Here we go again: CIA pressing Israel to apologize to Turkey?
According to a report in Friday's Daily Hurriyet, CIA director David Petraeus was in Istanbul and Tel Aviv last week to once again press Israel to 'apologize' for the Mavi Marmara incident (Hat Tip: Joshua I). Petraeus came to Turkey to repair the relations between the two countries. For this reason, he swiftly continued onto Israel.But the apology didn't happen, and President Obama's apparent obsession with it - assuming that this report is true - when there are far bigger crises in the Middle East (Iran's nuclear threat and Syria's uprising for starters) is becoming more and more inexplicable.
Well, what did he say?
He explained to Turkey how crucial the normalization of Turkey-Israel relations was for both countries and for the U.S. while major upheavals are occurring in the region. He gave the message that Israel should officially apologize for the nine Turkish citizens it killed so that this problem comes to an end.
Because Turkish officials have been insisting, from the beginning, that “an official apology is a sine qua non for the restart of relations,” Ankara welcomed Petraeus’ proposal.
Meanwhile, there is another detail that fell off the map. Namely, that Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman accompanied the CIA director on this visit.
Senators McCain and Lieberman are not ordinary senators. McCain was the presidential candidate of the Republicans in the last elections. And Lieberman was his deputy. Both of them are very close to the Israeli government.
Apparently, U.S. President Barack Obama wants the Turkey-Israel relationship to recover as soon as possible in this critical period. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have sent along two senators, his rivals in the presidential elections, to accompany Petraeus.
Up to this point, it was corridors and analysis.
Labels: Mavi Marmara, Obama's obsession with Israel, outrageous apologies, Turkish obsession with Israel
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:31 AM
2 Comments:
I wonder if the Green $BBBillion$ make these US Govt people think they have supervisory status over Israel? And I wonder if it causes the Israeli Govt people to respond more quietly or otherwise differently than they would without Israelis having accepted the $$. Because, as far as I can tell, the Turks are the ones who should be pressured to apologize for attacking Israel with that Mavi Marmara stunt. It bothers me that the Liebermans, Koch's, etc. of the US put out alarm over Obama and then re-engage in his re-election and do stuff like this. The reasons are not apparent on the surface and should be examined in the business realm. They think they are helping... so there has to be more to it.
Lieberman's a great guy, but he's compromised by his desire to schmooze with the powerful. Team O hung Israel out to dry immediately after the Turkish scumbags perpetrated their treacherous sneak attack (how'd that work out fellas?) and betrayed Israel again urging Bibi to agree to shelving the UN report they helped cram down Israel's throat. So what's new, except for the players? Hey Petraeus, hows Iraq working? Boom!
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