For a man who touts “judgment”, PEBO is hiding out in the islands…”monitoring”… but keeping his mouth shut on the latest warfare in Gaza between Hamas and Israel. While we’ve heard from him regularly on everything from the economy to the WH domestic pets – effectively nullifying his “only one President at a time bit – Obama is comspicuously silent on the ME events.
Axelrod, his talking head, made the rounds to the Sunday news shows. But there was little he could shed on Obama’s position.
But David Axelrod refused to offer an opinion on the fighting between Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas terrorists.
“As Hamas began its shelling, Israel responded,” Axelrod said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” Obama has been in Hawaii on vacation with his family during the holiday.
~~~Axelrod said that Israel is the United States’ strongest ally and has to defend itself, but Obama wants “to be a constructive force in helping to bring about the peace and security that both the Israelis and the Palestinians want and deserve.”
“The president-elect was in Sderot last July, in southern Israel, a town that’s taken the brunt of the Hamas attacks. And he said then that, when bombs are raining down on your citizens, there is an urge to respond and act and try and put an end to that,” Axelrod said.
But, he added, the president-elect wants to manage Mideast relations “in a way that will promote the cause of peace, and work closely with the Israelis and the Palestinians on that — toward that objective.”
Is the Obama way to “peace” to ignore Hamas’ militant actions? Does his leadership mean saying nothing in order not to offend Hamas and other Muslim leaders? In which case, welcome back Jimmah Carter…
Or is he remaining silent in order to not to repeat his past faux pas? Coincidently, he was headed to the islands the last time he put his foot in his mouth on int’l events… this time over Georgia and Russia.
Took him three tries to get the situation correct (as opposed to McCain, who struck the right tone from the first moment). First he suggested “restraint” on both sides, chiding them like battling siblings. The second time, he placed a bit more of the responsibility on Russia, but still copped a “can’t we all just get along” attitude.
It wasn’t until the third time in public where he used sufficiently strong language, befitting the leader of the free world.
Before that, it was Obama’s foot in mouth moment speaking before the AIPAC last July…where he emphatically stated that Jerusalem would remain the capital of Israel, and undivided.
This, of course, freaked out the Palestinian Arabs who envisioned a Palestinian state, including East Jerusalem. It took 24 hours for Obama to backpaddle on that one…
But the statement itself – concocted to pander to the specific audience – contained a historic flaw… the US doesn’t recognize any part of Jerusalem as Israel’s “capital”, and consistently refuses to relocate an embassy there. My guess is that one falls in the “57 states” gaffe category. Unless, of course, Obama has plans to move the Israeli Embassy from it’s present location in Tel Aviv.
In the interim, the rest of the world *is* speaking out. As is usual, the anti-Israel types are using this moment to protest in Lebanon and Europe.
The UN and the EU have taken the Obama course of how to chide siblings…er… other nations. They simply call for a cease fire, sans specifics. Yeah… that’ll work.
The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to condemn the Hamas provocations, and urge renewal of the truce. Problem is, Abbas hasn’t got the weight to swing in Gaza since Hamas took over control of the territory in 2007.
Condie Rice, however, didn’t balk publicly – noting who broke the truce.
Rice issued a statement on Saturday condemning “the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza.” She also said the U.S. “calls on all concerned to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the innocent people of Gaza.”
Speaking on behalf of the Bush administration, she was more blunt.
Backing Israel, the administration of President George W. Bush, in its final weeks in office, put the onus on Hamas to prevent a further escalation.
“The United States … holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement. “The ceasefire should be restored immediately.”
Meanwhile one Dem Senator, Sherrod Brown, has taken that Obama “hope” slogan too seriously….
I’m not sure it’s a good idea. I mean, Israel certainly has the right to self-defense, of course. Hamas has not recognized Israel’s right to exist. … But I’m hopeful that with a new president — you know, you look at President Bush is now in a petty weakened state, and countries around the world know that. I’m hopeful that as this transition comes, as we look to January, that strong presidential leadership can make a difference here,” Brown said, appearing on ABC’s “This Week” with Corker.
…”strong presidential leadership..”???
How is that? Is it strong “presidential leadership” to hide out, and refuse to offend the offensive side by recognizing their actions broke the truce?
Apparently, the foreign policy of this Bush the III is still a watered down wuss by comparison. This dancing around reality, refusing to call Hamas on the carpet, will not increase the potential for peace between Palestine and Israel. It will, however, give ample fuel to the anti-Israelis in the region… to the politically-correct, anti-Israel western media, … and to the very anti-Semite United Nations.
Vietnam era Navy wife, indy/conservative, and an official California escapee now residing as a red speck in the sea of Oregon blue.