This, from John Cassidy’s blog in The New Yorker, raises obvious questions:
3. Did the Obama Administration know about the Israeli attacks in advance? On Saturday, the New York Times reported that Major General Amir Eshel, the commander of the Israeli Air Force, was in Washington last week, just days before the attacks began. (Israeli generals and politicians often visit Washington; Eshel could have been in the U.S. to discuss Iran, among other topics.) The Pentagon also confirmed that Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta had talked to Ehud Barak, his counterpart in Israel, although it wasn’t immediately clear whether those discussions took place before or after the violence began. The initial Israeli attack, which involved assassinating Ahmed Al-Jabari, the military commander of Hamas, and bombing dozens of underground sites where the Israelis suspected Hamas was concealing weapons, including long-range missiles, was clearly well planned. Although the pretext for the strikes was a recent escalation of violence by Hamas, including the firing of an anti-tank missile that injured four Israeli soldiers, this looked like an operation that the Israeli government had been preparing to carry out for some time.
It makes sense that Obama knew and green lighted the offensive, the question is why. It is possible that with great cunning he allowed Bibi Netanyahu to walk into a trap of his own making but that accords a level of skill and principle to his foreign policy team that has hitherto not been evident. The cock-up makes greater sense, but the conclusion is unavoidable, he is Israel’s creature. It is his great luck though, that this affair may have an ending that could change that.
It is possible that with great cunning he allowed Bibi Netanyahu to walk into a trap of his own making but that accords a level of skill and principle to his foreign policy team that has hitherto not been evident.
there’s always the possibility his fp team could act differently during a second term.
what would be the effect on u.s. mideast policies if everyone opposed to our government’s green-lighting of israel’s gaza incursions notified her/his congressperson/senator as well as the white house of their feelings on the subject? nothing but a waste of time? maybe, but remember what happened 4 years ago when congress first took up the bank bailout? well, it was inundated with messages from a populace enraged by the possibility that the banksters would be bailed out of a mess that was of its own doing. better yet, the house voted overwhelmingly against that bailout. alas, as lobbyists moved in & did their thing the representatives reversed themselves, but for a moment, at least, public opinion had prevailed. which is to say, how’s about our inundating congress & the white house with demands about ending this special relationship with israel?
What are a few hundred Palestinian lives in a game to eliminate a rival who made him look weak.
I suspect there was a deal: Israel agreed not to attack Iran and to postpone any military action until after the U.S. election, in return for Obama’s promise to greenlight an attack on Gaza after the election.
How often have you heard politicians make promises they would do or allow things “after the election”. In this case, rather than meeting activists’ wistful hopes of his cleaning up the IP conflict and oppression after the election, “after the election” has another meaning, I’m afraid. :(
I can’t imagine any kind of deal that has anything for America in it … israel never follows through, never delivers and we never push them for anything due to their lobby … it is unfathomable why the entire U.S. gov’t is in lock-step on this Gaza campaign in support of israel … we know they won’t stop settlements, they won’t lessen the violence, they won’t act in good faith ever … were we extorted? … what could they have over us? There is NO upside for the U.S.
ED MOLONEY- “It makes sense that Obama knew and green lighted the offensive, the question is why.”
Ed, I think that the simplest explanation is that Obama is not a hypocrite. The empire is currently involved in numerous overt and covert military operations around the globe, drone strikes, special forces operations, kill lists, etc, which target defenseless civilians, therefore, it would be hypocritical for Obama to restrain Netanyahu from engaging in similar activities. Besides, Obama has clearly demonstrated that he has wholeheartedly adopted the neoconservative game plan for remaking the Middle East, with Syria currently under assault and Iran in waiting. The US and Israel are two warfare states doing what comes naturally. Now that Obama has his second term he no longer has to play-act for his base. No more Mr. Nice Guy.
“If we just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely and we don’t try to piece together clever diplomacy, but just wage a total war… our children will sing great songs about us years from now.” (Michael Ledeen, following 9/11/01 attacks)
Let’s say Obama disapproved of this killing spree. What, really, could he do? Very little. No US govt would ever dare restrain the rabid Israeli dog, and few have ever tried. In any case, it’s fairly obvious that Obama wholeheartedly approves of this latest little war. I would say the Israeli gen merely informed Obama that they were cooking up a war. I doubt he asked his approval for what is, in their terms, a minor little escapade.
“No US govt would ever dare restrain the rabid Israeli dog,”..Maximus
Tell us more….why would no US gov ever dare to restrain the rabid dog?
Cause Obama is just a puppet?
