Besides pressuring Israel into making more and more concessions without similar actions from the Palestinians, the Obama administration has appointed a new ambassador to Syria, given Syrian actions in Lebanon a complete pass (and in fact, accepted the de facto return of Syrian control to Lebanon), indicated that it wants to broaden relations even more with Syria, suggests that Israel and Syria could have peace talks, and, well—I needn’t go on.
Here is what the Obama outreach has achieved:
Syrian President Bashar Assad urged Abbas to withdraw from a US-supported peace strategy and resume armed resistance to Israel, according to two delegates who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
They said Assad also urged Arab countries to halt any contacts with Israel, though only Egypt and Jordan have peace deals with the Jewish state.
“The price of resistance is not higher than the price of peace,” one delegate quoted Assad as telling Abbas.
Smart power. Attaboy, Obama. I think your plan is working. Between that, and Iran starting even more new nuclear “power” plants, everything is going just fine in the Obama Middle East.
At least you had the opportunity not to vote for him, Meryl.
As a British Jew, or even just as a Brit, my life is affected by policy decisions made by the President of the United States of America, but I have no say in it. Our economy collapsed because yours did, and British soldiers die weekly as we send our troops to support yours.
Since his inauguration, BHO has insulted both the British and the Israeli Prime Ministers personally, and the British nation when he banished Sir Winston Churchill’s bust from the Oval Office. Kicking both his cloest allies very effectively in the teeth. Yesterday I read in the paper that Members of Parliament have come to the conclusion that the special relationship Great Britain enjoyed with America is dead, and that we should no longer blindly send troops whenever your President asks.
I was always dubious about BHO, not because of his policies, but because of his lack of experience. Now I am terrified by both.
Anyway, Meryl, have a wonderful Seder in your home, and if you get a photo of Tig III in a kippah, then I will have to get one of Otis stealing the Afikomen :).
Chag Sameach and L’shona habor Yerushalyim.
Chairwoman,
Britain may get the last laugh, at least for a while. If Gordon Brown really wants to get back at Obama, and satisfy all those Leftist Labourites and Lib-Dems who hate America, while pleasing all those Conservative troglodytes who are mad at the US for Britain’s loss of empire, he can do so. He could demand that the US leave the British Indian Ocean Terroitory. That would kick the US out of the Diego Garcia base, a crucial base for US force projection in the Indian Ocean and the Middle East.
Of course the results for Britain might be very bad, since Britain has interests it cannot defend without the help of the US. But I’m sure that the satisfaction of poking the US in the eye would trump such sensible objections, and would be as attractive to the British today as doing a similar thing was for De Gaulle and the French in the sixties, when he demanded the US troops leave France and took France out of NATO, weakening the alliance and giving the US Army in Europe, which France depended on for its security, short of using nukes, vulnerable and eccentric supply lines in case of a war.
For the record I was disgusted by Obama’s treatment of Britain, and I wrote a personal letter of apology, as a citizen, to the British Ambassador about it. Obama is a childish bully, as we can see with what he is doing to Israel and Netanyahu. No need for everybody else to try to emulate him.