Unbelievable.
From the Foreign Policy article by Colum Lynch (via Drudge):
"The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body 'does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity,' a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.
"But the Palestinians rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesday of Arab representatives and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution on Friday, according to officials familar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospect that the Obama adminstration will cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council.
"Still, the U.S. offer signaled a renewed willingness to seek a way out of the current impasse, even if it requires breaking with Israel and joining others in the council in sending a strong message to its key ally to stop its construction of new settlements. U.S. officials were not available for comment, but two Security Council diplomats confirmed the proposal.
[...]
"Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, outlined the new U.S. offer in a closed door meeting on Tuesday with the Arab Group, a bloc of Arab countries from North Africa and the Middle East. In exchange for scuttling the Palestinian resolution, the United States would support the council statement, consider supporting a U.N. Security Council visit to the Middle East, the first since 1979, and commit to supporting strong language criticizing Israel's settlement policies in a future statement by the Middle East Quartet.
"The U.S.-backed draft statement -- which was first reported by Al Hurra -- was obtained by Turtle Bay. In it, the Security Council 'expresses its strong opposition to any unilateral actions by any party, which cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations and will not be recognized by the international community, and reaffirms, that it does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity, which is a serious obstacle to the peace process.' The statement also condemns 'all forms of violence, including rocket fire from Gaza, and stresses the need for calm and security for both peoples.'
[...]
"The U.S. concession comes as the Middle East is facing a massive wave of popular demonstrations that have brought down the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and are posing a challenge to governments in Algeria, Bahrain, and Iran." And Yemen, though it's not mentioned.
Obama amateurism on display! Caught completely off-guard by the unrest in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East due to sheer incompetence and naivety, Obama has fallen back on the blame Israel strategy. Yes, let us stabilize the Middle East by reminding the Muslims that their real enemy is Israel. Brilliant! And this comes on the back of Egyptian opposition leader Ayman Nour publicly stating that "the Camp David accords are finished" and that "Egypt has to at least conduct negotiations over conditions of the agreement."
The Obama Administration has from the beginning worked its policies from the erroneous theory that Muslim hostility to the US is mainly due to Israel's existence. This is, most charitably, wishful thinking with no basis in reality. And now we see here Obama's "smart diplomacy" in action. After ingratiating apology speeches that demonstrated the Obama Administration's ignorance of the various Muslims' cultures and histories utterly failed, the Obama Administration will now rebuke Israel to satiate those hot tempers. Idiocy...
People have wondered if Obama would go down in history as the president who lost Egypt. That's probably a best case scenario. The real question is will Obama be the president who presided over a major war against Israel, and will he be the president that fiddled while the Middle East burned.
Barry is a nightmare. I honestly believe that he hates the United States and Israel. He loves his "muslim brothers" who he "stands with" and despises our allies and wishes them as much ill as he does to us, the "enemies" that he wants "punished". It is the only thing that explains his actions since he took office. This is the administration that denies the Fort Hood terrorist massacre was jihad despite the overwhelming proof the that the "soldier of allah" was doing what he felt would please Al & Mo. This is the administration that has barred any reference to islamic terrorism from being used to describe islamic terrorism and references the islamic terrorist attack of 9/11/2001 as a "man caused disaster". He has filled high ranking offices responsible for national security with leftist political hacks who have no qualifications for those jobs. Every single thing Obama has said or done as POTUS has been to the detriment of our country and our allies. I fail to understand how people still do not see that, IMHO he has repeatedly betrayed the United States and will continue to do so until he is removed from office.
ReplyDeleteAs if the situation in the ME could get no worse... our POTUS sticks his foot in it. Again. I worry for Israel. And pray nothing happens until we get someone else in office. But I don't think we have two more years.
ReplyDelete@ MJ
ReplyDeleteMuslims aren't America's enemies, MJ. Certain Muslim groups and certain Muslim countries are among the enemies of the US. But you're quite right that denying that various Muslim groups and countries are among America's enemies is foolish and very dangerous.
The Obama presidency is the expected result of electing in an inexperienced Leftist ideologue with issues. I think people don't see Obama for what he is because they don't want to see him for various reasons, and he very intentionally clouds the issues. His presidency is among the most opaque, and has one of the most carefully constructed public images ever.
@ politicaljunkiemom
There might be two years. The Middle East is undergoing a lot of unrest right now, including Iran (and possibly Syria in the near future). It'll take some time to stabilize to a point where they can threaten Israel collectively.
The immediate danger is that of rogue states starting a major conflict somehow (perhaps by proxy by way of Hizbollah, Fatah, etc.) and then all of Israel's neighbors joining in for a spiralling, disorganized slugfest. That would be a very bad situation for everyone-- especially Israel of course. And Obama's apologies/weakness and his denial of support for America's allies in the region make this a very real threat.