By Barry Rubin
In response to criticisms--presumably including mine--of Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta's speech on the Middle East, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said:Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader
“The speech was very clear, the Secretary said there’s an unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security and he noted that the US is willing to be a partner in forging a lasting peace in the Middle East. He also said, and this is common sense, folks, it’s common sense for Israel and other countries in the region, as well as the Palestinians to talk. And he did says that the Israeli’s should look to mend fences."
The Obama Administration seems to believe that merely repeating endlessly that they support Israel and its security is a substitute for actually supporting Israel and its security in real life.
To say that Israel and the Palestinians should talk might seem like "common sense." But to repeatedly imply that the lack of talk is Israel's fault is unfriendly to Israel.
Continue reading A Response to The Obama Administration's Pretended Support for Israel's Security(seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East
(Wiley), and The Truth About Syria
(Palgrave-Macmillan). His latest book is Israel: An Introduction, to be published by Yale University Press in January 2012. You can read more of Barry Rubin's posts at Rubin Reports, and now on his new blog, Rubin Reports, on Pajamas Media
Technorati Tag: Israel and Obama.
2 comments:
I noted something very similar yesterday on MSNBC "Hardball" when Chris Matthews was talking to Ron Reagan about Obama's 'epic class warfare speech' yesterday. Ron's comment was that Obama was speaking in unassailable platitudes...'and then, what?' because he offered nothing more than offering to say something. As if that's the same thing as putting forth something concrete and substantial, let alone accomplishing something.
Just like Obama's pro-Israel platitudes claiming his administration is most supportive of Israeli security ever--at a time when his inaction and outright bungling have allowed radical Islamists to gain control across the region.
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