Reuters

President Obama’s idea of waging “aggressive personal diplomacy“? Attacking President Bush for blustering belligerence:

But he asserted that Iran’s support for militant groups in Iraq reflected its anxiety over the Bush administration’s policies in the region, including talk of a possible American military strike on Iranian nuclear installations.

Yup. That explains Iranian aggression for the last 30 years against the United States.

Meanwhile, Israel seizes 500 tons of Iranian weapons on Wednesday:

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Sure, left wingers can come up with talking points, and soundbites, but over the past few weeks I’ve noticed that there are 10 core questions that most on the far left cannot seem to answer with any substance. Pass em on, try em out, and enjoy the mindfreak.

1. If all the world hated America because of George W Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq….then why was America attacked on Sept 11, 2001; 2yrs before that invasion?
2. Why has Al Queda been trying to exterminate every American for the past 17yrs?
3. Did you want Bush to fail in Iraq, or did you want America to succeed?
4. Given that Osama left Afghanistan in 2001, and Al Queda was largely destroyed in Afghanistan in 2002, how did the Bush Administration “take its eye off the ball [Afghanistan] by invading Iraq” in 2003?
5. What caused the great recession of 2007?

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From President Obama’s UN speech today:

I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust. A part of this was due to misperceptions and misinformation about my country. Part of this was due to opposition to specific policies and a belief on, on certain critical issues, America had acted unilaterally without regard for the interests of others.

And this is has fed an almost reflexive anti-Americanism which, too often, has served as an excuse for collective inaction.

~~~

After all, it is easy to walk up to this podium and point fingers and stoke divisions. Nothing is easier than blaming others for our troubles and absolving ourselves of responsibility for our choices and our actions. Anybody can do that.

Like blaming the previous Administration for the state of affairs today and giving validity to misperceptions? Good grief!

John Bolton:
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Hey, remember that Russian cargo ship that disappeared for a few days, then re-appeared off the coast of Gibraltar after allegedly being attacked by pirates in the Baltic Sea? Yeah, well, some people claimed that it was carrying Russian air defense weapons to Iran, that the Israelis detected it, captured it, and did something with the weapons. Those kind of reports need to be taken with a grain of salt to say the least, but the tale is getting more interesting.

The ship was officially carrying timber from Finland to Algeria when it was boarded on July 24 by a group of eight men. They were charged with kidnapping and piracy after it was intercepted by Russian warships off Cape Verde

Ya know, if any of this story is true, it’s almost as if Israel doesn’t have faith in President Obama’s ability to stop the Iranian nuclear program with diplomacy. Why on Earth would anyone believe that?

The President said:

It is untenable for Israeli citizens to live in terror. It is untenable for Palestinians to live in squalor and occupation. And the current situation offers no prospect that life will improve. Israeli citizens will continue to be victimized by terrorists, and so Israel will continue to defend herself.

In the situation the Palestinian people will grow more and more miserable. My vision is two states, living side by side in peace and security. There is simply no way to achieve that peace until all parties fight terror. Yet, at this critical moment, if all parties will break with the past and set out on a new path, we can overcome the darkness with the light of hope.

