transformation!
More Obama betrayals? (See 1 and 1a below.)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
John Lewis has ridden the Civil Rights Horse for years. A fellow black reporter, Jason Riley, portrays Lewis' full story. (See 2 below.)
Virtually all black congresspersons are Democrats. They get returned to office almost automatically and thus gain seniority. This gives them political clout and power yet, the plight of those they represent remains stuck in neutral, at best. Perhaps there is nothing their Representatives can do to help their own or perhaps the party their Representatives belong to takes them for granted knowing they will always get their vote for entitlement crumbs.
Then along comes Trump, asking black voters: "what do you have to lose" and perhaps the bonds have been loosened. Time will tell.
I am not suggesting John Lewis' days in Congress are numbered but Trump did give black voters something to think about. Maybe, if he convinces them, as he will try in his Inaugural Speech, that he is representing all Americans they will listen and some might even be smart enough to believe.
===
Aging and no longer caring what people think and I do has advantages. (See 3 below.)
+++
Obama besmirches the Holocaust Commission, its distinguished Board and the memory of Ellie Weisel by appointing a liar like Ben Rhodes to The Holocaust Commission,
Why didn't he just throw acid in their faces? (See 4 below.)
+++
As I have written time and again, reality is the best medicine when seeking to solve a knotty problem. (See 5 below.)
===
Dick
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1)
President Obama Commutes Chelsea Manning’s Sentence
Former Army intelligence analyst was serving 35 years for leaking secret government information
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama shortened Chelsea Manning’s 35-year prison sentence Tuesday, setting a May release for the former Army intelligence analyst convicted of leaking government secrets.
Mr. Obama’s decision about the transgender former soldier was announced along with more than 200 other commutations and dozens of pardons by the White House three days before he leaves office.
The president also issued a pardon in the case of James Cartwright, a retired four-star general and former vice chairman of the Pentagon’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was awaiting sentencing for lying to authorities investigating leaks about a classified effort against Iran’s nuclear program. Prosecutors had been seeking a two-year prison sentence for Gen. Cartwright, who was one of Mr. Obama’s most-trusted military advisers.
The president’s decisions intensified the national debate about leaks, intelligence and what sort of punishment should be given to those who reveal government secrets.
Republicans immediately criticized the commutation. “This is just outrageous,” said House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.). “Chelsea Manning’s treachery put American lives at risk and exposed some of our nation’s most sensitive secrets. President Obama now leaves in place a dangerous precedent that those who compromise our national security won’t be held accountable for their crimes.”
Commutations shorten the punishment meted out, typically by reducing the time in prison a convict must serve, but they don’t remove the recipient’s criminal record. A pardon wipes their slate clean.
Senior administration officials said Mr. Obama has now granted 1,385 commutations to individuals, more than the previous 12 presidents combined.
More than a third of those commutations were granted to people serving life sentences for drug offenses. Officials said Mr. Obama focused on commutations to relieve those who received what he considered unfair sentences during decades of strict drug laws.
By comparison, Mr. Obama has granted 212 pardons, narrowly exceeding predecessor George W. Bush, who approved 189.
In 2013, Pfc. Bradley Manning was found guilty at a court-martial of providing hundreds of thousands of documents to the website WikiLeaks.
The Army private leaked a video showing a U.S. Army helicopter in Iraq firing on a group of people who turned out to include journalists from Reuters, as well as incident reports from Afghanistan and Iraq, and thousands of secret State Department cables.
In August 2013, less than 24 hours after being sentenced for being the source of one of the biggest classified leaks in U.S. history, Pfc. Manning said she wanted to begin hormone therapy and be known by a new name, Chelsea. In 2016, the Army agreed to allow her to receive medical treatment for gender dysphoria.
Senior administration officials said the president considered Ms. Manning to have committed serious crimes, but also took into consideration the fact that she had faced justice and took responsibility for what she had done.
The president had faced pressure from human rights groups to show mercy to Ms. Manning, who twice attempted suicide last year.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International praised the decision. “This move could quite literally save Chelsea’s life,” said Chase Strangio, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBT Project representing Ms. Manning.
“Chelsea Manning exposed serious abuses, and as a result, her own human rights have been violated by the U.S. government for years,” said Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International U.S.A., adding that the commutation was overdue.
Ms. Manning’s father, Brian Manning, said in an email that he is relieved by Mr. Obama’s decision, adding that Ms. Manning “has served and been punished, both physically and mentally, for long enough.”
Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) said that when he was leading soldiers in Afghanistan, “Private Manning was undermining us by leaking hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks. … We ought not treat a traitor like a martyr.”
In 2010, early in Mr. Obama’s first term, Ms. Manning gave the trove of secret documents to the website WikiLeaks, causing a cascade of public revelations embarrassing to the U.S. government, particularly the State Department, which was led at the time by Hillary Clinton.
Last year, the website, which was founded by Julian Assange, became a key actor in the presidential race, publishing emails from Democratic operatives and a top aide to Mrs. Clinton during her presidential campaign against Republican Donald Trump. U.S. officials have concluded the messages were hacked by the Russian government in a bid to tarnish her candidacy.
Mr. Obama didn’t consider a pardon for Edward Snowden, who in 2013 disclosed classified documents from the National Security Agency on government surveillance programs that he took while working there as a contractor.
The White House said Tuesday that Mr. Snowden didn’t apply for a pardon.
Gen. Cartwright pleaded guilty last year to making false official statements to federal investigators who were investigating leaks to reporters.
Senior administration officials said Gen. Cartwright had taken responsibility for his actions. He served his country honorably for decades, the officials said, and spoke to the reporters in an effort to keep sensitive details from being revealed. “His impressive service to the country, his character and his stated motivation were all high in the president’s calculus when he was reviewing the case,” an official said.
The case against Gen. Cartwright stemmed from an investigation into a leak after David Sanger, a reporter with the New York Times, published an article and a book that exposed secrets about how the U.S. used a computer virus called Stuxnet to sabotage Iran’s nuclear centrifuges.
In a statement, Gen. Cartwright thanked Mr. Obama. “With the greatest pride, I have served my country as a member of the military for more than 40 years,” wrote Gen. Cartwright, who left military service in 2011. “This action allows me to continue that work as a private citizen,” he said, adding that the U.S. is “the greatest nation on earth.”
“I never lost faith in that belief,” he said.
Other actions by Mr. Obama included a pardon for Willie McCovey, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame who pleaded guilty in 1995 to filing a false tax return and was sentenced to probation and a $5,000 fine in 1996. Mr. Obama also pardoned Ian Schrager, the New York hotelier and co-founder of the nightclub Studio 54. He served prison time after pleading guilty to filing a false tax return.
Also winning a commutation Tuesday was Oscar López Rivera, part of a militant group that fought for Puerto Rican independence more than 30 years ago. He was convicted of “seditious conspiracy” to overthrow the U.S. government in connection with his membership in the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN).
He has been in federal prison since 1981. The FALN claimed responsibility for more than 70 bombings across major cities in the U.S. between 1974 and 1983. The attacks in New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., killed five people, injured dozens and caused millions in property damage.
Mr. Rivera’s case has drawn attention from Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Broadway musical “Hamilton,” and other Latin artists who have urged Mr. Obama to commute his sentence.
—Gordon Lubold
and Felicia Schwartz contributed to this article.
and Felicia Schwartz contributed to this article.
1a)
Message body
Isn’t this interesting. Did not know the whole story. Can hardly wait until BO is out of here!!!
“I am proud that such experienced and committed individuals have agreed to serve the
2)The single most prominent characteristic of contemporary America is thatcommon sense has been abandoned to political correctness and "feelings."
As President George W. Bush's top speech writer, Marc Thiessen ( The Kelly
File on FOX ) was provided unique access to the CIA program used in
interrogating top Al Qaeda terrorists, including the mastermind of the 9/11
attack, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM).
Now, his riveting new book, Courting Disaster: How the CIA Kept America
Safe (Regnery), has been published. Here is an excerpt from Courting
Disaster:
"Just before dawn on March 1, 2003, two dozen heavily armed Pakistani
tactical assault forces move in and surround a safe house in Rawalpindi. A
few hours earlier they had received a text message from an informant inside
the house. It read: "I am with KSM."
Bursting in, they find the disheveled mastermind of the 9/11 attacks,
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in his bedroom. He is taken into custody. In the
safe house, they find a treasure trove of computers, documents, cell phones
and other valuable "pocket litter."
Once in custody, KSM is defiant. He refuses to answer questions, informing
his captors that he will tell them everything when he gets to America and
sees his lawyer. But KSM is not taken to America to see a lawyer Instead
he is taken to a secret CIA "black site" in an undisclosed location.
