Barack Obama to open up dialog with Hamas
January 8, 2009 by Jim Pfaff · 8 Comments
The incoming Obama administration will open up talks with Hamas. Right at the point where the terror group has been backed into a corner in Gaza by Israel, Barack Obama throws out a lifeline.
Obama transition team members have sent a message through the media today that when Obama takes office in 12 days, he will instruct our intelligence services to open a secret dialog with Hamas. Instead of running scared as they have for the last week or so, all Hamas need do now is hunker down for a few more days and wait for the incoming American administration to save their hides. And, alas, poor Israeli families in Beersheva will continue to suffer under the terrible rocket attacks from Gaza.
For the last six years, Democrats have been seeking to undermine the Bush administration’s efforts to fight the war on terror. Now Israel is once again fighting its own war on terror, and Barack Obama puts hope into what has certainly been a dispirited Hamas .
This smells like the precursor to a foreign policy disaster.
Consider what Obama’s policy would do at the UN. There is a proposal floating around in the United Nations Security Council which calls for an unconditional cease fire by Israel and Hamas. Almost every previous, American administration has stood with Israel by vetoing such measures. Will an Obama administration change course and begin to side with Europe, Communist China and Russia to condemn Israel from protecting its national sovereignty? If so, it would legitimize Arab nations’ refusal to recognize Israel as a sovereign country.
It is becoming more clear that Obama has the will to radically shift our foreign policy far beyond the Bush doctrine of pre-emption (ill-conceived as it was). The effects of this shift, if it happens, could damage our ability to act on the world scene more significantly than anything George Bush has done in the last eight years. If we give terror an ear, it may just take our scalp as well.
UPDATE: I think you’ll enjoy the reaction to this article at Baloon Juice. Read the comments as well. Great discussion.
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Are you insane Jim? If Israel get their way, there will be no Palestinians left to talk to. Yes, Hamas has sent 100’s of rockets into Israel since Israel broke the last cease fire by having armed incursions into Gaza and after 6 months of Israel’s blockade of fuel, food and medicine, including the Israeli navy firing on charity ships in international waters. Oh yes, those 100’s of rockets killed 18 Israeli’s in 6 months, Israel has killed over 700 Palestinians in 2 weeks!! Who are the terrorists?
Obama should speak freely with Hamas. Something needs to be done and the past policy of the Neocons (Bush Administration) is not helping matters. Sure let Isreal defend itself but we should have nothing to do with Middle Eastern War Policies.
To: Steve Michaels. First of all, Israel is the one country in the region which provides long-term stability in the region. Egypt, though a relative stable Arab government, still allows radical factions to transport weapons to Gaza. Jordan, an equally stable government, is not nearly influential enough to provide a buffer between Israel and the Arab Street. Saudi Arabia plays a central role in the funding of terror worldwide. Syria is a terrorist state. Lebanon is a mess and home to Hezbollah. Iraq may emerge as a stable country, but is far from that now. Yemen and Somalia are qualified terror mills. Qatar is small and radicalized. And, of course, Iran is the grandaddy of all terror states.
Yet, there is Israel, a clearly peaceful state surrounded by terrorist organizations (PLO, Hezbollah, Hamas, etc.) and constantly under threat of the wrath of radicalized Muslim factions retaliating against the most volatile chunk of property which has killed only 18 Israelis because they cannot yet reach any city larger than Beersheba, and you cry foul? I am just not buying it.
You made a critical statement in your comment which I believe bolsters my point. it was “100’s of rockets” that killed 18 Israelis. Hundreds! Repeat: Hundreds.
Sorry Jim, I really did not think you would take any notice to my comment and therefore failed to check back in after a couple of days. The news that has come out of the allegedly ‘ended’ conflict confirms my statements, not yours. Yes, they fired hundreds, yes hundreds of rockets with about as much firepower as fireworks. Israel on the other hand, your ‘peaceful state’ fired hundreds, yes hundreds of illegal cluster bombs AND hundreds, yes hundreds of illegal phosphorous bombs. Evidence is also mounting that DU weaponry and DIME weaponry were used. The final death toll isn’t in yet, but the latest figures are 13 Israelis dead and 1,300 Palestinian, of which over 60% are CONFIRMED civilian and of those over 50% are CONFIRMED women and children. How much evidence do you need of the aggression of Israel? For God’s sake, they bombed the UNITED NATIONS REFUGEE AND RELIEF STORAGE FACILITY with PHOSPHOROUS BOMBS!!! The Palestinians have been forcibly removed from their homeland by the formation of the State of Israel. With every conflict, virtually ALL started by Israel, they are squeezed into a smaller and smaller territory. What happened to the Palestinians right to exist? Their right to self defence?
If you actually research, you will find that the PLO was willing to give away enough concessions to Israel to ensure peace that it undermined the hawks in the Israeli government. That is why ISRAEL pressed for free and fair elections. These elections provided Hamas with a DEMOCRATIC victory and legitimacy, yes, created by Israel’s insistence to be rid of the PLO. And this election provided the excuse for MORE Israeli aggression.
You complain about the radicalized Arab states. The actions of Israel provide the fuel for such radicalization. I do not believe this to be an unintended consequence. Lebanon is a mess do to Israeli attacks and your apparent ignorance of Islam fails to recognize that while you claim that Iran is the ‘grandaddy of all terror states’, they are a Shia majority theocracy and would hardly be willing to help the Sunni majority states of Syria, Jordon, Gaza, the West Bank or Lebanon, EXCEPT if there is the galvanizing retaliation to Israeli aggression.
As a final comment, you fail to mention that the last ceasefire was broken by Israel and the rocket attacks only started in earnest after the ceasefire was broken and Israel instituted a COMPLETE blockade on food, fuel, medicine and building supplies. The great smuggling tunnels are the only reason that Israel’s creation of a Nazi type ghetto for the Palestinians hasn’t caused them to completely starve to death already. I would also like to point out that I am of Jewish heritage and do not in any way blame the Jewish religious beliefs for Israel’s actions. Many Jews reject Zionism and its militants views.