~~~

I can understand the deep anger and despair of the Palestinian people. For decades you’ve been treated as pawns in the Middle East conflict. Your interests have been held hostage to a comprehensive peace agreement that never seems to come, as your lives get worse year by year. You deserve democracy and the rule of law. You deserve an open society and a thriving economy. You deserve a life of hope for your children. An end to occupation and a peaceful democratic Palestinian state may seem distant, but America and our partners throughout the world stand ready to help, help you make them possible as soon as possible.

~~~

I have a hope for the people of Muslim countries. Your commitments to morality, and learning, and tolerance led to great historical achievements. And those values are alive in the Islamic world today. You have a rich culture, and you share the aspirations of men and women in every culture. Prosperity and freedom and dignity are not just American hopes, or Western hopes. They are universal, human hopes. And even in the violence and turmoil of the Middle East, America believes those hopes have the power to transform lives and nations.

This moment is both an opportunity and a test for all parties in the Middle East: an opportunity to lay the foundations for future peace; a test to show who is serious about peace and who is not. The choice here is stark and simple. The Bible says, “I have set before you life and death; therefore, choose life.” The time has arrived for everyone in this conflict to choose peace, and hope, and life.

True, it was said in the Rose Garden and not in Cairo; Read the rest of this entry »

6,000 words and half of them mush!

I’ve only started going through the speech President Obama delivered in Cairo Thursday. Full text is here. The first thing that struck me is that he could have delivered a really good speech by cutting half of it out. Yes, leave out the apologies and the mountain of moral equivalence and the Bush blaming which simply validates extremist ideology and it would have been fine.

But when you make statements like this what purpose does it serve other than to strengthen extremism?

OBAMA: Around the world, the Jewish people were persecuted for centuries, and anti-Semitism in Europe culminated in an unprecedented Holocaust. Tomorrow, I will visit Buchenwald, which was part of a network of camps where Jews were enslaved, tortured, shot and gassed to death by the Third Reich. Six million Jews were killed – more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today. Denying that fact is baseless, ignorant, and hateful. Threatening Israel with destruction – or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews – is deeply wrong, and only serves to evoke in the minds of Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve.

On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people – Muslims and Christians – have suffered in pursuit of a homeland. For more than sixty years they have endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead. They endure the daily humiliations – large and small – that come with occupation. So let there be no doubt: the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own.

Someone please inform me when the Israelis murder six million Palestinians, then we can talk moral equivalence between the Holocaust and suffering the Palestinians. All Obama did was excuse the violence that Palestinians continue to direct towards Israel despite the many concessions the Israelis have made.

Here’s the Wordle of Obama’s speech. The larger the word, the more times it was used:
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Which one gave this speech: Obama or Bush? (ironic that both were given in June too)

For too long, the citizens of the Middle East have lived in the midst of death and fear. The hatred of a few holds the hopes of many hostage. The forces of extremism and terror are attempting to kill progress and peace by killing the innocent. And this casts a dark shadow over an entire region. For the sake of all humanity, things must change in the Middle East.
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As the POTUS/TOTUS in chief wing their way to Egypt for Obama’s promised address to Muslim nations, Israel is wary…. anticipating a new direction in the US-Israeli relationship.

Pressure. Defiance. Collision. After George W. Bush’s terms of endearment for Israel — a country he once described as a “light unto nations” — a different terminology is being used to describe its cloudy relationship with his successor, Barack Obama.

At odds with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Palestinian statehood and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the new U.S. president will try to patch ties with the Muslim world in an address he will deliver in Egypt on Thursday.

Israelis and Arabs will be listening carefully for one of Obama’s expected messages — policy Netanyahu has met with defiant words — that creation of a Palestinian state is essential for peace and settlement expansion must stop.

The U.S.-Israeli rift after eight years of a Bush presidency that pursued statehood only late in its second term and turned a blind eye to settlement building is raising questions over whether a close alliance will deteriorate into alienation.

Maariv, a popular Israeli newspaper, summed it up in a one-word, front-page headline on Tuesday: “Pressure”.

~~~

Possible scenarios for twisting Netanyahu’s arm could range from U.S. inaction at the United Nations in thwarting resolutions critical of Israel to choking off some military supplies, political sources and commentators said.

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President Obama’s foreign policy is a complete failure. There’s no white-washing it, and his administration would do better to admit it than to spin the reality. That reality is:

• Iran is still closing in on starting its nuclear bomb factories (if it hasn’t already).
• Pakistan is still on verge of collapse, and
• North Korea is 100% unstoppable

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Really, are there words that adequately describe the ignorance Obama’s displaying, or the naivete that his supporters have displayed in believing that talks ever had a chance with Iran?

…and no, I have not finished drafting the image for my “Don’t Let Bush Bomb Iran!” t-shirts. When I do, I expect them to be big sellers at the anti-war rallies preceeding Obama’s response to Israeli strikes on Iran. Updates to follow

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama set a rough timetable for his diplomatic outreach to arch-foe Iran for the first time on Monday, saying he wanted to see serious progress by the end of the year.
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Who couldn’t see this happening?

