[Rhodes22-list] Time for a political question of the Commodore...

[Brad Haslett]

Ed,

Any supporter of Israel should be alarmed by some of Obama's views regarding
the Middle East, and especially his adviser for that region, Samantha
Powers.  The fact that Israel is a Jewish nation doesn't make 2 cents of
difference to me - it is a democracy in the middle of a hostile environment
and a reliable partner with the US in the region. Israel could be a nation
of any group of humanity and I would be a staunch supporter. Besides, who
doesn't love a country that can build a successful economy on the same soil
everyone else fails on and knows how to take names and kick asses? I'll
include a recent observation on Powers. This election cycle will put a
spotlight on identity politics and frankly, once you get past the skin color
and vaporous speeches of the New Messiah, he's a windbag of leftest dogma,
Mao-Tse Tung thought, and Huey Long populism without a plan. The Republican
National Committee called me yesterday asking for my annual donation.  They
got an earful about my opinion of the apparent RNC candidate and I won't be
bothered with any more calls this season.  How the hell did we get to this
point?

Brad

-----------------------

Wednesday, February 20, 2008  Obama's Power Ranger  I have a suggestion for
people who support Barack Obama: They should make their support contingent
on Obama finding a new foreign-policy adviser.

His current foreign-policy adviser is Samantha Power, who just told an
interviewer<http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/02/18/samantha_power/index.html>that
"The next president is really going to have to walk and chew gum at
the
same time, because no long-term peace in the Middle East is possible until
we get some kind of modus vivendi in the Arab-Israeli situation."

Ah, that "Arab-Israeli situation." Power is demonstrably in harmony with the
Arab world, especially its long line of dictators. Her words reminded me of
the unceasing echo we heard growing up under Arab dictatorship. To wit,
Palestine comes first; everything else is to be sacrificed for the cause.
Solve the Palestinian problem and everything else (especially our own
freedom) will fall into place. That's exactly what we were told, and it's
what the Egyptians were told, and what Arabs all over the Middle East and
North Africa were told. Nobody in Iraq would dare comment on the shortages
of food and ordinary supplies, but we could all comment on the injustice
being done to Palestinians. During the sanctions of the 1990s and early
2000s, Saddam Hussein allowed Iraqis to go hungry while he sent cash to the
families of suicide bombers in the West Bank.

Obviously, I want a just solution so as to end Palestinian agonies. But the
last time I looked, the Palestinian leadership was engaged in a fratricidal
war for control of the Palestinians. The lives of all other Arabs can't be
put on hold until the seemingly intractable Arab-Israeli impasse is
resolved. Nor, as Power believes, can the other pressing issues of the
region – Iran's nuclear dreams, Hezbollah's "divine" militarism, Syria's
foreign policy of assassination – continue to wait for that golden day. I
want to see Palestinians living happily and at peace in their own country,
but I am no longer willing to sacrifice the future well-being of Iraq.

Concerning the well-being of Iraqis, Samantha Power advises Obama to abandon
them, albeit possibly in new neighborhoods. "We need to be incredibly
sensitive as we leave Iraq to the welfare of Iraqis who are going to be left
in our wake. That potentially entails the idea of sectarian or ethnic
relocation if people are in a mixed neighborhood and feel that they'd be
safer in a more homogenous neighborhood," Power said.

Power was paid how much to come up with that? She added, "Also, [it entails]
massive support for neighboring countries that have taken in 2 million
refugees, and some very systematic effort between now and the time we begin
leaving to build funding and resource streams to internally displaced
people."

I like the part about "massive support" to the neighbors. Two of those
neighbors are Syria and Iran, who are doing neither Iraqis nor the U.S. any
favors by encouraging bloodshed and chaos in Iraq. Does she favor "massive
support" for them? Does she know how preposterous she sounds?

Beirut journalist Michael Young was
impressed<http://www.reason.com/blog/show/125054.html>by the same
passage:

"So here's the plan from the author, incidentally, of a book on genocide.
Accept the realities imposed by ethnic cleansing; give plenty of money to
several of the neighboring countries that have been responsible for
sustaining the fighting in Iraq; and pay off displaced Iraqis so that the
U.S. can feel less guilty about abandoning them to their sad fate."

Exactly. Young writes, "I would be able cynically to stomach her scheme if
it were not couched in the hypocritical language of moral
self-righteousness. Power knows enough about killing to know that she really
needs to answer the question: What happens if an American withdrawal leads
simultaneously to mass murder?"

Actually, we've already heard from her boss, Sen. Obama, about the
possibility of Iraqi genocide, and whether he would take it into account in
effecting a withdrawal from Iraq. He said potential genocide should not be a
consideration. He really needs better advice.

*posted by IraqPundit at 2:29
AM<http://iraqpundit.blogspot.com/2008/02/obamas-power-ranger.html>
*

 ------------------------------






On Fri, Feb 22, 2008 at 6:57 AM, Tootle <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:

>
> Commodore Spitzer said:
>
> "My question has always been, "Chosen by whom?"  I know in Wisconsin there
> are only two Jews in the whole state and they are both senators so maybe
> they are Wisconsin's chosen people?
>
> "Signed, confused in North Carolina
>
> "Ss
>
> There is a need for you to fairly analyze the issues presented.  You are
> assuming that the individuals referred to understand economics, are
> reasonably honest and represent an American point of view?
>
> Remember that Jews initially supported National Socialism in Germany.
>  There
> were many Jews in the early stages of Soviet Communism.  As I have pointed
> out, socialism sounds good.
>
> After you ask hard questions about the demonstrated results, you need to
> ask
> if those are the results that you seek.
>
> Again, look at the results of National Socialism in Germany and Communism
> in
> the Soviet Union.  Are those the results that you really want for your
> grandkids?
>
> There is no need to be confused if you are honest about what is best for
> your grandkids.  Simply, you have erred and now there is still time for
> you
> to do the right thing, do you think?
>
> Ed K
> Greenville, SC, USA
>
> http://www.nabble.com/file/p15632890/Obama%2527s%2Bvision%2Bof%2BNational%2BDefense.gif
> Obama%27s+vision+of+National+Defense.gif
> --
> View this message in context:
> http://www.nabble.com/SS%3A-Time-for-a-political-Hail-Mary-tp15614362p15632890.html
> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
> __________________________________________________
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