Obama Fiddles While Gaza Burns

BlackAsCoal

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Oct 13, 2008
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Obama Fiddles While Gaza Burns

excepts ..

Thanks to Hamas' stupid, provocative, and self-defeating rocket assault on, well, nothing, in Israel, the Middle East that Barack Obama will inherit from George W. Bush just got a lot more complicated. And, sadly, Obama seems content to fiddle while Gaza burns.

Yesterday Obama got an official US intelligence briefing on the crisis in Gaza, which may or may not have numbed his brain with data he didn't need. Obama didn't need an intelligence briefing to tell him anything he really needs to know: that, once again, the twin poles of Israeli and Palestinian extremism have flared up in a way that will only undermine, perhaps fatally, the chances of a negotiated accord during Obama's first term in office.

The only useful intelligence Obama might have gained from the briefing is that the Mossad knew, before Israel's massive attack on Gaza, that Hamas was only trying to make a show of force. That is, Hamas' not-too-bright leaders thought that they could get away with a few hundred rocket attacks into Israel and then renegotiate a better ceasefire deal. Like the less-than-brilliant strategists in Georgia, who thought that they could attack Russia with impunity and who instead got their heads handed to them last August, Hamas' own armchair fanatics thought they could get away with it. Oops. The Wall Street Journal reports today:

In recent weeks, Israeli intelligence officials have said they believed Hamas doesn't want a full-scale confrontation, but rather wants to make a show of force before seeking a renewed cease-fire on more favorable terms.

If that's true, and there's little reason to think it isn't, it was certainly within Israel's power to exercise restraint -- or perhaps to engage in a little tit-for-tat counterattacks -- while waiting for things to settle down. But, no. Hamas, for its part, should have known that it was firing its rockets directly into Israel's pre-election political mess, in which hardline extremists like Bibi Netanyahu are gaining the upper hand. And the power of those extremists, playing on Israeli public opinion and its fears, pushed the pathetic Olmert-Livni government over the brink. (It's particularly disgusting that Olmert, who in his various exit interviews and speeches has pretty much acknowledged that Israel needs a deal involving the removal of Jewish settlements and the partition of Jerusalem, would go along with the overkill in Gaza.)

But the truly sad thing is see how Obama has opted out. He left the commenting to David Axelrod, his political strategist, who said, mouse-like: "I think he (Obama) wants to get a handle on the situation so that when he becomes president on January 20 he has the advantage of all the facts and information leading up to that point." To that gobbledygook he added that now all-too-familiar nostrum that America has "one president at a time."

It's long past time for the United States to have opened a dialogue with Hamas. As stupid as they are, their leadership is divided and they are not all religious fanatics (though many are) and they are not all living in the fantasy that Hamas can defeat Israel. The same Journal story today notes:

There are indications that the Hamas leadership is divided on how forcefully to respond. When Hamas's traditionally hard-line Damascus-based leader Mr. Meshal urged renewed attacks against Israel earlier this month, local Hamas leaders in Gaza quickly distanced themselves from his statements.

Meanwhile, just as Israel's attack on Lebanon strengthened that country's band of religious fanatics -- Hezbollah -- the Gaza assault is almost guaranteed to end up bolstering Palestine's own religious extremists, including Hamas's more wild-eyed and terrorist-inclined gangs. For some Israeli extremists, that may be exactly what they want, because it pushes a two-state solution that much further away. It would nice, too, if Obama would point that out.

-- more at link
Obama Fiddles While Gaza Burns
 
You do realize he is not president yet? Your comments should be directed to the current president or are you just an Obama complainer.
 
The ONLY thing that the US should do is this:

1. send observers into GAZA to document what is really happening on the ground, and report that honestly to the world; and

2. send humanitarian aide as needed to the Palestinians.

Now, are there ANY objections to this behavior I'm proposing from the zealots on either side of this issue?
 
The ONLY thing that the US should do is this:

1. send observers into GAZA to document what is really happening on the ground, and report that honestly to the world; and

2. send humanitarian aide as needed to the Palestinians.

Now, are there ANY objections to this behavior I'm proposing from the zealots on either side of this issue?

Why should Americans risk their life for terrorists? And aid won't be delivered until Israel lets it be delivered.
 
Its obvious that Obama is waiting to see what the Big Boys will do before he comments.

ummm the BIG BOY is on vacation I believe and has yet to comment on this situation even though he's STILL the POTUS.

I find it just a little disingenuous that there are people who actually believe Obama SHOULD be acting as President when clearly he's not. It's like they want him to have all the responsibility but none of the power to do anything.
 
ummm the BIG BOY is on vacation I believe and has yet to comment on this situation even though he's STILL the POTUS.

I find it just a little disingenuous that there are people who actually believe Obama SHOULD be acting as President when clearly he's not. It's like they want him to have all the responsibility but none of the power to do anything.
Actually Bush is on a working vacation, per usual.

I find very disingenuous that the same people who defend Obama for keeping his mouth shut now didn't have a problem with him making forays into international politics during his campaign. :eusa_whistle:
 
You do realize he is not president yet? Your comments should be directed to the current president or are you just an Obama complainer.