Upon arrival, KSM finds himself in the complete control of Americans. He
does not know where he is, how long he will be there, or what his fate will
be. Despite his circumstances, KSM still refuses to talk. He spews
contempt at his interrogators, telling them Americans are weak, lack
resilience and are unable to do what is necessary to prevent the terrorists
from succeeding in their goals. He has trained to resist interrogation.
When he is asked for information about future attacks, he tells his
questioners scornfully: "Soon, you will know."
It becomes clear he will not reveal the information using traditional
interrogation techniques. So he undergoes a series of "enhanced
interrogation techniques" approved for use only on the most high-value
detainees. The techniques include waterboarding. He begins telling his CIA
de-briefers about active al Qaeda plots to launch attacks against the United
States and other Western targets. He holds classes for CIA officials, using
a chalkboard to draw a picture of al Qaeda's operating structure,
financing, communications, and logistics. He identifies al Qaeda travel
routes and safe havens and helps intelligence officers make sense of
documents and computer records seized in terrorist raids. He identifies
voices in intercepted telephone calls, and helps officials understand the
meaning of coded terrorist communications. He provides information that
helps our intelligence community capture other high-ranking terrorists.
KSM's questioning, and that of other captured terrorists, produces more than
6,000 intelligence reports, which are shared across the intelligence
community, as well as with our allies across the world. In one of these
reports, KSM describes in detail the revisions he made to his failed
1994-1995 plan known as the "Bojinka plot" to blow up a dozen airplanes
carrying some 4,000 passengers over the Pacific Ocean. Years later, an
observant CIA officer notices the activities of a cell being followed by
British authorities appear to match KSM's description of his plans for a
Bojinka-style attack. In an operation that involves unprecedented
intelligence cooperation between our countries, British officials proceed to
unravel the plot.
On the night of Aug. 9, 2006, they launch a series of raids in a northeast
London suburb that lead to the arrest of two dozen al Qaeda terrorist
suspects. They find a USB thumb-drive in the pocket of one of the men with
security details for Heathrow airport, and information on seven
Trans-Atlantic flights that were scheduled to take off within hours of each
other:
* United Airlines Flight 931 to San Francisco departing at 2:15 PM
* Air Canada Flight 849 to Toronto departing at 3:00 PM
* Air Canada Flight 865 to Montreal departing at 3:15 PM
* United Airlines Flight 959 to Chicago departing at 3:40 PM
* United Airlines Flight 925 to Washington departing at 4:20 PM
* American Airlines Flight 131 to New York departing at 4:35 PM
* American Airlines Flight 91 to Chicago departing at 4:50 PM
They seize bomb-making equipment and hydrogen peroxide to make liquid
explosives. And they find the chilling martyrdom videos the suicide bombers
had prepared.
Today, if you asked an average person on the street what they know about the
2006 airlines plot, most would not be able to tell you much. Few Americans
are aware of the fact al Qaeda had planned to mark the fifth anniversary of
9/11 with an attack of similar scope and magnitude. And still fewer
realize the terrorists' true intentions in this plot were uncovered thanks
to critical information obtained through the interrogation of the man who
conceived it: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
This is only one of the many attacks stopped with the help of the CIA
interrogation program established by the Bush Administration in the wake of
the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
In addition to helping break up these specific terrorist cells and plots,
CIA questioning provided our intelligence community with an unparalleled
body of information about al Qaeda.
Until the program was temporarily suspended in 2006, intelligence officials
say, well over half of the information our government had about al Qaeda-how
it operates, how it moves money, how it communicates, how it recruits
operatives, how it picks targets, how it plans and carries out attacks-came
from the interrogation of terrorists in CIA custody.
Former CIA Director George Tenet has declared: "I know this program has
saved lives. I know we've disrupted plots. I know this program alone is
worth more than what the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the
National Security Agency put together have been able to tell us."
Former CIA Director Mike Hayden has said: "The facts of the case are that
the use of these techniques against these terrorists made us safer. It
really did work." Even Barack Obama's Director of National Intelligence,
Dennis Blair, has acknowledged: "High-value information came from
interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper
understanding of the al Qaeda organization that was attacking this country."
Leon Panetta, Obama's CIA Director, has said: "Important information was
gathered from these detainees. It provided information that was acted upon."
