Posted on 05/15/2009 5:15:13 PM PDT by VRWCTexan
When...Netanyahu shakes hands with... Obama in the White House Monday, the meeting will mark the start of a radical new approach aimed at solving the conflicts in the Middle East....Obama ...announced a major speech on June 4 to the Muslim world from Cairo. Obama will seek to persuade Arab regimes and populations to stand on the side of peace and progress....It means starting a process of gradual normalization of relations with Israel.
The Cairo speech will seek to heal the battered relations between Washington and Muslims, but it will do more than that.
...Jakarta... where Obama lived as a child, was considered a shoo-in to host the president for his major address. The speech, however, has objectives that go beyond symbolic and rhetorical. It will play a key tactical role in Obama's new Middle East strategy.
(Excerpt) Read more at miamiherald.com ...
This is the first hint I have read that would support a "phased" agreement - PERHAPs one with a seven year timeline for full normalization!!!
What’s your take?
Also this:
Obama plans to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze Jewish settlements in the disputed West Bank during their first White House meeting Monday, U.S. officials said, potentially setting up a confrontation between the American president and a close U.S. ally.
While it isn’t known how hard Obama will press the point or the precise outlines of his request, but by raising the settlements issue now, he’s wading into one of the most sensitive areas of U.S.-Israeli relations — one that’s confounded many of his predecessors.
The American thinking is that Obama’s drive for an Arab-Israeli peace agreement will never get off the ground, given the sour atmosphere in the region, without confidence-building measures by both sides.
In return for a freeze on settlements in areas claimed by the Palestinians for an eventual state, Israel would be offered steps toward acceptance by the Arab states, as promised in a recently revived 2002 Arab peace initiative.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1050495.html
Krauthammer said today he thinks it will be quite the dust up with Bibi holding his ground on doing what he has to do.
He’s my favorite news analyist - sorry I missed seeing it
“..seek to heal the battered relations between Washington and Muslims..”
Huh? Battered relations? Even after all the ass-kissing we have been practicing at home and abroad?
I think Bibi should take to the airwaves and proclaim “Death to America”.
That would instantly gain him the respect and admiration of Obama.
Perfect! That certainly will work!
Unfortunately, I’m not joking.
Bibi will politely tell obummer to kiss his ass. Netanyahu is a man, a solder and a patriot, he will protect Israels interests, in other words.... the complete opposite of O.
Gradual means “will never happen”.
I guess President Obama will soon make a pilgrimage to Mecca to kiss and worship the Black Stone, just as millions of Muslims do every year. Oh by the way, do you know how the Black Stone wound up in Mecca, and what the Black Stone represents? In case you didn’t know, why not go to the website reformation.org? There is an article about the Black Stone on that website. It says that the Black Stone represents the ancient virgin goddess Cybele. In 204 B.C., the king of Pergamum (also called Pergamos) sent Cybele to Rome in the form of a black stone. The worship of Cybele was associated with a crescent moon and a black stone (both of which are symbols of Islam). The priests castrated themselves and wore long hair.
Either in the late 500’s or the early 600’s, Rome sent the Black Stone to Mecca. That’s where the Black Stone is now. So when the Muslims kiss the Black Stone, they are kissing and worshiping Cybele.
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
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It makes complete sense. Essentially it’s throwing away the last 8 years and going back to a process where both sides must make progress before moving on to the next step. Of course it could take years, if we were honest decades, so I doubt BHO will approve.
Self-ping for later theft of cartoon.
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