Next to picture of Obama and Biden — “See those genocidal Jew-haters, Barack? Now those are guys we can deal with.”

http://www.jihadwatch.org/

Geeeez….

Things appear to be in flux already! Word has it that the Obama people may have pushed Bush and Co. to break the deadlock at the UN, accepting a draft resolution tonight. That’s a serious blow to Israel. Could it be that pragmatism setting in? Don’t know. If it’s true, this could be a taste of things to come.

I’m looking forward to seeing tomorrow’s EA reports. We live in interesting times!!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/08/barack-obama-gaza-hamas

Or am i a bit too sceptical?

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I typed peace wrong. I meant PEACE and not PIECE. Sorry about that.

I think he will do that. It looks like Obama will take a pragmatic approach to foreign affairs, which I welcome. That’s not the kind of foreign policy we would have gotten from McCain. That was why I didn’t want to vote for him. His suggestion that the US recognize an independent Chechnya in response to Russian moves in Georgia says it all — that he would be more dangerous than the Bush and Co. McCain seemed to be far too ideological. We definitely won’t hear any grand speeches that hark back to church sermons preached from the pulpits of 17th century Puritan America (providence, destiny). Of course we do hear ‘destiny’ and ‘providence’ in contemporary speeches in Washington. It’s part of our Puritan heritage that really never left us, but none of that will hold any real bite beyond the verbal — and certainly not in the Obama White House. It won’t find its way into policy. Again, I think this incoming administration will be very pragmatic.

Maybe I’m being too optimistic with that assumption…? But I’m actually echoing the sentiment from Libertas, the parent website to Enduring America.

For Obama, it will be terribly daunting to manage the events in the M.E., Russia’s challenges in the Caucasus, declining political influence in Latin America, al-Qaeda, Southeast Asia (India and Pakistan), Israel and the Palestinians, the US economy and debts in the trillions.

WHO WOULD EVER WANT TO BE PRESIDENT? Obama is out of his mind.

- I agree.

“The international community must hold both parties’ feet to the fire”.

- but does this conflict show that the “international community” cannot or will not do so? And, moreover, no longer has the moral legitimacy to do so? I say that because a number of states – and we might add non-state actors – are guilty of morally reprehensible deeds that go unpunished from day-to-day.
It will be interesting to see how Obama will go about solving problems in the ME and balancing them with traditional U.S interests, i.e. a strong Israel, compliant Arab regimes (Eygpt, Saudi’s), whilst at the same time engaging Iran and Syria and working towards a solution in Palestine. Very tricky indeed.

In my opinion, he would be well served to ditch the rhetoric of the ‘War on Terror’ which is entirely fatuous. That is not to say, there isn’t serious problems associated with terrorism and terrorists groups. However, it paints an all too clear picture of how the world is – we need nuance, not more moral exhortations of preserving freedom, and “us vs. them” binaries. I doubt, however, my advise will be taken…but we’ll wait and see.

AGREED!

And when ‘peace’ is eventually restored — and it will be — we need to examine the quality of the peace that exists. In a comment I made in ‘The State of the United States’ blog, I basically said that a time of war is an INDICTMENT of the period of piece that existed before. I may sound like a utopian of some sort, but we simply cannot return to a peacetime that is built on quicksand. The international community must hold both parties’ feet to the fire.

I think the author’s notion of a “transnational network” to exert pressure on the West or Israel may hold more resonance as the scale of the economic crisis is realised and domestic and foreign policy priorities are rescaled. But, at the end of the day, it is ordinary people – on both sides – who can really change things and demand peace. Of course, it requires humility, patience and above all love. Things that are in pretty short supply these days.