John Brennan, Obama's Homeland Security Advisor, when asked in an interview
if enhanced-interrogation techniques were necessary to keep America safe,
replied: "Would the U. S. be handicapped if the CIA was not, in fact, able
to carry out these types of detention and debriefing activities, I would say
yes."
On Jan. 22, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13491, closing the
CIA program and directing that, henceforth, all interrogations by U. S.
personnel must follow the techniques contained in the Army Field Manual.
The morning of the announcement, Mike Hayden was still in his post as CIA
Director. He called White House Counsel Greg Craig and told him bluntly:
"You didn't ask, but this is the CIA officially non-concurring." The
president went ahead anyway, overruling the objections of the agency.
A few months later, on April 16, 2009, President Obama ordered the release
of four Justice Department memos that described in detail the techniques
used to interrogate KSM and other high-value terrorists. This time, not
just Hayden (who was now retired) but five CIA directors - including Obama's
own director, Leon Panetta objected. George Tenet called to urge against
the memos' release. So did Porter Goss. So did John Deutch. Hayden says:
"You had CIA directors in a continuous unbroken stream to 1995 calling
saying, 'Don't do this.'" In addition to objections from the men who led
the agency for a collective 14 years, the President also heard objections
from the agency's covert field operatives. A few weeks earlier, Panetta had
arranged for the eight top officials of the Clandestine Service to meet with
the President. It was highly unusual for these clandestine officers to
visit the Oval Office, and they used the opportunity to warn the President
that releasing the memos would put agency operatives at risk. The President
reportedly listened respectfully, and then ignored their advice. With
these actions, Barack Obama arguably did more damage to America 's national
security in his first 100 days of office than any President in American
history.
But how many people know this?.... only the few that read this email from
beginning to end.+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
John Lewis’s Record in Congress Is
Less Than Heroic
The Democrat deserves an honored place in history. But Trump has a
point about what he’s done lately.
Rep. John Lewis testifies in Washington, Jan. 11. PHOTO: RON SACHS/CNP/ZUMA PRESS
171 COMMENTS
If Donald Trump had been referring to Rep. John Lewis’s civil-rights record when he
wrote on Twitter Saturday that the congressman was “all talk” and “no action,” the
president-elect might need a refresher course in U.S. history. One of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.’s closest allies, Mr. Lewis was on the front lines of the successful
fight to end Jim Crow.
But for anyone who bothers to check out the full tweet, it’s clear that Mr. Trump was
referring to Mr. Lewis’s record as a lawmaker. “Congressman John Lewis,” wrote
Mr. Trump after the lawmaker questioned the legitimacy of the election, “should
spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and
falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about
the election results. All talk, talk, talk—no action or results. Sad!”
Mr. Lewis, a liberal Democrat from Georgia, was first elected to Congress in 1986,
and he has spent much of the past three decades reminding people what he did
before he got there. “Lewis has worked to commemorate the civil rights revolution
in which he played such a large part,” explains the Almanac of American Politics.
“He got a federal building in Atlanta named for King and won historic trail
designation for the demonstrators’ route [for the 1965 march] from Selma to
Montgomery [Ala.]. . . . Since 1998, he has led members of Congress on
pilgrimages to civil rights sites.”
All of which should further secure John Lewis’s rightful place in U.S. history. But
to Mr. Trump’s point, what do Mr. Lewis’s mostly black constituents in Atlanta
have to show for his time in Washington representing them? Atlanta has one of the
widest gaps in the country between high- and low-income households, according to
the Brookings Institution. A 2015 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found
that although Atlanta “is considered an economic powerhouse and ‘black mecca,’
its wealth and promise don’t extend to many of its residents, particularly those of
color, who struggle to make ends meet, get family-supporting jobs and access
quality education.” The study found that incomes for Atlanta’s white residents were
more than triple those of blacks; the high school graduation rate was 57% for blacks
and 84% for whites; and black unemployment in Atlanta was 22%, versus a city
average of 13% and a white rate of 6%.
Atlanta also hasn’t avoided the surge in violent crime that has hit other major cities
in recent years. Last summer the mayor announced the creation of a task force to
reduce gun violence, and in November the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported
that the city had been named “one of America’s top 25 murder capitals, according to
the latest data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.”
