Time Short
Obama transition team signals to Israel they’d better get on with it and destroy Hamas quick. Because Obama plans to reverse the isolation policy and initiate diplomatic talks with the terrorist group. OK, that’s not exactly what the UK Guardian is reporting:
The incoming Obama administration is prepared to abandon George Bush’s doctrine of isolating Hamas by establishing a channel to the Islamist organisation, sources close to the transition team say.
The move to open contacts with Hamas, which could be initiated through the US intelligence services, would represent a definitive break with the Bush presidency’s ostracising of the group. The state department has designated Hamas a terrorist organisation, and in 2006 Congress passed a law banning US financial aid to the group.
Sounds pretty bad. Neglects to note that isolating Hamas was not simply a Bush policy, but with the exception of a couple of other terrorist regimes such as Iran, pretty much universal in Europe and the Middile East, following the terrorist organization’s expansion of the target list for its terrorist operations to include Palestinians as well as Israelis. But hang on, now it gets interesting:
The Guardian has spoken to three people with knowledge of the discussions in the Obama camp. There is no talk of Obama approving direct diplomatic negotiations with Hamas early on, but he is being urged by advisers to initiate low-level or clandestine approaches, and there is growing recognition in Washington that the policy of ostracising Hamas is counter-productive.
OK, between graphs 1 and 3, we’ve moved from “is prepared to” to “is being urged to.” I guess it’s going to depend on how Obama’s Executive Co-President for Controlling Everything, Hillary Clinton, feels about it.
Richard Haass, a diplomat under both Bush presidents who was named by a number of news organisations this week as Obama’s choice for Middle East envoy, supports low-level contacts with Hamas provided there is a ceasefire in place and a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation emerges.
Another potential contender for a foreign policy role in the Obama administration suggested that the president-elect would not be bound by the Bush doctrine of isolating Hamas.
OK, now we’ve moved to “provided” and “suggested.” Starts to sound a little weak. Speaking of Shadow President Clinton …
The two weeks since Israel began its military campaign against Gaza have heightened anticipation about how Obama intends to deal with the Middle East. He adopted a strongly pro-Israel position during the election campaign, as did his erstwhile opponent and choice for secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. But it is widely thought Obama would adopt a more even-handed approach once he is president.
Clinton, as I recall, said she’d nuke Iran if Iran tried anything re Israel. But with that “heightened anticipations” bit up there, the UK Guardian is finally getting to the point.
Obama has defined himself in part by his willingness to talk to America’s enemies. But the president-elect would be wary of being seen to give legitimacy to Hamas as a consequence of the war in Gaza.
…
Obama has frustrated and confused those who had been looking for a more evenhanded approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by his refusal to make any substantive comment on Israel’s military campaign on Gaza, nearly two weeks on.
And it ends up being essentially as a wishful thinking initiative on the part of the UK Guardian. What Obama plans to do is anybody’s guess. My guess is that, as much as he’d like to talk to terrorists, he’s aware that doing so would look bad, and the Kumbayah singer just hopes there is no Hamas left to talk to by the time he gets into office. Hence the deathly silence. So if Israel would just get on with it, Obama can be the big guy who brings together Mahmoud Abbas, the Arabs, the Euros, and convinces them they need to do the right thing for Gaza.
Israel seems to get it. NYT: Gaza attacks continue despite UN truce call.
Krauthammer: End Game in Gaza. The Hammer of the Krauts discusses how a couple of scenarios could play out: A soft landing for Hamas, or Lebanon II, if Olmert goes wobbly; and Hammer Time.
Meanwhile, Lebanon had the Green Helmet Guy, Gaza has the Mads Doctor. Fox:
A high-profile Norwegian doctor who has said the September 11 terrorists were justified in their attack is now treating patients in Gaza and is being accused of presenting “hard-core propaganda” to TV interviewers in his telling of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Dr. Mads Gilbert has become an unofficial advocate of the Palestinian cause, his critics say.
International media reports, including those from the BBC, CBS, CNN and FOX’s sister station Sky News, present Gilbert as an ordinary doctor.
But a look at his record shows that Gilbert, 61, is a political activist and member of the Norwegian Maoist “Red” party, and he has been involved in solidarity work for the Palestinians since the 1970s. He has criticized the international aid organization Doctors Without Borders for refusing to take sides in conflicts.
Gilbert volunteers at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza with the Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC), an aid organization funded by the Norwegian government, and he has been interviewed by the media on a variety of issues. Israeli government officials have said Hamas hides weapons in the hospital where Gilbert works.
How about that. Confederate Yankee reports terrorism advocacy has advanced from the corpse-hauling death fakery of Lebanon to dramatic fake lifesaving efforts in Gaza. Anatomy of a hoax.
Hot Air: CNN stung by fake atrocity vid? Shocking, I know, but that’s the Middle Eats for you, where everyone seems doomed to play the same tragic roles over and over again.
Malkin: Get Joe the Plumber/War Correspondent in there. I gotta admit some skepticism about the straight-talking plumber having a clue what he’s doing in a war zone, but this particular situation seems tailor-made for him. If the Israelis know what they’re doing, they’ll see to it Joe gets face time with the Mads Doctor quick. Reynolds, lacking fire, makes do with icy schadenfreude:
KARMA: CNN DISSES JOE THE PLUMBER — then has to yank fake video from Gaza. What’s their experience, again? What are their credentials? … Nice work, guys.
Topics: Israel, Palestinians
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:15 am on Friday, January 9, 2009
2 Responses to “Time Short”
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January 9th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Regarding talking to Hamas (i) the article was in the Guardian, the UK papers are notorious for exageration and in any event, the Guardian is a left wing paper and may be engageing in some wishful thinking and (ii) we talk to our enemies all the time.
January 9th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Hamas is the worst criminal terrorist group in the Middle East.. They deliberately kill their own civilians, using their own as human shields, while knowingly with Israeli prior warnings still expose the women and children to the coming attacks for propaganda display to the world, while the Hamas leaders hide at safe locations.
What moral and principle will allow talks with group of criminals that have complete disregard to the welfare of their own and their vision is total annihilation of Israel.