A couple of items of note, the first being the unified front that Obama and Clinton are displaying regarding the “two state solution” for the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and his apparent steadfast adherence to it in the face of Israeli attempts to walk him back from it. To say that this is encouraging would be a significant understatement. If he stays with it, and there is increasing cause to hope that he will, the Israelis will have to back down. No Israeli government has ever crossed swords with an American President and survived. Israelis know which side of the bread their butter is on.
The other thing is a bit more subtle, but perhaps even more encouraging. According to David Ignatius in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post, unfortunately hidden behind a subscription firewall, Syria and the US are actually talking to each other and significant credit is due to John Kerry. Seems that Kerry and President Assad have been developing a relationship of “respect and friendship” and, instead of rebuking Kerry and telling him to butt out of State Department business, the Obama Administration said something to the effect of, “Oh, cool, let’s see if we can build on that.” The upshot is that Syria is welcoming a deputation of U.S. Central Command officers this month to discuss efforts to stabilize Iraq.
Obama seems to believe we’re all in this together, or something.
Is this the "dialogue with other nations" Obama was talking about so long ago and was criticized for it? Talking to other nations is not a problem, agreeing to disagree on certain things is not a bad thing and altogether better than being boneheaded about it. Like some people we know.
ReplyDeleteTry something new. Go ahead. Can't be worse.