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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Obama's Iran policy torpedos Middle East peace plan |
| 2009-10-05 |
| TEL AVIV -- The Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies said President Barack Obama has been rebuffed by Arabs and Israelis regarding U.S. initatives to help establish a Palestinian state and stabilize Iraq. Another potential triumph in diplomacy down the drain. BESA said the U.S. allies in the Middle East have been alarmed by Obama's decision to reconcile with Iran, determined to be pursuing nuclear weapons. The policy of the open hand extending to the clenched fist is not playing well in the ME. "This ambitious agenda has so far produced meager results," the report, titled "Obama and the Middle East," said. "Many regional players are primarily concerned about Iran's quest for nuclear weapons and are not easily amenable to American overtures." A very diplomatic way of saying that the Big O's strategy is naive and destined to failure. Authored by BESA director Efraim Inbar, the report said Obama achieved little in the Israeli-Palestinian summit in New York on Sept. 22. Inbar, regarded as close to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said Obama's goal of ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2011 appears to have reached a dead-end. "U.S. President Barack Obama's summit meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas in New York this week was a good thing, but it amounted to little more than a photo opportunity," the report said. A high carbon footprint photo opportunity. It was not in harmony with Gaia. The report said Obama, despite an unprecedented U.S. outreach, has failed to change Muslim perceptions in the Middle East. Inbar said Obama's engagement with Iran has also not produced results. Hey, we're the Great Satan™. That ain't changing. "His belief in the power of words to change people is naive when it comes to well-rooted attitudes or entrenched interests of nations," the report said. "In instances where the United States sided with Muslims when in conflict with non-Muslims, such as in Pakistan, Bosnia and Kosovo, there was little impact on Muslim dispositions. Obama's words are unlikely to have long-term positive effects for the United States, which in final analysis is seen as foreign and domineering." The report appeared to echo an analysis by the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. On Aug. 28, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, essentially dismissed Obama's outreach to the Muslim world as a wasted effort. The big O has quite the rack of friends in the military. "Our messages lack credibility because we haven't invested enough in building trust and relationships, and we haven't always delivered on promises," Mullen wrote in the Joint Force Quarterly. The U.S. policy toward Iran and Syria was said to mark a major cause of concern by traditional allies of Washington. The BESA report said Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, later joined by other Arab leaders, has already rejected a U.S. plan for a nuclear umbrella in the Middle East. "During his August trip to Washington, Mubarak of Egypt tried to inject sense into the young American president," the report said. "Moreover, Mubarak rejected Obama's offer for a nuclear umbrella. So did other pro-American Arab states. American promises to defend them are simply not credible if the U.S. is reluctant to use military force to stop the Iranian nuclear threat." And therein lies the rub. Under the big O, the US is not seen now as a bottom line ally to protect other nations in the ME against Iran. How far we have fallen. The report said Arab allies would refuse to cooperate in Obama's drive to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Inbar said Arab countries have rejected U.S. proposals to normalize relations with Israel as part of a regional peace accord. "What is missing in Washington is healthy skepticism and a realistic foreign policy based upon the premises that not all problems are soluble and that foreigners have limited capacity to induce change," the report said. "Finally, Obama's Washington seems unaware of the fact that the regional parties have great obstructive power. Only when they are ready there will be peace." |
| Posted by:Alaska Paul |
| #1 HMMMM, HMMMMM, wehell, "SINK THE USS ISRAEL" ["Bismarck'] versus NEWSMAX > DE BORCHGRAVE > DEFEAT NOW CONCEIVABLE IN AFGHANISTAN, iff the Bammer doesn't give his Commanders = GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL the troops they need??? To wit ...... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2009-10-05 03:07 |