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Road Map for Peace ™Posted Sunday, January 4, 2009, at 12:22 PM
The recent failure of (one of) President Bush's most successful sloganeering campaigns brought to mind something from the 2008 campaign: There was a chain email circulating claims that Barak HUSSEIN (scary Muslim name) Obama was endorsed by Hamas. (Scary Muslim Organization). As with most anonymously authored chain emails, it was false. Also, as were many other anonymously authored chain emails, it was repeated by the McCain campaign and their surrogates on FOX News as the truth.
Here's how it works: On Apr 16 FOX News reported that Hamas had "endorsed" Sen. Obama. Two days later, Sen. McCain sent out a mass email echoing the FOX story. FOX then reported McCain's letter and --Ta-daa! The original false story had become "real" news. Here's what really happened: On April 16th, Obama criticized former President Jimmy Carter's decision to meet with Hamas, telling Jewish leaders that "Hamas is not a state, Hamas is a terrorist organization." "We must not negotiate with a terrorist group intent on Israel's destruction," Obama said. "We should only sit down with Hamas if they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements." http://snipurl.com/9g55l [www_reuters_com] One month later, One of Barack Obama's Middle East policy advisers disclosed that he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group Hamas as part of his work for a conflict resolution think-tank -- prompting Obama to sever all links with him. Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Mr. Obama, explained: "Rob Malley has, like hundreds of other experts, provided informal advice to the campaign in the past. He has no formal role in the campaign and he will not play any role in the future." (Mr. Malley, it should be noted, was once part of President Clinton's negotiating team at the Camp David talks. Not some terrorist sympathizer, but he was sacked anyway.) http://snipurl.com/9g586 [www_timesonline_co_uk] Ironic, considering that Palin and Co. kept hammering in the "Obama wants to sit down with terrorists" meme, eh? So what does an endorsement by Hamas look like according to a desperate Presidential candidate? Certainly, it was not the following: "We consider the statements of Obama to be further evidence of the hostility of the American administration to Arabs and Muslims," Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP. http://snipurl.com/9g5lh [www_news24_com] A nugget of truth, but context is everything So where did all of this originate for McCain and FOX and the anonymous e-mailer? In May, Ahmed Yousef, a political adviser to the group's leadership in Gaza, made complimentary remarks about Mr. Obama in an interview with WABC radio in New York. After initially complaining that "everybody tries to sound like he is a friend of Israel" when out on the campaign trail, including Mr. Obama, Mr. Yousef shifted tone. "We like Mr. Obama," Mr. Yousef said, "and we hope that he will win the election." "I do believe that Mr. Obama is like John Kennedy, a great man with great principles," he continued. "He has a vision to change America, to make it in a position to lead the world community, but not with domination and arrogance." So that's the smoking gun! An advisor to the Hamas's leadership said Obama had great principles and a vision to not lead with domination and arrogance. http://snipurl.com/9g6d8 [www_nytimes_com] A humble foreign policy, if you will. I seem to recall another president who promised a humble foreign policy… http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7bd_11956... We see how well that worked out. Maybe we'll do better this time. The full interview can be heard here. (link opens an .MP3 file) http://cameronscorner.files.wordpress.co... Back to the Road Map™ and a betrayal of the promise of humility So what happened? The State Department had this great plan with great PR marketing and a great slogan and now the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has grown to a full blown ground invasion following a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. Let's rewind back to Early in 2008, when journalists uncovered the plot paid for by the US State Department for Fatah to create a civil war in Gaza with Hamas. Am I the only one who remembers? It goes like this:
After failing to anticipate Hamas's victory over Fatah in the 2006 Palestinian election, the White House cooked up yet another scandalously covert and self-defeating Middle East debacle: part Iran-contra, part Bay of Pigs. With confidential documents, corroborated by outraged former and current U.S. officials, the author reveals how President Bush, Condoleezza Rice, and Deputy National-Security Adviser Elliott Abrams backed an armed force under Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan, touching off a bloody civil war in Gaza and leaving Hamas stronger than ever. You can read the whole story here. http://snipurl.com/9g2l1 [www_vanityfair_com] So here we are. The Roadmap for Peace™ and promised humble foreign policy turned out to be a road map for violence and a foreign policy hinged on aggressive interventionism. Here's to hoping the next administration can learn from our mistakes and change course to bring a peaceful end to the conflict. But 8 years of mishandling the situation seems to have dashed any hopes of that. For those of you who haven't followed the recent developments in Gaza, I'll post some links from my news aggregator to help catch you up: Bush Apr 29, 2008: "I'm still hopeful we'll get an agreement between Israel and Palestine by the end of my presidency" http://snipurl.com/98f6f [www_reuters_com] Bush Refuses To Interrupt His Final Vacation As Middle East Crisis Escalates http://snipurl.com/9g7e4 [blogs_abcnews_com] US blocks UN statement on Gaza http://snipurl.com/9g3hq [www_google_com] Israel ground forces enter Gaza http://snipurl.com/9f6jr [news_bbc_co_uk] Civilians take brunt of 7th day of Gaza offensive http://snipurl.com/9doze [www_alertnet_org] Statement by Prof. Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories http://uruknet.info/?p=m50265&hd=&size=1... Instead of accepting the Paris proposal of a 48 hour ceasing of its fire in the Gaza Strip for the entrance of humanitarian aid, the Israeli military has closed the West Bank for two days. http://uruknet.info/?p=m50260&hd=&size=1... Israeli warplanes bomb university in Gaza. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7...
