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| Obama's silence on Israeli airstrikes disappoints many |
| 2008-12-30 |
| Hmmmmmmmmmm...maybe he doesn't give a shit. Maybe he's hoping it'll all be over by the 20th ... I actually find it encouraging, but that's just me. President--elect Barack Obama blew the first opportunity that had come his way to show that unlike his predecessors, he was going to adopt a more even-handed approach to the Palestine question by choosing to keep quiet after savage Israeli airstrikes across Gaza. Obama who was expected by people in Arab and Muslim countries to turn his back on earlier American administrations that have supported Israel, right or wrong, could only have caused widespread disappointment among those who were hopeful that he would be different. If his first reaction to the Israeli outrage is any indication, it is clear that he is going to be as enthusiastic in his support of Israel as his predecessors. While, as could have been predicted, the Bush White House held Hamas responsible for having forced Israel's hand, Obama, who spoke for eight minutes on Saturday to Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, could not bring himself to say even one word about the savage Israeli attacks which continued on the second day, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians. All an Obama spokesman was prepared to say was, "He (Obama) will continue to closely monitor these and other global events." Bracketing the Israeli assaults with "other global events" is intended to suggest that the Israeli airstrikes were yet another of "global events' that called for no more notice than the president-elect had already taken of them. The White House said it holds Hamas responsible for the renewal of deadly violence in Gaza after the Islamist group broke its ceasefire with Israel. Rice said on Saturday, "The United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza." Meanwhile, Howard L Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement, "Israel has a right, indeed a duty, to defend itself in response to the hundreds of rockets and mortars fired from Gaza over the past week. No government in the world would sit by and allow its citizens to be subjected to this kind of indiscriminate bombardment. The loss of innocent life is a terrible tragedy, and the blame for that tragedy lies with Hamas." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #18 Actually, Hellfish, he kinda is being consistent with that remark. The political winds are generally in the Palis' favor right now. Therefore, no need to get on their side. (Ok, I'm reaching a bit, but it makes some sense, don't it?) |
| Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie 2008-12-30 17:35 |
| #17 internets: From Audacity of Hope: "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2008-12-30 17:17 |
| #16 zero: (paraphrasing) "When times get tough I stand with the muslims." |
| Posted by: Hellfish 2008-12-30 17:16 |
| #15 I very, very much hope you are right, Odysseus. For the sake of our country and the world, nothing would make me happier than to have President Barack Obama be revealed by history as a staunch and active defender of the civilized nations against the ravening hordes of jihadi barbarians. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-12-30 16:04 |
| #14 President Obama will be more responsible than most of my fellow Rantburgians expect. The moonbats in the blogsphere have already been whining for quite some time about how Kucenich would have handled everything much better (sic). |
| Posted by: Odysseus 2008-12-30 15:46 |
| #13 During the campaign, PEBO *did* say something to the effect of "If they were raining rockets down on my kid's heads, I'd kick their sorry, murderous asses too!" (can you tell I'm paraphrasing?) We will see if that position ends up under the already crowded bus when he graduates from PEBO to POTUS. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2008-12-30 14:52 |
| #12 Teleprompter is in the shop... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-12-30 14:14 |
| #11 I hope he continues to disappoint the Pakistanis. |
| Posted by: DoDo 2008-12-30 12:39 |
| #10 I can safely say that I shall NEVER be disappointed with his silence, or those of his cult-like following. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-12-30 12:13 |
| #9 What? All those times he voted "present" or didn't vote at all and yet you expect him to start taking a stand now? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-12-30 12:00 |
| #8 Well, he DID recently have an intelligence briefing as PEBO. Perhaps he learned a thing or two. Perhaps Rahm is a balancing force. Eh...I'll stick with my original perceptions of the socialist. |
| Posted by: logi_cal 2008-12-30 11:18 |
| #7 reporter: Mr. President-Elect, what are your thoughts on yesterdays events? BHO: Uh, I'm glad you asked, uh, I think it's a tragedy, uh, I mean, let me be clear, I find it very disconcerting that Northwestern gave up that lead, uh, to Missouri and lost the game in OT. This not the same Northwestern, uh, I used to know. |
| Posted by: Andy Ulusoque aka Broadhead6 2008-12-30 11:04 |
| #6 Hillary hasn't spoken yet either on this. |
| Posted by: mhw 2008-12-30 10:52 |
| #5 "We must go to see the Wizard! He can tell us what this all means!" I guess the Wiz ain't making public appearances anymore when there's trouble. |
| Posted by: Flusomp Hitler8273 2008-12-30 10:33 |
| #4 The crises comes when The Big O tries to solve the crisis - any crisis. Too many people think that nose that he waves around alot while talking down to us "ordinaries" is a magic wand that will fix everything. We will see how things turn out. |
| Posted by: Richard of Oregon 2008-12-30 10:32 |
| #3 Not a crisis just yet. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-12-30 07:31 |
| #2 Is this the crisis of which Sen. Biden spoke? |
| Posted by: no mo uro 2008-12-30 06:07 |
| #1 The one need not speak. Everyone who owns a hybrid and enough carbon offsets will sublimate into a Gorean paradise (not the good kind) on January 21 leaving the rest of us to fester in a four wheel hell we have made for ourselves. Sadly, most Democrats being loud mouth hypocrites, most will not ascend and we will not have the peace and quiet we deserve. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2008-12-30 05:56 |