I'm sure many of you are familiar with that shopworn Abba Eban quote, the one about "never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity." I think it increasingly applies to Obama's foreign policy in the Middle East -- his public retreat during the Ramot Shlomo flap, his immediate dismissal of the tripartite nuclear fuel swap deal, and now his relative silence on the flotilla attack.As a journalist covering this story, it's been striking to see Washington's irrelevance over the last 72 hours. We've heard almost nothing from Obama or other US officials -- one 20-second sound bite from Hillary Clinton, that's it -- compared with (literally) hours of material from Turkish, Israeli, Arab and European leaders.
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But here's the thing: Nobody in the Muslim world seems surprised! After the US ran interference for Israel at the United Nations, there wasn't much anger in the Arabic press. Instead there was mostly a sense of cynicism, like nobody expected America to behave differently.
Why would they? "Irrelevant" may be the best new descriptive term for Washington, and indeed America. The world is moving on while we try to keep the status quo.
Even Joe Biden came right out and blamed Israel's attack on Hamas. "So the problem is this would end tomorrow if Hamas agreed to form a government with the Palestinian Authority on the conditions the international community has set up," Biden added.
Yeah. Right.
God, fuck the US, and fuck Israel.
ReplyDeleteThe sooner America becomes irrelevant, the better.
i understand your feelings. can't say i disagree.
ReplyDeletei was just thinking about the biden comment - if only hamas would follow the desires of the international community - like the u.s. ever let the desires of the international community get in the way. harry reid has since come out in support of israel's illegal action regarding the turkish ship. once again, international law doesn't apply to us. (or by extension, israel.)