Washington Post columnist Jackson Diehl recently observed, “The Obama administration has developed a bad habit of founding its Middle East strategies on wishful thinking.” “Wishful thinking” is kind. Delusions of grandeur from the man who promised he had the power to make oceans recede, the authority to bring prosperity and equality to all, and the unique ability to cause peace the world over is more accurate. And so it is that Obama took to the pages of Ha’aretz, Israel’s equivalent of the New York Times (if not worse) in its left-leaning, progressive ideology and penned an article titled “Peace is the only path to true security for Israel and the Palestinians.” In typical Obama style, he narcissistically begins his column talking about himself — his view of Israel from the window of Air Force One, his view of the situation as a father, and faux promises of his commitment to the security of Israel and its citizens. He continues with lies about the strength of the Israeli/U.S. relationship and his personal responsibility for making Israel safer than ever before. From there his delusions grow tenfold.
- “Our commitment to Israel’s security also extends to our engagement throughout the Middle East.” This is beautiful coming from the president who, from the very beginning of his term, promised to withdraw from the region and pivot to Asia. Back to reality, the last time Israel saw itself confronting the real possibility of war on at least four fronts was probably 1973. Under Obama’s “leadership,” Iraq has now become a terrorist safe-haven with one third of the country in the hands of ISIS which has also taken hold in Syria and threatens Jordan. Iran is on the verge of nuclear weapons capability. The only thing that Obama’s engagement in the area has achieved is the empowerment of Palestinians to start a third intifada.
- “Under American leadership, the international community successfully removed the last of Bashar al-Assad’s declared chemical weapons from Syria.” The emphasis is mine making this statement simply laughable. As he continues claiming that this “reduces the ability of a brutal dictator to use weapons of mass destruction to threaten not just the Syrian people but Syria’s neighbors,” I imagine the 150-200,000 murdered Syrians turning over in their mass graves. Obama goes on to promise to continue working with “our partners in Europe and the Arab world to support the moderate opposition and to press for a political solution.” He just fails to disclose that three years of leading from behind has decimated any moderate opposition that could have prevented the expansion of ISIS from a minor al Qaeda offshoot to an international jihadist threat and that we are well beyond a political solution to the mess he helped to create.
- “We are also working to ensure that Iran does not ever possess a nuclear weapon.” Any respectable bookie would put the odds of success on this at 1,000,000 –1. He finishes that paragraph with a promise that every option remains on the table. I imagine the mullahs getting a nice chuckle out of that one; the Israelis, not so much.
- Finally we get to the crux of Obama’s sales pitch as he states, “We have always been clear-eyed that resolving the decades-old conflict between Israelis and Palestinians would take enormous effort and require difficult decisions by the parties… peace is necessary, just, and possible.” This from the man who lied his way into the White House, forced ObamaCare down the throats of 300 million who do not want it, used the IRS to attack those he views as “dissidents,” and lied about a video causing the Benghazi attack. The only time Obama has been clear-eyed is when he uses Visine after a get-together with the Choom Gang.
- But it is this line that is one of the most offensive: “Reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians would also help turn the tide of international sentiment and sideline violent extremists….” Where does one begin to address such distorted and historically inaccurate assertions? The international community has demonized Israel for decades. What is clear is that under Obama, it is America’s previously unequivocal support that has eroded and is no longer something that Israel can rely upon. As far as his accusation that it is solely within Israel’s power to “sideline” jihadists by simply making peace with the Palestinians, he not only ignores that they too are “violent extremists.” He makes the offensive assertion that Israel is responsible for the success of Islamic fundamentalists. That is simply absurd. But it is sadly not new. Members of his administration have been tying the peace process to the problems in the region since coming to power.
- “Palestinian children have hopes and dreams for their future and deserve to live with the dignity that can only come with a state of their own.” Alas, Palestinians were given Gaza and they turned it into Hamasistan. They teach their children to hate and kill Israelis from birth through suicide bombing. What planet is he living on to make these ridiculous pronouncements? Is there no one in the White House who understands that Palestinians will achieve dignity only when they start respecting the gift of life, not the promise of virgins in death?
- “And, in President Abbas, Israel has a counterpart committed to a two-state solution and security cooperation with Israel.” Tell that to the families of the three Israeli teens who were just kidnapped and murdered. Abbas, the guy who formed a unity government with the Hamas terrorist organization is committed to a lot of things. But like Arafat before him, it is not peace.
- And what would an Obama comment on the situation be without the requisite “All parties must exercise restraint…” The moral equivalency argument is reprehensible.
Obama goes on to talk about the possibility of peace, the political will necessary to make it occur, and the willingness for both sides to take risks. He fails to mention all of the concessions Israel has made and ignores that the Palestinians made none. He bemoans the refusal to compromise or cooperate but ignores Israel’s 10-month hiatus on building in the disputed territories and the Palestinians’ refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.