Russia: 'Israeli air strikes represent massive violations of international law' http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/353...
Israel uses new US-supplied smart bomb http://snipurl.com/98hiz [www_jpost_com]
China calls for immediate halt to Gaza attacks http://snipurl.com/98hkp [www_iht_com]
Britain slams 'unacceptable' loss of life in Gaza http://snipurl.com/98hl4 [www_google_com]
US Veto Blocks UN Anti-Israel Resolution http://snipurl.com/98hat [www_presstv_com]
Israel drops one-tone bomb in crowded residential neighborhood to kill one man http://snipurl.com/9dqj3 [news_yahoo_com] Israel, which prides itself on being the healthiest democracy in the Middle East, joins North Korea, Zimbabwe and Burma in denying media access Comments Showing most recent comments first [Show in chronological order instead] |
Owner and founder of a liberal/progressive online news aggregator, former candidate for State Representative, media reform activist, internet communications consultant.
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Thank you cwhite. That's exactly the level of discussion I want to be a catalyst for.
Let's fast forward three weeks, two months, a year. Obama can't possibly make any move that risks alienating Israel and the part of the electorate which already is actively working to undermine his administration. What we will probably see is the disappointing but inevitable unravelling of his promise of change. He can't possibly make the necessary systemic changes to rein in the military-industrial complex that relies on an imperialist and anti-Arab (among other marginalized groups) agenda for their livelihood. Could this be the international incident that Biden alluded to during the campaign that would prove Obama's centrism/decisiveness on foreign policy (read: falling in line with the hawks and AIPAC)? We should all hope that we aren't lamenting Obama's shift to the right on Israel after his first year instead of invoking claims of partisanship even in the face of other alleged "leftists'" (Clinton, Carter, FDR) empirical (a)pathetic legacies. Maybe the opportunity here is that we all realize the two major parties aren't that different after all and that one administration, despite their high-minded platitudes and rhetorical eloquence, is usually a logical extension of the preceding one.
Seems like a reasonable blog entry to me - factual, informative and well sourced.
Thanks TJ.
Thanks for responding and the advice, Don. I'm sorry if you think my blog entries are too long. That's how I write. These are important issues that effect us all and need to be looked at thoroughly with background information and credible sources. It's easy to persuade people. It takes a lot more writing to actually inform them.
I think what you are mistaking for extreme partisanship is actually just setting the facts straight. They may be facts that make you uncomfortable, but they are facts. If there is something I've written that isn't factual, please point it out.
Part of my job(and purpose of this blog) is to set the record straight in the face of so much misinformation floating around out there. I would submit to you that the true partisan extremists are the ones circulating the misinformation, and not people like myself seeking to debunk it. If you think I'm protesting too much, that's unfortunate. I'm sure you dislike the use of misinformation in politics as much as I do, no matter which party it originates from.
If there's something that I wrote about the mythical budget crisis that is incorrect, please address it in the comments section of that blog entry. Thanks!
T. J., methinks you doth protest too much (and way too long) on this and other issues. The election is over, lets move forward. Save the extreme partisanship for the next election.
OH - about your blog on the "Mythical" Iowa budget problem that just about everyone now agrees is real. A friendly suggestion - neither of us should fall hook-line-and-sinker for party rhetoric.
I admire you for getting into politics - will admire you more if you aren't quite so strident.