Seymour Hersh on Amy Goodman Friday. Thomas Pickering is old school, a Bush I guy, worked for Clinton too, a realist. The Obama isolation that Hersh describes is about Iran and Afghanistan but surely applies to Israel and Palestine too.
And I’ll tell you the biggest problem he has, as awful as those things are, as
counterproductive, and as much as he’s following, oh, yes, Bush and Cheney in those policies–and I think the President– I’ll be writing about this–I think he was really sandbagged by the Pentagon after he got into office, when he was new and innocent. And I still think–I think right now–I would almost use the word “cult” to describe what’s going on in the White House. Everything is political. He’s isolated. Very good people say they’ve never seen a president this isolated, in terms of being unable to get to him with different opinions, etc. So here’s really captive of a few people there. I know this may sound strange, but I know what I’m talking about. You can’t get to the guy–and even, for example, Pickering, as competent as he is. And Pickering has done some wonderful stuff for the United States intelligence community undercover, and so he’s known as a trusted guy. Those guys who have been involved in talking to Iran off the record, Track II policy talks, for years can’t get to the President. He may not even know they’re looking for him. I just don’t know.
