Obama gets more flak on Israel…
…some of it from expected sources, and some of it from unexpected ones.
Harry Reid’s “rebuke” of Obama seems relatively mild to me, however, although the AIPAC crowd seemed to like it. Was Reid merely playing good cop to Obama’s bad?
I continue to think that none of this will hurt Obama with the vast majority of Democratic voters. Nothing seems to.
But one thing everyone on left, right, or in-between needs to realize: all bets are off after Obama is elected to a second term, should that undesirable event occur. Whatever statements, promises, or assurances he has given previously to whatever interest group, no one should feel that his word has any meaning whatsoever. He will have cast off the need to appeal to any constituency save himself.
“I continue to think that none of this will hurt Obama with the vast majority of Democratic voters. Nothing seems to.”
I agree. While he will likely get less than the 78% of the Jewish vote that he got in 2008, considering Jews are a tiny 2% of the U.S. population, it probably won’t matter if he gets 78% of the Jewish vote or 50%. It might impact his fundraising some, but even that is quesionable.
The strongest Christian supporters of Israel are evangelicals — the majority of whom already vote Republican. Like you, I just don’t see this dust up having a meaningful impact on the elections. As EVERYTHING Obama does is considered first within the context of its political implications, he is fully aware this will be a minor impact on his re-election prospects.
Reid has consistently opposed Obama on Israel.
Example are the flotilla and a June 15, 2009 letter to Obama which stated “Last year, the Senate passed my bipartisan resolution to proudly celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the modern state of Israel and recognize the historic kingdom of Israel, which was established more than 3,000 years ago.” Reid also supported Israel when they invaded Gaza in 2008 and called Hamas a terrorist organization.
This troubles Reid’s supporters who accuse him of being a sell out to the Jewish Lobby. They state things like Reid’s wife is a Jew who converted to Mormonism; Mormonism is a pseudo-Jewish religion (the lost tribes of Israel); and the Las Vegas money Jewish mob connections.
The same people also accuse Obama of the same thing. Abner Mikva, former Clinton White House counsel, calls Obama “our first Jewish president” based on his roots in West Side Chicago politics.
If Obama wins in 2012, the last vestige of my respect for the American voter will vanish.
I have said over and over…our problem isn’t our politicians…our problem is our voters.
It makes me cringe when I hear about “get out the vote” campaigns.
Excerpt from Netanyahu’s speech to AIPAC:
We got to visit Washington’s majestic memorials. I read Jefferson’s timeless words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” I read Lincoln’s immortal address, “government of the people, for the people, by the people.”
Now, let me tell you why these words resonate so powerfully with me and with all Israelis – because they’re rooted in ideas first championed by our people, the Jewish people, the idea that all men are created in God’s image, that no ruler is above the law, that everyone is entitled to justice. These are revolutionary Jewish ideas, and they were spoken thousands of years ago – when vast empires ruled the earth, vast slave empires ruled the world. And the Jews spoke these truths.
“all bets are off after Obama is elected to a second term, should that undesirable event occur. Whatever statements, promises, or assurances he has given previously to whatever interest group, no one should feel that his word has any meaning whatsoever. He will have cast off the need to appeal to any constituency save himself.”
I agree. Obama, if re-elected, will unabashedly do everything possible to make his socialist ideology a reality. He will feel no need to hide who and what he is; and the MSM will feel even more emboldened to aid and abet his desire to achieve his agenda. All that will hold him in check is a republican controlled house (with the will to do their sworn duty) and hopefully a senate with a slim republican majority. However, I’m of the opinion he can be defeated by a strong, articulate fiscally conservative opponent. “Its the economy, stupid.”
“I have said over and over…our problem isn’t our politicians…our problem is our voters.”
Hear, hear!
Congress got the speech of a lifetime from Netanyahu. Wow!
You won’t hear a word about it from the state run media most likely.
The Daily Kos and the Grio: nothing. Chris Cillizza from the WaPo: nothing.
Score one for the Huffington Post: Netanyahu talks “painful compromises’ in speech to Congress. Israeli PM heckled.
Joke going around the e-mail circuit.
“Dear Mr. President,
We in Israel demand that the U.S. return to its 1959 borders. This will please the poor Hawaiian people whose land you have annexed.
