Saturday May 21, 2011

I've Been Thinking:

I re-read the new Obama foreign policy speech six times.

I was hoping that I missed some nuance or some detail ... I did not.

The problem with the speech is not what was said but that it was said.

Everything in the speech was known. The administration wants the framework of the Palestinian state to be based on the '67 borders. Land swaps would enable settlement blocks to remain in place.
The problem with the speech is that the president knew that it would be a public embarrassment for Israel.

The reaction from Netanyahu was predictable. Why create tensions?

The president of the United States must know that Israel is willing to give, but the White House has not yet even figured out how to handle the PA/Hamas unity government. How can Obama ask Israel to make concession when the PA is leaning further away from cooperative agreements by power sharing with Hamas?

The situation has not been advanced by this speech. To the contrary.

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