Mr. Lewis’s poor record is not unique among black politicians with large black
constituencies. Atlanta has had black Democratic mayors pushing liberal policies
for decades, and blacks have been well-represented as city councilmen and in the
top echelons of the police department and school system. Much the same is true of
other major cities with large black populations—Baltimore, Cleveland, Philadelphia,
Washington—which are lagging economically, notwithstanding black political clout
from Congress down to the local school board. This is what Republicans mean when
they say black voters have been getting little in return for their steadfast loyalty to
Democrats.
Mr. Trump’s willingness to highlight the actual record of black politicians like John
Lewis is refreshing, though it remains to be seen whether the president-elect himself
is “all talk,” or whether his incoming administration will follow up with policies that
could help narrow racial disparities that liberalism has exacerbated. One good sign is
Mr. Trump’s nominee for housing secretary, Ben Carson, who said last week that he
would use the post to help curb reliance on public assistance. Another is Mr. Trump’s
pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, a longtime champion of school choice for
low-income families.
Education choice is an issue that once animated younger black Democrats like Sen.
Cory Booker of New Jersey. As mayor of majority-black Newark, he expanded
charter schools and backed school vouchers. He even served on the board of Mrs.
DeVos’s school-choice advocacy group, the American Federation for Children. But
Mr. Booker may have since gone wobbly on education reform. In December he
announced that he has “serious” concerns about Mrs. DeVos’s nomination.
Last week Mr. Booker testified against Jeff Sessions, the attorney general nominee,
citing Mr. Sessions’s supposedly insufficient support for civil rights. It was an
excellent impersonation of Rep. Lewis, who Mr. Booker apparently believes is the
model for a black politician wanting a future in today’s Democratic Party. Perhaps
he’s right. Mr. Lewis won re-election in November with more that 84% of the vote.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
3) I changed my car horn to gunshot sounds. People get Out of the way much faster now.
Gone are the days when girls used to cook like their mothers. Now they drink like their fathers.
3) I changed my car horn to gunshot sounds. People get Out of the way much faster now.
I didn't make it to the gym today. That makes five years in a row.
The biggest lie I tell myself is "I don't need to write that down, I'll remember it."
If God wanted me to touch my toes, He would've put them on my knees.
Last year I joined a support group for procrastinators. We haven't met yet..
Why do I have to press one for English when they're just going to transfer me to someone I
can't understand anyway?
At my age "Getting lucky" means walking into a room and remembering what I came in there
for.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
4)
Obama Appoints Pro-Iran Diplomacy
Architect to Holocaust Museum Board
BY:
President Barack Obama has appointed one of his closest national security advisers and
self-described architect of the administration’s pro-Iran diplomacy to a post on the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Museum’s council, according to the White House.
Obama on Tuesday selected Ben Rhodes, White House deputy national security adviser who
led the administration’s efforts to mislead Congress about the terms of the Iran nuclear
agreement, to a seat on the Holocaust museum’s council.
Rhodes has been the focus of a congressional probe following revelations he was denied
security clearances after failing an FBI background check in 2008, the Washington Free
Beacon first reported earlier this month.
Rhodes’ appointment to the Holocaust museum’s council could raise eyebrows in the Jewish
community, which has clashed with Rhodes and the White House over the administration’s
outreach to Iran and push to secure the contested nuclear agreement.
American people in these important roles. I know they will serve the American people well,”
Obama said in a statement accompanying the latest postings, which also included spots for
White House confidantes Valerie Jarrett and Susan Rice to serve on the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing
Arts’ Board of Trustees.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
5)How Moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem Can
Improve Prospects for Peace
5)How Moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem Can
Improve Prospects for Peace
By Col. (res.) Dr. Eran LermanBESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 397
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In contrast to the recent "Stop Trump"
conference in Paris, a decision by the next US administration to move
the US embassy to Jerusalem might be conducive to the cause of peace.
It will remove the air of delusional unreality surrounding all aspects of
the Jerusalem question, and modify what the Palestinians should
legitimately expect to achieve at the negotiating table. It will send a
message of credibility and of stern refusal to bow to threats of violence.
It would still need to be packaged carefully, above all in terms of
policies the key Arab players now hope to see instituted; such as the
restoration of US support for traditional allies and the willingness to
back them against the Iranian and Islamist threats.
Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and no amount of UN new-speak can
change that. For this reason alone, a decision to move the US Embassy to
Jerusalem – as was clearly mandated by Congressional legislation – is long
overdue. But it might also turn out to contribute, in the long run, to the
prospects of peace.