You do recognize that Obama has spoken out on foreign policy, and in fact, altered US foreign policy (Georgia, strikes inside Pakistan) .. before now do you not?
 
The ONLY thing that the US should do is this:

1. send observers into GAZA to document what is really happening on the ground, and report that honestly to the world; and

2. send humanitarian aide as needed to the Palestinians.

Now, are there ANY objections to this behavior I'm proposing from the zealots on either side of this issue?

I agree with both, except I would add a 3rd. Speak out as forcefully about Israeli over-reach and "proportionality" as we did against the Russians responding to attacks by Georgia.

Failure to do so demonstrates the hypocrisy of our position.
 
Actually Bush is on a working vacation, per usual.

I find very disingenuous that the same people who defend Obama for keeping his mouth shut now didn't have a problem with him making forays into international politics during his campaign. :eusa_whistle:

ummm during the campaign he was establishing that he had the ABILITY to BE President, remember....since there were those who said he didn't have the qualifications or experience necessary.... he had to PROVE that he did....now he just has to wait to be sworn in to apply those abilities.

and :lol: working vacation.... yeah....that's what they call it... :lol:
 
ummm the BIG BOY is on vacation I believe and has yet to comment on this situation even though he's STILL the POTUS.

I find it just a little disingenuous that there are people who actually believe Obama SHOULD be acting as President when clearly he's not. It's like they want him to have all the responsibility but none of the power to do anything.

I asked you before .. how many presidents were there when Obama spoke out against Russian aggression even though they were attacked by Georgia.

It is the height of lunacy to believe that nobody can see our unbalanced approach to the ME.

Obama isn't saying anything because the ONLY thing he can say it what pleases Israel. That's all he allowed to say.

His silence is speaking volumes.
 
Actually Bush is on a working vacation, per usual.

I find very disingenuous that the same people who defend Obama for keeping his mouth shut now didn't have a problem with him making forays into international politics during his campaign. :eusa_whistle:



it's that mile wide hypocritical streak runs down their backsides, they cannot help it. :eusa_shhh:
 
I don't really think there is anything Bush or Obama can do to solve this situation. The events just need to play themselves out till the ultimate end, which is pretty clear if you see the writing on the wall. Isarel, surrounded by hostile forces, which are growing stronger with each fill up of gasoline here in America and throughout the world will continue to be attacked by better and better weapons. Soon, missles and rockets will be fired into Tel Aviv itself.

Isarel will strike back, to be sure. And the game will go on.

But there is one thing in the Arab playbook Isarel has no answer for. Israeli historian Benny Morris explains:


The fourth immediate threat to Israel’s existence is internal. It is posed by the country’s Arab minority. Over the past two decades, Israel’s 1.3 million Arab citizens have been radicalized, with many openly avowing a Palestinian identity and embracing Palestinian national aims. Their spokesmen say that their loyalty lies with their people rather than with their state, Israel. Many of the community’s leaders, who benefit from Israeli democracy, more or less publicly supported Hezbollah in 2006 and continue to call for “autonomy” (of one sort or another) and for the dissolution of the Jewish state.

Demography, if not Arab victory in battle, offers the recipe for such a dissolution. The birth rates for Israeli Arabs are among the highest in the world, with 4 or 5 children per family (as opposed to the 2 or 3 children per family among Israeli Jews).

If present trends persist, Arabs could constitute the majority of Israel’s citizens by 2040 or 2050. Already, within five to 10 years, Palestinians (Israeli Arabs coupled with those who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip) will form the majority population of Palestine (the land lying between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean).

Friction between Israeli Arabs and Jews is already a cogent political factor. In 2000, at the start of the second intifada, thousands of Arab youngsters, in sympathy with their brethren in the territories, rioted along Israel’s major highways and in Israel’s ethnically mixed cities.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/opinion/30morris.html?pagewanted=2&em

I imagine more and more Jews will be moving here to the United States.
 
What Obama is demonstrating is what is viewed as "bold leadership" by centrists.

Never take a stand unless you have to, then make sure you leave yourself a way out.

Stand on the fence and wait for the wind to blow you into a "good decision."

Bold leadership.
 
I don't really think there is anything Bush or Obama can do to solve this situation. The events just need to play themselves out till the ultimate end, which is pretty clear if you see the writing on the wall. Isarel, surrounded by hostile forces, which are growing stronger with each fill up of gasoline here in America and throughout the world will continue to be attacked by better and better weapons. Soon, missles and rockets will be fired into Tel Aviv itself.

Isarel will strike back, to be sure. And the game will go on.

But there is one thing in the Arab playbook Isarel has no answer for. Israeli historian Benny Morris explains:


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/opinion/30morris.html?pagewanted=2&em

I imagine more and more Jews will be moving here to the United States.

By then America will no longer be majority white .. but that doesn't signal the end of America.

If America can make peace with its non-white population with the ugly ass history it has, then so can Israel with its non-Jewish population.
 
What Obama is demonstrating is what is viewed as "bold leadership" by centrists.
Never take a stand unless you have to, then make sure you leave yourself a way out.
Stand on the fence and wait for the wind to blow you into a "good decision."
Bold leadership.
The best description I've heard so far of Obama has been "The Hesitant Elect".
 

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