There is nothing new about this president saying one thing and then disavowing it quickly thereafter.
Were I a cartoonist I would be more inclined to draw a picture of Obama stabbing Israel in the back.
Granted, Obama faces some awesome and momentous problems which, in large measure, are due to his own naivety and policies based on arrogance and misjudgement. All of his Middle East bowing and scraping earned him scorn. All of his appeasing stances earned him contempt. All of his apologizing has made him a laughing stock. Iran continues to play him like a fiddle as he dawdles with his scripted sanctions. Sanctions that tighten the fiscal screws while Russia supplies Iran and Syria with more weaponry and while Syrians are murdered in cold blood by their own government.
Obama misjudged the Arab Spring takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood. To save face, he concluded they were not radical. He thought he could do business with Assad so he reopened our Embassy only to have our Ambassador attacked. He pulled out of Iraq and the nation is less stable today than when GW left office. Libya remains a fractured nation but no one reports about it so we no longer know or care about what is going on there. Pakistan and Afghanistan have pulled away from their dubious relationship with us knowing we are going to pull out ourselves. The Taliban, like vultures, wait from their perch ready to reimpose Sharia law.
These are not conclusions written to make Obama look bad. They are facts for all to see who care to see.
Meanwhile, Secretary Clinton keeps thinking she can press that famous re-set button and Putin will roll over like a yuppy puppy so she can scratch his tummy.
Four more years of this nonsense stares us in the face because Republicans seem incapable of offering anything better and coherent. Gingrich tells us he can wave his energy wand and gas prices will plunge to $2.50 per gallon. The market will determine the price of gasoline not Gingrich. Price goes up demand goes down. Price goes down demand goes up.
Obama tells us algae and wind are the solution to our energy needs so he decides to defer building a pipeline and imposes higher costs on oil companies and sends billions of dollars to Brazil..
Santorum tells us the most pressing issue is birth control pills and that Rep. from Texas has decided America will be better off if we withdraw from the world and hunker down in some Neanderthal cave.
Then we come to Romney who spends millions on his way to the nomination only to find the yellow brick road is full of potholes.
I was reminded today by a dear friend that Michael Steele, the former GOP Chairman, structured the nominating process (I hate that word) Republicans find themselves in and though I don't know enough to challenge his view I do know Steele was worse than putty!
You would think a nation as great as we once were deserved better but what we are experiencing is, in large measure, of our own doing. We walked away from Constitutional guidance and allowed ourselves to get lost in the forest of progressive idiocy. We elected, and then kept returning to office, politicians who bled us, fed us lies and we bought them because we were indifferent and too busy enjoying the good life. The life we were unwilling to pay for thinking we could finesse reality, defy physics and economics.
All the while, we elected a philandering president, who cheated on this wife, because he was youthful and handsome, followed with a president who expanded our society and a cadre of others who proved feckless, moved his lips, felt our pain and up undergarments, fought another war without paying for it fiscally speaking and finally one whose resume was invisible. In between all of them, we did elect a movie star who proved probably one of the best our nation ever chose because he was of the people, knew where he wanted to take us and had a dose of unequaled common sense. He also had a marvelous sense of humor and could communicate in language and manner even the most obtuse could understand.
If we are to get out of the trap we find ourselves in it will take unafraid and capable leadership willing to make decisions we will resist and which must be shoved down our reluctant throats with a huge over sized spoon because they will taste like castor oil.
Do you see someone resembling who I have described? (See 1 below.)
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Ne'eman on Israel and American interests.
From my perspective, Obama is interested in gas prices and re-election and Netanyahu is interested in survival of his nation. This is why Obama sought as pledge from Bibi not to attack until after 2012 and Bibi said no thanks. (See 2 below.)
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Dick
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1)A little long but very worthwhile ... even somewhat entertaining ... listen to the end.
Bernie Marcus is a co-founder of Home Depot ... It is clear he's upset ... I don't know why more people don't understand!!
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2)American Interests, Israeli Existence
By Yisrael Ne'eman
When getting beyond all the speeches and bluster at this week's AIPAC convention we are left with the basic US – Israel disagreement over "where is the Red Line" when it comes to taking out Iran's nuclear facilities. It seems all are focused on the "when" while having forgotten that the entire discussion is totally asymmetrical. US Pres. Obama speaks about "American interests" and overall Western interests such as the price of a barrel of oil. Commentators explain the damage to be done to Western economies should the price continue to rise with doomsday predictions of $200 per barrel. This is considered a very weighty argument when speaking of the results of an Israeli assault on Iran's nuclear facilities. Obama made it clear that America will not let Iran get the "bomb" however the problem is that he like all others, no matter how supposedly accurate their intelligence information, can miscalculate. Such a miscalculation will cost everyone a fair amount of money as Iran will further project its power in the Persian Gulf.