This claim stands in stark contrast to the dire warnings coming out of the
Paris summit (which looks, in hindsight, like a “Stop Trump” gathering; hence
the chilly British reaction). John Kerry, for example, spoke carelessly about
an "explosion," upon which radical Islamists might feel obliged to deliver. As
has been so often the case in the past, however, it is the very attempt to
placate Palestinian and Arab demands that makes peace less likely. A hard
dose of realism may well set the stage for serious negotiations.
In his rambling speech after the UNSCR 2334 vote, Kerry suggested that
Jerusalem can be kept united while serving as the capital of two sovereign
states (a somewhat paradoxical proposition). Soft and fuzzy phrases about
the future of Jerusalem avoid a simple truth: no Israeli government in the
foreseeable future will take the knife to a living city, relinquishing the rights
of the Jewish people in the very place that has been the focus of their
aspirations for millennia.
Some changes in the line of sovereign control are possible in outlying areas,
but that is not what the Palestinians have in mind. What they want is a
dramatic outcome that will confirm, retroactively, that the Jews never had a
birthright in their own homeland and holy city. This would, they believe,
break the moral back of the Zionist endeavor as a whole. This is precisely
why it will not happen.
The language of UNSCR 2334, and the atmospherics (if not the relatively
harmless results) of the Paris Conference, encourage such unrealistic
expectations among the Palestinians. The sooner they are disabused of
these notions the better. A proposition that hinges on the dismemberment
of Jerusalem or the forcible removal of hundreds of thousands of Jews
from their homes is a nonstarter. The Palestinians will need to grasp this
premise if the two sides are ever to settle down to the business of
negotiating a workable and implementable agreement.
The embassy issue is an opportunity to get back to basics. The promulgators
of 2334, Kerry in his speech, and the European foreign ministers (with the
exception of Boris Johnson) who participated in the Paris conference
proceeded from the assumption that their object was to save the two-state
solution. They were, in fact, doing the opposite.
As a majority of Israelis have said again and again, in surveys and through
the electoral process: a Palestinian state may be possible, but not on
Palestinian terms. When much of the world, including the outgoing US
administration, buys into the Amr Musa and Saeb Erekat school of
negotiations – which posits that Israel, the aggressor, has no right to an inch
beyond the 1949 armistice lines, and a total withdrawal, removal of all
Israelis living there, partition of Jerusalem, and the right of return are the
"objective requirements of peace" – a dose of cold water is in order.
None of that is what UNSCR 242 requires. Nor is it what any true reading of
the events of 1948 and 1967 would warrant. A symbolic act such as the
establishment of a US Embassy, or at least the installation of some of its
functions, in (West!) Jerusalem should help to undo this unrealistic set of
demands and expectations.
It would also send a clear signal to the Palestinians, including key members
of Mahmoud Abbas's own Fatah, that their outlandish threats of violence –
"we shall open the gates of hell" upon America – will not work, and will no
longer be tolerated from an entity that enjoys generous US aid. To validate
such threats, as Kerry did, is to succumb to the same mistake that President
Clinton made in 2000, when he responded frantically to the Palestinian burst
of violence. In effect, Clinton signaled to Arafat that his strategy of violence
had worked, and he could now extract better terms than what he had been
offered at Camp David a few months earlier. The results were sad but
predictable, as they would be if Washington again bows to such coercion.
Having said all this, it would be wise for the incoming administration to
build a framework or package of measures that would help Palestinian and
Arab pragmatists (there is nothing to hope for from the radicals) explain why
it would be better to swallow this bitter pill. After all, this is about moving
the US embassy to West Jerusalem, which even the Palestinians acknowledge
is part of Israel. The US could increase their material rewards, as Israel just
did on the water issue. It could sustain the right of waiver over the
suspension of aid, which seems likely to flow from new legislation on PA
funding for terrorists and their families. It could – indeed must – give Egypt
and Jordan a much firmer level of support than what they came to expect
from Obama.
Above all, by forging a new and robust interaction with the key Gulf states
based on a much more aggressive stance towards the Iranian regime, the
incoming administration would greatly reduce the likelihood of an
"explosion" in the Arab world. If done right, and in the right context, moving
the US embassy to Jerusalem might bring home to the PA the sheer futility
of their strategy of threats and of international gatherings and impositions.
Col. (res.) Dr. Eran Lerman, a senior research associate at the BESA Center, is
former deputy for foreign policy and international affairs at the Israel National
Security Council. He is also a member of the faculty at Shalem College.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