Now, Mr. President, you know what an unreasonable demand looks like.
Benjamin Netanyahu”
Saw parts of Netanyahu’s speech in Congress on Hannity tonight. The dems were notable in withholding their applause. He put it to them and good. Truly speaking truth to power.
The man is a lion!
As far as I heard it, part of Obama’s message to the Israelis was, “The solemn guarantees and assurances issued to you by previous American presidents are meaningless. Trust your lives to my guarantees and assurances.”
No one who is modest runs for president but Obama’s self-regard verges on hubris.
Under the War Powers Act, President Barack Obama had until Friday to get congressional authorization to continue U.S. military operations in Libya. But the day passed without his even asking for it, which means he has to disengage within 30 days. Obama may not heed that requirement either.
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-05-23/news/ct-edit-war-20110523_1_libya-war-war-powers-act-moammar-gadhafi
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 22, 1967, in the aftermath of the Six Day War. It was adopted under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter
Operative Paragraph One “Affirms that the fulfillment of Charter principles requires the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles:
(i) Withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict;
(ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.”
Resolution 242 is one of the most commonly referred UN resolutions to end the Arab—Israeli conflict, and the basis of later negotiations between the parties.
Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon entered into consultations with the UN Special representative over the implementation of 242. After denouncing it in 1967, Syria “conditionally” accepted the resolution in March 1972. Syria formally accepted UN Security Council Resolution 338, the cease-fire at the end of the Yom Kippur War (in 1973), which embraced resolution 242
In a statement to the General Assembly on 15 October 1968, the PLO rejected Resolution 242, saying “the implementation of said resolution will lead to the loss of every hope for the establishment of peace and security in Palestine and the Middle East region.” In September 1993, the PLO agreed that Resolutions 242 and 338 should be the basis for negotiations with Israel when it signed the Declaration of Principles.
— Declaration of Principles
back to UN
“What’s on the Arab Ambassadors’ minds boils down to one big question: Will we make good on our pledge to support the territorial integrity of all states in the Middle East? Our best answer is that we stand by that pledge, but the only way to make good on it is to have a genuine peace. The tough question is whether we’d force Israel back to 4 June borders if the Arabs accepted terms that amounted to an honest peace settlement. Secretary Rusk told the Yugoslav Foreign Minister: ‘The US had no problem with frontiers as they existed before the outbreak of hostilities. If we are talking about national frontiers–in a state of peace–then we will work toward restoring them.’ But we all know that could lead to a tangle with the Israelis.” President Johnson (LBJ)
Ronald Reagan
The resolution also calls for the implementation of the “land for peace” formula, calling for Israeli withdrawal from “territories” it had occupied in 1967 in exchange for peace with its neighbors.[21] This was an important advance at the time, considering that there were no peace treaties between any Arab state and Israel until the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1979. “Land for peace” served as the basis of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty, in which Israel withdrew from the Sinai peninsula (Egypt withdrew its claims to the Gaza Strip in favor of the Palestine Liberation Organization). Jordan renounced its claims regarding the West Bank in favor of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and has signed the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace in 1994, that established the Jordan River as the boundary of Jordan.
They tagged a man by the name of Primakov… (a name to remember and look up!!), code name MAKS… he later became head of the SVR, and a prime minister under Boris Yeltsin.
In late 60s, primakov became connected to Hafiz Al-Asad in Syria, and Saddam Hussein in iraq… he is quoted as making modest but always “politically correct” strides during this period. (PC is a soviet term)
In public the Kremlins too by Nasser and the Arab cause…
And broke off diplomatic connections with Israel.
Soviet advisors in Egypt eventually numbered 20,000. in 1970 at nassers request, soviet airbases, equipped with SAM-3 issles and combat aircraft with Russian crews, were established to strengthen Egyptian defenses.
The people cant eat socialism. if thy weren’t Egyptian they’d beat me with their shoes” Nasser
There is a WHOLE lot more with details in:
The world was going our way: the KGB and the battle for the Third World
By Christopher M. Andrew, Vasili Mitrokhin
Sadat kind of crumbled that relationship..
It goes over the coup by Sudanese army officers… supported by the communsts…
“I cannot allow a communist regime to be established in a country sharing my borders” Sadat said..