On the other hand Israeli PM Netanyahu, Israel and Jews world wide in general do not calculate the financial loses but rather the existential threat to the continued existence of the State of Israel. Miscalculation leading to Iranian nuclear armament and Tehran's making good on its threat to "wipe Israel off the map" can lead to the extermination of the Jewish State, meaning the elimination of a sizeable part of its Jewish population which makes up some 45% of world Jewry (5.8 million Jews in Israel out of a universal Jewish population of approx. 13 million). One can safely assume that such a catastrophe will lead to quick paced assimilation in the Diaspora as retaining one's Jewish identity in the 21st century would become an increasing burden with little positive attributes for your average non-Orthodox, and/or non-observant Jew. Let's face it, Zionism as Jewish national liberation and the state entity of Israel are all surrogate religious loyalties in today's secular Western world.
In essence the whole US – Israeli disagreement is much more along skew lines, neither parallel nor intersecting at any point if we speak of the bottom line interests of oil prices vs. physical existence. And yes, Netanyahu did invoke the Holocaust and for very good reason.
However there is a confluence of interests but it has little to do with Israel's existence and much more to do with oil and the Arab World. Israel is neither a threat to Iran nor to the Arab World. The clash between Israel and the Palestinians is an over reported, over emphasized sideline issue when compared to what is at stake when considering security in the Persian Gulf. A nuclear Iran acting against the Arab Persian Gulf oil producing states and in particular Saudi Arabia would be a devastating blow to the world economy. A massive non-conventional war could very well paralyze oil exports from the region and bring about the financial collapse of large parts of the world economy. Hence as we know from Wikileaks the Saudis very much favor a military strike against Tehran. We also know that at least for the moment even Muslim Brotherhood officials in Egypt have mentioned the positive role Israel plays by dealing Iran a major blow.
Taking a look into the not too distant past the Arab World proved quite pro-Israel in the summer of 2006 during the Second War in Lebanon (Hezbollah War). The Sunni Arab World realized the threat projected by the Shiite Iranian Hezbollah proxies was a direct danger to their own regimes. Letting the Jewish State pummel Hezbollah (meaning Iran) was a good thing. The fact that Israel did less than a satisfactory job worked to the disadvantage of the Arab states as well. Although it must be pointed out, that Hezbollah suffered enough damage to its interests to prod Nasrallah into keeping the border with Lebanon fairly quiet since then. More recently Iran is steadily encroaching on eastern Iraq and constructing a satellite entity through PM Nuri al-Maliki and is reported to having committed troops alongside of Hezbollah in the expanding Syrian civil conflict turned civil war.
Barak Obama is not Bill Clinton nor is he George Bush when it comes to Israel. The previous two presidents' world view not only included the Atlantic Alliance as a pillar of stability but also saw an emotional theological commitment to Israel's existence. Obama deals much more in "realism" while preferring to court the Muslim World into the American sphere. Israel is one more player on the world scene with no special status or relationship. Israel is viewed as an ally, but one that has its place under the American umbrella where Washington analyzes and calls the shots. Israel has "the right to defend itself" but in essence is to do so only with American approval. For Israelis this is very uncomfortable since one comes to the conclusion that the Jewish State is expendable in the name of American/Western interests. Being small and vulnerable Israel always sought that extra cutting edge in its relationship with Washington. Recently, whatever advantages had been, no longer exist, no matter how many standing ovations Netanyahu will receive either in Congress or at AIPAC conventions. The US administration seeks a deepening relationship in the rapidly changing Arab/Muslim World and Israel is expected to step aside.
That being said it is in the joint Sunni Arab - American interest to knock out the Iranian nuclear program. Hypothetically, assuming Israel did not exist, the continuing conflict between Shiite Iran and the Arab World would not abate for a second. Israel must point out the joint interests it shares with the Arabs on this particular subject at this specific moment and work together with the Arab world to bring about the demise of the Ayatollah ruled Iran. It is imperative that America and the West act to ensure their own economic and security interests by crushing Tehran. As a positive side effect Israel's security will be strengthened.
Or President Obama can go for the postponement whereby Israel may take matters into its own hands and "ruin" whatever plans Washington may have. But one thing is for sure, the Sunni Arab World will support Israeli action against Iran in a fleeting moment of joint geopolitical and economic interests. One would believe the Obama Administration understands all of these factors and is carefully planning its moves against Iran in an effort to build a stronger relationship with the Sunni Arab World. Even if only as a secondary objective in Obama's strategic thinking, Israel will enjoy the extension of the American security umbrella.
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