O's Mideast Policy Out of Gas

(Image by Lisa Benson)

 

Last week Our Dear Leader visited Israel, a nation he's been snubbing for over four years now.  Caroline Glick asks:  Why?

 

While on tour, Obama clearly sided with the Palestinians and asked Israelis to "...put yourself in [their] shoes."

 

Debbie Schlussel's contact(s) within the "Zionist Entity" also reported on Obama hosting a speech at a university, rather than addressing the Knesset.

 

Comrade Karla suggests O's visit was merely to further his own political ends. 

 

The broken down/out of gas limo has been a popular motif among cartoonists, because its based on an actual mishap:  The wrong kind of fuel was pumped into it. 

 

 

(Image by Gary Varvel)

 

The net result of all this pandering to Islamists?  O's approval rating is lower than W's was in the middle east. 

 

Fancy that. 

 

No matter what we do, Islamists will still hate us.

 

Obama's trip sparked several comment from friends:

 

More rubbish. Israeli concessions, while part of the overall scheme of things, aren’t the main stumbling block right now. It’s the psychotic behavior of Israel’s neighbors that needs to be reined in. Good luck with that.  Very little is ever asked or expected of the Paleostinians—and they never fail to live up to that exacting expectation.

 

I'm still tyring to put the whole Israel trip in perspective, but the one thing that seems to have come out of it is that Obama greenlighted an Israeli strike on Iran when he said that Bibi's first responsibility is to protect his own people.

I suspect Obama does not realize that he said such a thing.  Or maybe he’s trying to set the US up with some deniability (having it both ways, as it were, not that “the Arab world” will care). That would indicate a political savvy hitherto not in evidence with this administration, so I remain somewhat skeptical.  I think it was Mara Liasson on the 6pm Fox news show who said “the US will be involved, one way or the other.”  Obama’s flaks are still trying to sell the “window for diplomacy is open” story line—though I figure that’s been a dead letter for some time.

 

Peres set him up like a bowling pin. He said that he has talked with many US presidents in his life and he knows when they say certain words that they mean business. Obama is now set up to ether look like an inexperienced fool who can’t talk to foreigners or a liar if he back peddles on that statement regarding Iran.

I think he's trying to play it both ways. He might be hoping the Israelis eliminate the threat so he can play the plausible deniability card, while avoiding having to take (or not take) some sort of positive action to prevent what he has clearly said, many times, is unacceptable. He seems to have realized that his diplomatic efforts have failed repeatedly, on pretty much every front. He's now painted in a corner and likely would be fine with the Israelis taking the heat. he also fails to realize that, as Mara says, we're in it no matter how things go, and might as well suck it up and make the best of it.

Agree. Main point is in your last sentence. But fathoming what a politician thinks or does would be as useful as asking a first-grader to explain Einstein. Remotely possible, but highly unlikely.