And Nimeiri was returned to power.. the general secretary of the Sudanese communist party, abdel maghoub, was executed. Russia at the same time found out about Vladimir Nikolayevich, Sakharov was working for the CIA.
Sakharov went to his car, and found a bouquet of flowers in the backseat (Agency signal)
He defected right away… just in time.. [among things he divulged was that Sharaf was with the KGB]
It was SIX years later that the Arab states [Qaddafi (libya), Asad (syria), and Sadat (Egypt)], were thought by the KGB to be ramping up to collude and attack Israel.
The constant readiness, and backing down desensitized the players
May, 1973… the Yom Kippur war broke out…
Basically the same tactical idea as Tet Offensive.
Attack during a special holiday to gain advantage…
Robert Gates said it was his worst personal intelligence embarrassment
A whole bunch of stuff back and forth happened, but then the soviets wanted revenge!!! And when they want revenge… they mobilize..
They started an active measures campaign targeted at Marwan… (Nasser’s son in law)
Service A even went so far as to push the point of Sadats early enthusiasm for Adolf Hitler. (just as today, people are being told of grandparents who were Nazi in wwii).
It all came from the fact that at 14 years old, Nasser admired Hitler for wanting to rebuild his country. at the time he just became chancellor. Not such a big deal since TIME made Hitler man of the year too… his later admiration for Rommel, and others was used against him. (as an aside, American tank soldiers today are known to have images of Rommel up! an opponent they respected)
Russia was proud of such active measures as:
Anwar Sadat: From Fascism to Zionism..
[it portrayed him as a nazi agent who went over to the CIA]
No other third world leader inspired loathing by Moscow as Sadat
Oleg gordievsky heard a number of KGB officers say he should be bumped off. Though there is no evidence that the Centre was every implicated in such a plot, it was aware that some of its contacts were. in December 1977 it received information that a secret meeting in Damascus between leaders of Syrian intelligence and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine had discussed plans for assassinating Sadat and Marwan.
On October 6 1981, the anniversary of the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war, Sadat was assassinated by fundamentalist fanatics while reviewing a military parade. While archives make no notice that the KGB knew in advance, the news that it worked was greeted with jubilation
He has been called the Egyptian Darkness…. – Gromyko
It then goes into Iran and Iraq…
A few years ago I had an idea, “Netanyahu for President in 2012” bumper stickers and I went no where with it. Boy am I kicking myself now.
Wait, if they return to the pre-June ’67 borders, doesn’t that mean that Egypt takes over Gaza and Jordan takes over the West Bank? You know, that isn’t a half-bad idea!
Richard Saunders,
Only problem with that is they (Egypt, Jordan, et al) don’t want anything to do with them!
If you remember, when the wall separating Gaza from Egypt broke several years ago (about Jan. 2008, I believe) and tens of thousands of Gazans teemed into Egypt, Egypt freaked and couldn’t cram them back in fast enough! And the Egyptians practically did all but move heaven and earth (and if required, probably would have done that, too!) to get that wall fixed and CLOSED OFF.
They didn’t want Yasser Arafat back for burial when he died, nor did the Israelis or Muslim Arabs want Arafat buried on the Temple where HE wanted to be buried!
The fact is, all the Arabs can grumble and grouse and teach their children to hate Jews, ascribing causal reason for such hate to existence of Israel- to the tiny sliver of land they now have — after they were attacked by no less thab 5 Arab countries in a single day for no more provocation than being Jewish and being alive. That tiny sliver ot land — bare and barren desert, that has since been developed, irrigated to create a successful agricultural business and industrialized while forming a truly democratic govt. — for Jews and resident Arabs and a free-market based economy that has succeeded in becoming a center for many industries. This reformed sliver of land is THE one that must be divided to create a state for self-proclaimed Palestinians (regardless the land of their forefathers) and disregarding the huge unpopulated and unused masses of land within surrounding Arab countries.
They’ve spent all these years hating Jews and Israel to support their “Arab” brothers, the Palestinians, whom they’be done zero to support. However, they are quick to find them useful as customers for as many arms as they have to sell (all bought with foreign assistance $, like from us!)
This is interesting and could have greater significance for the future than we realize.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?ID=222196&R=R1