Rep. Mike Pence isn’t confused about whether to side with Turkey or Israel. He took to the House floor and his comments included this straightforward  assessment:

The complicity of Turkey in launching a flotilla to challenge the blockade in Gaza, the ensuing violence that occurred, the grievous loss of life, is deeply troubling to those of us who have supported the U.S.-Turkish alliance in the past. A few things need to be said. We grieve the loss of life but Israel has a right to defend itself. And Turkey must know that America will stand with Israel in her inviolate right to defend herself. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Ten thousand tons of food and medical supplies are transferred into Gaza every single week. And the blockade has saved lives. Hamas used the Gaza strip to launch vicious and brutal attacks, thousands of rockets on civilians. It cost lives in Gaza, it cost lives in Israel. Turkey needs to count the cost. Turkey needs to decide whether its present course is in its long-term interest. But America will stand with Israel.

It’s impossible to imagine the administration doing anything remotely like this — either in public or private. The administration wants to gin up an international inquest to go after Israel but has said virtually nothing about Turkey’s complicity in this.

It is not that the administration is being “evenhanded.” That would be a vast improvement over where we are now. Instead, by egging on international bodies and by withholding unqualified support for our ally, Obama has thrown his lot in with Turkey, and by extension the patron and new puppeteer of the Middle East — Iran, of course. What’s next, cozying up to its junior partner in Syria? Oh, well, yes. Warning Israel not to strike Iran’s nuclear facility? Oh, yes. Only the most deluded or those willing to carry water for the administration while knowing full well the consequences of its policies (yes, that’s you, Mr. Ross) can fail to recognize what is going on here.