The 'Palestinian state' vote is a result of American incompetence
Lee Smith has a devastating article on why the vote over a 'Palestinian state' at the United Nations is the result of American incompetence and not 'Israeli intransigence.' A unilateral declaration by the Palestinians is anathema to the longstanding American policy of brokering a negotiated settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict. For U.S. policymakers, the significance of the peace process is not only in getting treaties signed—like the deals with Egypt and Jordan—but it is also the power and prestige that come as a consequence of presiding over negotiations. If the Arabs can get what they want without Washington exercising its leverage on Israel, then the U.S. loses its role as regional power broker. The Obama administration has to veto the resolution not because of Israel, or because of Jewish voters, but because it is an assault on American regional strategy.Read the whole thing.
Perhaps Obama can lay the blame for the current crisis at the feet of his predecessor, George W. Bush, who was the first U.S. president to call explicitly for the creation of a Palestinian state. It seems that, for some policymakers and analysts, this suggested that achieving a Palestinian state was a key U.S. policy goal. However, the mere fact of a Palestinian state as such is not an American interest, unless it is the result of a negotiated settlement.
Nonetheless, Obama came to office girded with the advice of regional experts who contended that the way to breaking the impasse and winning the Palestinians a state was to strong-arm the Israelis. While Netanyahu would likely prove less malleable than other potential Israeli leaders, few in the administration had any qualms about pushing around a right wing prime minister who’d given the last Democratic president a hard time. The Obama White House beat him up over settlement construction, hoping that this would weaken his position as head of a coalition government while also earning the American president bona fides from the Muslim masses.
The administration then made two miscalculations. First, given the nature of his coalition, Netanyahu could only be brought down from the right: He could only lose power by committing suicide and succumbing to all of Obama’s demands. Second, since the White House had against all precedence premised negotiations on the basis of a full cessation of settlement construction, the Palestinian Authority could not possibly entertain talks without Israel meeting those conditions.
Thus, it was Obama who cashiered the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Without any negotiations, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas had nothing to show his own constituency, and beat back the increasing influence of Hamas and other hard-line rivals. With his hands otherwise empty, what forced Abbas to take his case to the U.N. is not Israeli intransigence, but American incompetence.
As my mother, may she rest in peace, would have said to Mr. Obama, "you make your mess and then you have to lie in it."
Labels: Abu Mazen, Barack Hussein Obama, Binyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian state RIGHT NOW syndrome, Unilateral declaration of independence (UDI)
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:22 PM
5 Comments:
Ah but Obama makes the mess and Israel has to lie in it.
Uh, Lee Smith is the strong horse guy? And he thinks this is "incompetence"? Wow. I'd say this is the most competent turning of America's place in the world imaginable. People at a state fair in flyover country are saying they just can't believe how fast America can be and is being demolished. Obama is a new Che Guevara... or Pol Pot. Combined with madrasa education as a kid. I can only say that this type of person thinks death (especially the little people's death) for the ideology is how the world progresses in the direction the marxist caliphate people want. Please, Lee Smith, all this stuff you are describing is trivia, features to these guys, not bugs. Obama and his posse's direction is entirely intentional.
Well, I guess we could say that the "American Incompetence" was that we, as the American electorate, elected these people and let them do these things. Even many of those of us who didn't actually vote for these people bear an even share of responsibility because many of us hate politics and just want to raise our families and focus on our jobs. NOPE. Everybody better get out there and talk to neighbors, etc. and VOTE THESE PEOPLE OUT!!!
What makes BHO so dangerous is he doesn't have to actively aid and abet the enemies to do their bidding. He can simply sit on his hands when the time to act comes. His entire belief system likely lies closer to those of our enemies than those of the country he's sworn to protect. This isn't the Arabs vs Israel. It's Islam vs the free world. The current US President's sympathies are very much in doubt. By not being there to defend our interests and those of our allies it sends a signal to our enemies that they can do as they wish without consequences. BHO can burn everything to the ground without lifting a finger. All he has to do is stifle any positive US action.
What could go wrong indeed.
Well, fear not, BHO-sponsored talks continue to get the Palis to end their UN UDI excellent adventure:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/147855
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