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2009-05-23 Israel-Palestine-Jordan

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Posted by Fred 2009-05-23 00:00|| || Front Page|| [5 views ] Top
File under: Palestinian Authority

#1 Above and beyond the details, the plan revealed in Al-Quds al-Arabi fails to acknowledge the salient fact of current Middle East strategy: namely, the division of the region into an Islamist "resistance" bloc led by Iran, and a loose coalition of all those states opposed to this bloc.

There is a conspiracy theory according to which Obama, with Machiavellian cunning, knows that his plan is unworkable, and intends to use its failure to cast blame and accusation on Israel. Who knows? Perhaps evidence will yet emerge in support for this thesis.

It seems more likely, however, that the president remains enthralled by the sunny illusions of the peace process of the 1990s, and is about to give them another run around the block. He has four years to follow the well-trodden path from innocence to experience. The problem is that further afield, there are other, more urgent clocks ticking.

Posted by KBK 2009-05-23 00:43|| 2009-05-23 00:43|| Front Page Top

#2 There is no question that Obama would throw Israel to the lions if he thought it would further his career. He did it in Illinois to two of his political benefactors as he was coming up. But that is not the crux of the problem here.

As a community organizer, he is used to negotiations with each side arguing over how much of the pie they get. In game theory terms, Win-Win is the desired outcome. You want to minimize how much your opponent gets, but you know they will get something.

In this situation, I think he is simply out of his depth, not because he is intellectually stupid but because he cannot conceive of a negotiaton where one side is fundamentally determined to destroy the other - even if it means they, too, go down in flames. The Paleos would prefer Win-Lose against Israel, but their second choice is Lose-Lose, just so long as Israel gets the short end of the deal. I don't think Obama can grasp this unfamiliar idea.

Posted by SteveS 2009-05-23 01:31|| 2009-05-23 01:31|| Front Page Top

#3 As a lefty, Obama's persumably got a hardwired zero-sum mentality. The notion of either win:win or lose:lose outcomes are probably too abstract for hom to comprehend. Israel's gotta keep giving until both sides are equal.,,

Posted by Bulldog 2009-05-23 04:48|| 2009-05-23 04:48|| Front Page Top

#4 More like an ignorant abroad...

Posted by M. Murcek">M. Murcek 2009-05-23 12:49|| 2009-05-23 12:49|| Front Page Top

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