Puppet State America by Paul Craig Roberts:
link to informationclearinghouse.info
seems to me that the official narrative on the mideast is undergoing an admittedly slight yet significant shift from israel can do no wrong to israel may be an impediment to the full acceptance of american leadership by the arab/islamic world. the signs are subtle, perhaps, and inconsistant. phil keeps pointing this out (correctly, i believe) as is the los angeles times’ in its recent coverage of palestine/israel along with last sunday’s “up with chris” msnbc program. actually the first hints that there was something anew on p/i occurred a couple years ago when general david petreaus reported to congress that israel’s intransigence vis-a-vis a peace accord with the palestinians endangered u.s. troops in iraq/afghan. about the same time vice president joe biden & also hillary clinton said essentially the same thing. except soon thereafter, for whatever reason, general petreaus recanted & rejoined the israel can do no wrong crowd. then there was president obama’s refusal to meet with israeli pm netanyahu. while slight significance was attached to that refusal, by itself, but alongside perceivable, albeit slight, differences in media coverage, is the public being prepared for the big switcheroo, where our government tells the public that national security & other u.s. interests necessitate a new approach to the mideast? and once this happens, how long before msm comes out in support of justice for palestine? wishful thinking? yes! but hopefully more.
p.s. could president obama’s insistence that egypt come through in its effort to broker a truce agreement serve as a possible cover for him (obama) when/if he tells the public about the need for new thinking on p/i.
RE: “. . . this looked like an operation that the Israeli government had been preparing to carry out for some time.” ~ John Cassidy’s blog in The New Yorker
SEE: “Israeli offensive in Gaza was years in the making”, By Josef Federman, Associated Press, 11/19/12
LINK – link to sfgate.com
RE: “Did the Obama Administration know about the Israeli attacks in advance? On Saturday, the New York Times reported that Major General Amir Eshel, the commander of the Israeli Air Force, was in Washington last week, just days before the attacks began.” ~ John Cassidy’s blog in The New Yorker
MY SELF-CONGRATULATION(S): I am feeling so darn good about having voted for Jill Stein of the Green Party rather than “O’Bomber” who obviously authorized Israel to once again “mow the lawn”* in Gaza in keeping with Israel’s “Iron Wall” “obsession”. I do not believe Netanyahu would have been able to “play” Jill Stein (“for a fool”, or “like a violin”) nearly as easily as he has been able to “play” Obama.
I guess I should thank my lucky stars that I don’t live in a “swing state” where I might have been tempted to vote for Obama/O’Bomber as the “(not very) lesser evil”!
Israel is truly the “little sadist”, but Obama, AIPAC and the United States are the “Big (Global) Sadist(s)” ! ! !
* SEE: “Preparing to ‘Mow the Grass’ in Gaza”, By Paul R. Pillar, consortiumnews.com, 3/17/12
LINK – link to consortiumnews.com
• Jill Stein - link to jillstein.org
• The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) - link to gp.org
P.S. FROM THE GREEN PARTY, WITH MY EMPHASIS:
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES – http://www.gp.org
For Immediate Release: Friday, November 16, 2012
The U.S. is ignoring the source of the conflict and chain of incidents leading up to the current Gaza crisis, say Greens
SOURCE – link to gp.org
obama not only green lighted this operation, he financed it
Israel’s fifth column in the US is more than our media and our politicians.
“Young Americans who served in the IDF but live in the States are arriving in Israel to join their combat units.”
link to haaretz.com
Hopefully these bastards buy it in the sand. And if they don’t, they should have their citizenship stripped. When Americans are dying overseas, any American who dons another state’s uniform (and soils himself by putting on an i’d'f one) should, at best, suffer the loss of citizenship and a 100% tax on his property for good measure.
RE: “On Saturday, the New York Times reported that Major General Amir Eshel, the commander of the Israeli Air Force, was in Washington last week, just days before the attacks began. (Israeli generals and politicians often visit Washington; Eshel could have been in the U.S. to discuss Iran, among other topics.) ~ John Cassidy’s blog in The New Yorker
MY COMMENT: Surely not even Israel would have the unmitigated chutzpah to allow such a public, high-level visit of this type (“Maj. Gen. Amir Eshel . . . met with American officials”) to occur immediately before they were going to initiate a major, long-planned attack on Gaza that the Obama administration was not aware of. If the visit had been long-scheduled, the commander of the Israeli Air Force would have had a “scheduling conflict” and been unable to make his visit.
It would be absolutely unpardonable for Israel to allow such a high-level visit to give the appearance of the Obama administration having signed-off on “Pillar of Cloud/Defense” when the Obama administration had (in fact) not even been informed of it! That just is not done by allies! ! !
As far as I can tell, Obama has never vistied Israel, so the photographs and videos are not from a hotel there.