President Obama has left the United States for a foreign trip that includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, France and Germany. Unfortunately, a stop in Israel is not included. Why? With increasing rhetoric, Mr. Obama and his administration seem to be leaving Israel in the cold and partnering up with Israel’s Arab enemies at the same time that he is not taking the threats of North Korea seriously.
In the past few weeks, President Obama has told Israel that it must now accept a two state solution to the Palestinian problem, and just yesterday, he told Ehud Barak that Israel must stop all growth in the West Bank settlements. Further, the President has taken the position that Iran may continue its nuclear programs provided that it intends only to pursue nuclear energy and not nuclear weapons, in contravention of Israeli wishes.
What is going on here? Does the President believe that by kissing up to our enemies; i.e. Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Radical Islam, that he is going to make all of the problems of the world go away? Does he believe that by allowing Israeli/US relations to go by the wayside, he is going to make Al Qaeda disappear? I think not.
In fact, yesterday another tape of Osama bin Laden appeared condemning the United States for backing the Pakistani military in taking on the Taliban. The tape made it clear that President Obama was no different from President Bush in bin Laden’s eyes and that the blood of Muslims and retribution for their deaths would be on Obama’s hands. The War on Terror is not over regardless of what President Obama wants to call it, and based upon the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is about to escalate.
And, the Israel/Arab situation will not get any better as a result.
The situation with the Palestinians is multi-faceted. To begin with, the Palestinians believe they were wronged when their land was given by the UK at the end of WWII to create the Jewish homeland. They will not have full peace with Israel unless they are given land by Israel for the creation of Palestine. President Obama has taken the position that this so called Two-State Solution is the best solution for the problem. And, there are many Israelis that agree with him.
However, the far right wing in Israel is vehemently opposed to the Two State Solution. These right wing radicals will do everything in their power to oppose it. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view, they have much power in the current Netanyahu Coalition Government. In fact, the first time Netanyahu was Prime Minister he lost power because he angered the far right.
This is Netanyahu’s problem again. The far right wants continued growth of the settlements in land that would become part of Palestine. And, if Netanyahu takes on the far right again, he will be ousted a second time as a result of his coalition collapsing. So, by forcing the issue on the settlements and the Two State solution, Obama is causing a thaw in Israeli relations. He is putting Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of the only democratic country in the region, into a no win situation.
And, to make matters worse this week, the Obama Administration declared that any negotiations over the Palestinian situation would have to include Hamas at the negotiating table. Hamas has been and always will be a terrorist organization. What is happening to our country’s declaration that we will never negotiate with terrorists? This has been our policy for well over twenty years. And, a damn good policy it is. Has President Obama decided that talking to a terrorist organization that advocates the dissolution of Israel is the best way to solve this problem or is he just further exhibiting his abandonment of Israel? I wonder how President Obama’s supporters in Hollywood feel about this turn of events.
Obama’s speech this morning in Egypt was very conciliatory to the Muslim World and, so it should be. However, the President must still remember, that we are at war with radical Islam. The Taliban and al Qaeda will do whatever they can to destroy the United States of America. The Hamas, and to a lesser extent Hezbollah, will do the same. And, all of these organizations have one thing in common. They all hate Israel and do not recognize its right to exist. If you add the extremist leader of Iran to this group, you have a very powerful group of radical Muslims that want to end the Israeli State.
Obama must keep this in mind when he is forming his foreign policy for the Middle East. These groups will not tolerate any existence of Israel and will become enemies of anyone that does. By kissing up to Iran and now accepting Hamas as a legitimate organization without either one of them recognizing Israel, he is snubbing his nose at one of our strongest allies. And, he is making the possibility of peace a further impossibility.
You may disagree with President Bush’s foreign policy, but you cannot disagree with its results. After 9/11, there was not one additional act of terrorism on US soil or against US assets abroad. Strength comes with fear. The Muslim dictators know this. It is the way of the Arab world. Do you think the Saudi leaders would be parading around the body of an executed be-headed man in the past week for any other reason? This is the way that Obama must build his foreign policy with the Arab world. The only way true peace can be achieved in the Middle East is through strength.
Unfortunately, this also seems to be the case in North Korea. Kim Jong-Il is showing, almost on a daily basis, that the Obama doctrine of conciliation is not working. Each day North Korea is boldly acting to make the world a more dangerous place and the President does nothing. Is he waiting for an all out war to break out in Asia or will he do something before that happens? Keep in mind, that this week North Korea started bragging about an ICBM that could reach Alaska.
I know my ranting on this topic will upset many on the left that believe in the Obama doctrine. I can only wish that I am wrong. In fact, there is nothing that I would like more than to say in this column that Obama was right and that the acts of conciliation and kindness towards our enemies have solved the problems of the world. But, what if I am correct? Would you want to be the one who has to tell the people of the United States that our safety had been compromised because you did not take the actions of a few rogue states seriously? Do you want to be the one to tell the electorate that you did not adequately protect American interests in the Middle East? I think not.
2009 by Frank T. DeMartini. Permission to use excerpts will be freely given upon request.