Israel stood firm against demands from Barack Obama on Monday to cease the construction of Jewish settlements and embrace the “two-state solution” to achieving peace in the Middle East.

Every single President believes they can somehow, magically, bring peace to this situation. The only problem has been the Palestinians DO NOT want peace. Never have, never will. Isreal understands this and has survived this long exactly because they understood this. They have given up little concessions, pretty much to expose to the world what the Palestinians really want. A one state solution.

Sitting side by side in the White House, the two leaders hailed the friendship between their two countries but remained far apart on how to proceed towards a resolution of the 60-year conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Mr Obama said the Palestinians had to take steps to guarantee Israel’s security – but took a tough line on the construction of settlements on Arab land.

“Israel is going to have to take difficult steps as well,” he said. “There is a clear understanding we have to make progress on settlements. Settlements have to stop.”

~~~

There was a conspicuous lack of praise for his 59-year-old Israeli visitor, whom he said had the “benefit of having served” previously as prime minister and for having “both youth and wisdom”.

The meeting overran to two hours, suggesting that the two sides had struggled to find a way of presenting a unified face to the watching world.

Though Mr Netanyahu made clear he wanted to hold peace talks with the Palestinians, he refused to utter the words “two-state solution”, the consensus approach towards peace agreed by previous Israeli governments and US administrations.

Best line from Netanyahu came when he said that any peace deal which places a “terror base next door” is worthless, and won’t happen. He stated Hamas must first recognize Israel AND the Iranian nuclear situation must be dealt with before any peace deals get started. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, April 21st, is Yom Hashoah Day, the day of remembrance.

This day is designated by the Jewish people to remember those who were lost in the Holocaust.

Jews who were classified as “not fit to work” waiting in a grove outside of Crematorium IV before they were to be gassed.

‘Men to the left! women to the right!’ Eight words spoken quietly, indifferently, without emotion. Eight short, simple words. Yet that was the moment when I parted from my mother. I had not had time to think, but already I felt pressure of my father’s hand. We were alone. – Elie Weisel, Night
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Who says the MSM is biased? Here is the NY Times explaining away all of Obama’s troubles (ie…his economic plans…cough Socialism plans cough…., Afghanistan, Iran, China and the view that he is a paper tiger) on…..wait for it…..Bush! (h/t Jules Crittenden)

The challenges stem in part from lingering unhappiness around the world at the way the Bush administration used American power. But they have been made more intense by the sense in many capitals that the United States is no longer in any position to dictate to other nations what types of economic policies to pursue — or to impose its will more generally as it intensifies the war in Afghanistan and extracts itself from Iraq.

~~~

“The rest of the world is yearning for him,” said Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard economist. “On the one hand, they’ll all be criticizing him, and criticizing the American model. But they all want to hear that he does have a miracle to deliver.”

A miracle from the messiah….it must be coming right?

Love this line from the article: Read the rest of this entry »

Is anyone surprised at the response from Iran on Obama’s video to the Iranian people? 

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dismissed overtures from President Barack Obama on Saturday, saying Tehran does not see any change in U.S. policy under its new administration…

”They chant the slogan of change but no change is seen in practice. We haven’t seen any change,” Khamenei said in a speech before a crowd of tens of thousands in the northeastern holy city of Mashhad…

Khamenei asked how Obama could congratulate Iranians on the new year and accuse the country of supporting terrorism and seeking nuclear weapons in the same message.

~~~

Khamenei said there has been no change even in Obama’s language compared to that of his predecessor.

Which is actually completely untrue. Obama went and kissed the Iranian governments ass in that video and basically told them the policy of regime change is kaput. But the Iranian government understands they cannot, nor will they ever, agree to some kind of reconcilation because the US is the great satan. That is what their whole regime is based on. The evil of the west and of Democracy. Read the rest of this entry »