This essay by Jake Sullivan captures just how delusional the administration was about the Middle East prior to October 7:
Jake Sullivan wrote an essay for Foreign Affairs that went to print before Oct 7. For the online version that came out yesterday, they let him not just add new material but scrub the sections embarrassed by events. Some deleted gems from the original, not available online (1/6): pic.twitter.com/53e7E2Di9g
— Jeremy Stern (@JeremySternLA) October 25, 2023