Conley
09-21-2011, 09:58 AM
U.S. failure to defuse the U.N. crisis will not only mark a diplomatic debacle for Obama but also serve as a stark sign of the new limits of American clout in the region.
Senior diplomats from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — the "Quartet" of Middle East mediators — were scrambling for a compromise but with little sign thus far of a breakthrough.
Obama will urge Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas face-to-face against going through with his plan to present U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with a membership application on Friday, setting the stage for a Security Council vote that the United States says it will block.
In separate talks, Obama is expected to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who has had strained relations with the U.S. president — to help coax Abbas back to negotiations and also curb dangerous new tensions with Egypt and Turkey, two of Washington's top regional partners.
But Obama is considered unlikely to lean too hard on the hawkish Israeli leader for concessions to the Palestinians, mindful he cannot afford to alienate Israel's broad base of support among American voters as he seeks re-election in 2012.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44606988
So once again the United States is left looking impotent. Again we are second to the Israelis while the rest of the world is on the other side. It would be nice if our political leaders made choices in the best interest of our country (and Israel is an ally, I'm not dismissing that) rather than pandering to the Jewish-American vote for their own personal career benefit.
Senior diplomats from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — the "Quartet" of Middle East mediators — were scrambling for a compromise but with little sign thus far of a breakthrough.
Obama will urge Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas face-to-face against going through with his plan to present U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon with a membership application on Friday, setting the stage for a Security Council vote that the United States says it will block.
In separate talks, Obama is expected to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who has had strained relations with the U.S. president — to help coax Abbas back to negotiations and also curb dangerous new tensions with Egypt and Turkey, two of Washington's top regional partners.
But Obama is considered unlikely to lean too hard on the hawkish Israeli leader for concessions to the Palestinians, mindful he cannot afford to alienate Israel's broad base of support among American voters as he seeks re-election in 2012.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44606988
So once again the United States is left looking impotent. Again we are second to the Israelis while the rest of the world is on the other side. It would be nice if our political leaders made choices in the best interest of our country (and Israel is an ally, I'm not dismissing that) rather than pandering to the Jewish-American vote for their own personal career benefit.