost, including the lives of Americans. The indictment is nothing more than an empty threat, a legal fugazi that allows Biden to claim seriousness while doing nothing to punish an Iranian proxy terror network that's killing Americans with impunity. 

Biden and Garland are weak and impotent men in an era where weakness and impotence are very dangerous to us all. And Meshaal and Sinwar know it.