Interviewed on Channel 4 in England last week–not here of course–John Mearsheimer said "I don't see Obama being successful [on Israel/Palestine] in the years ahead." His analysis:
George W. Bush and Condi Rice actually tried to do something in the last year or so–Annapolis–and got nowhere, because an American president is incapable of putting pressure on the Israeli government, and no deal is possible without pressure.
It's fine to talk about What Jimmy Carter did, but Carter merely brokered a deal on the Sinai, which was a whole lot easier than Israel giving up the West Bank with all the colonies. "We're talking here about cutting a deal with the Palestinians, and the fact is that most Israelis are interested in creating a greater Israel. They're willing to give the Palestinians a state, but that state is really just a handful of bantustans around which Israel controls the borders and control the air above."
As long as the Israelis are not willing to give the Palestinians a viable state, no president will be successful. Clinton demonstrated that. The key factor here is the Israel lobby. Obama can't be different than Bush "because the Israel lobby in this country won't allow him to be any different."
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Obama can't be different than Bush "because the Israel lobby in this country won't allow him to be any different." — John M.
Given that POTUS is often described as the most powerful person on earth — what is wrong with this picture?
I guess it's not as simple as pulling that $3b "foreign aid" package until such time as Israel works out a compromise with the Palestinians. O, well, what does it matter? Israel has exactly what it wants anyway–even a war now and then to remind everybody that its "normal"–i.e., a masculinized, militarized, patriarchal state like all the rest.
One of these pseudo Haygood trolls is extraordinarily stupid, isn't he?
A uniquely hopeless statement.
Are you really that pessimistic Phil, in FACT (as much as you call yourself an "optimist")?
A uniquely hopeless statement.
Are you really that pessimistic Phil, in FACT (as much as you call yourself an "optimist")?
Who programmed Witty's default setting: find something to criticbize in everything Phil writes. … Program has bugs:
Mearsheimer: Like Bush and Clinton before him, Obama will fail at creating a viable Palestinian state
Mearsheimer said "I don't see Obama being successful [on Israel/Palestine] in the years ahead." His analysis:
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