Comments on: Parsing Obama’s Words on Mitchell Appointment

By: Alex P

Alex P — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 02:12:15 +0000

In your otherwise excellent report on the situation in afghanistan (for IPS), you wrote:

“The U.S. has about 33,000 U.S. troops currently deployed to Afghanistan. These are augmented by another 30,000 troops from other NATO countries, of which, however, only British, Canadian, and Dutch contingents are fully cleared for combat in largely Pashtun areas in the east and south where the Taliban and its allies are strongest.”

this is not completely correct. australia has over 1,000 troops (largely special forces) in the most dangerous parts of afghanistan, where they have suffered considerable fatalities. considering australia’s small population, the danger of their positioning, and the fact that it is not a part of NATO, this is a considerable commitment, and one that shouldn’t be left out of US reporting – particularly if the US is keen for australia to provide more assistance.

By: Nissar Ahmed A. Naik

Nissar Ahmed A. Naik — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:59:25 +0000

I agree with Jon Harrison. The first step should be to drop the insistance on the “Jewish Character of Israel” and establish the principle of equality.
I think the march of humanity towards a more enlightened and just world is inevitable. Apatheid which once appeared so poweful in South Africa is now history; so will be this apartheid. States like Israel based on dicrimination on racial or religious intolerance have no future. The only question is how long we have to wait and allow the bloodshed and suffering to go on.

By: Obama - Afghanistan and Pakistan will distract from Israel « Divining the News (DTN)

Mon, 26 Jan 2009 20:20:29 +0000

[...] settle the Irish imbroglio suggests some skill at managing impossible situations, has evoked hope in those who pine for a more open-mined – and evenhanded – approach to the problem of [...]

By: Jon Harrison

Jon Harrison — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:22:32 +0000

marcus hersh makes good points. Like some of the other commenters, I long ago became fed up with Israel’s high-handedness. However, Obama has no choice but to say things like “Israel has a right to defend itself.” It’s not conspiracy-mongering or anti-semitic to say that the “Israel Lobby” has tremendous influence in the United States, such that no president will risk confronting it directly. That’s just a fact – a fact for which there is ample evidence.

Has anyone noticed that the NYT published an op-ed by, of all people, Qaddaffi, that clearly acknowledges the persecutions suffered by Jews, and calls for a one-state solution in which Jew and Arab live together in peace? This is the solution, as opposed to a Jewish state (with over a million Arab second-class citizens) existing alongside a truncated Palestinian “state” that will never be viable economically or politically.

If Catholic and Protestant can learn to live together in Northern Ireland (despite centuries of mindless slaughter), Jew and Arab can do so in Palestine. The Israelis must see this at some point. If they try to perpetuate a Jewish state, they will eventually be overwhelmed – demographically if not militarily.

By: TutuG

TutuG — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 12:58:09 +0000

Those who are trying to read the runes for Obama administration’s Middle East policy perhaps would like to know, that Prince Turki al-Faisal a former director of the Saudi intelligence, ambassador to the UK and Ireland and ambassador to the US, has written an article in the Financial Times, January 23; titled “Saudi Arabia’s patience is running out”. One chilling quote from the article reads; “If the US wants to continue playing a leadership role in the Middle East and keep its strategic alliance intact – specially its ‘special relationship’ with Saudi Arabia – it will have to revise drastically its policies vis a vis Israel and Palestine”. Prince Turki also mentions Iranian president Ahmedi-Nijad’s letter to King Faisal and find it significant that it de-facto recognizes Saudi Arabia’s primacy. He finds that this is a proof that how the Israeli atrocities in Gaza has united the entire region; both Shia and Sunni. One may look up the article at: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a11a77b0-e8ef-11dd-a4d0-0000779fd2ac.html

By: Aren Haich

Aren Haich — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 23:05:45 +0000

william james amrtin is right in saying that Palestinians’ right to self-defense should not be forgotten.
We must also remember the constraints Obama is working under. He is working in an environment which is thick with pro-Israeli lobbyists.
Only the other day the House of Representatives and Senate voted unanimously for resolutions endorsing fully Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
That Obama can at such an early stage show any freedom of action, under these circumstances, is praiseworthy.

By: Nissar Ahmed A. Naik

Nissar Ahmed A. Naik — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 19:54:09 +0000

The hapless Palestines will have to make do with whatever bits and crumbs come their way. The western powers have been shouting ‘black is white’ since 1948, but however loudly they shout, a spade is a spade is a spade. A destruction of a country called Palestine, a huge injustice for anybody who had eyes to see, did not trouble the concience of any of the Western leaders. The many ruthless masacres of the Palestinians, the terrorism unleashed against them, the daylight robbery of their property, the bulldozing of their houses, the stealing of their water resources, all these were no issues at all for the west. The west has been harping on the security of their tormenters, the tormenters of the most insecure people in the world today. The cruelty of trapping a hungry impoverished people with all escape routes blocked, in the tiny piece of land of Gaza, and then killing them like trapped mice is an issue to be ignored, an issue which will be soon forgotten. Nobody champions their right to defend themselves.The west has made it clear that the Palestinians are a subhuman race which does not deserve the same rights as the rest of humanity. Oh yes, let us not openly talk about our view that they are a subhuman race like Hitler did, that will not be prudent.
And on top of this the west has the temerity to lecture China on human rights!

By: Elaine Meinel Supkis

Elaine Meinel Supkis — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 18:56:15 +0000

Dear Mr. Lobe,
Thank you for a good overview of the Mitchell appointment. He is a good man and I am very pleased to see Obama ‘be his own man’ in appointing this seasoned diplomat to the post of ‘Tell the Israeli government, they have to obey international rules and laws’ person. Now, we have to have an envoy come to the US and tell us, we also have to do the same.

I suppose, this envoy will be Chinese.

By: Molloy

Molloy — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 06:33:14 +0000

Read somewhere: “Israel has as much right to self-defense as Germany when it invaded Poland.”

By: Max L Cadenhead

Max L Cadenhead — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 03:28:33 +0000

Israel is drunk with stolen power. Obama surely realises this. He fully intends to alter this state of affairs. How and When. That is the question. However, I believe that he will try to make Israel understand that every dead Arab is another nail in the Jewish State’s coffin. Caught as it is in grip of Lord Acton’s terrible dictum, Israel probably cannot reform, even to save itself.