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As US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace George Mitchell arrives here for his first mission, a couple of weeks before Israel’s general election, two questions arise. One is whether the new American administration is correct in assuming that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be brought to an end just by “trying harder” with what has consistently failed in the past fifteen years. The second question is whether electing an Israeli government which does not share that assumption might not spell trouble for the future of Israel’s “special relationship” with the United States. The answer to both questions is no.
Israel has not been ignoring the need to find what pundits call a “political solution.” Without getting into the blame game, the fact is that negotiations have been conducted, unsuccessfully, for the past 15 years.
If the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be solved in the short term, it has to be managed. But how? The rationale of the disengagement strategy was that, since the conflict seems unsolvable and since the status quo is untenable, Israel might as well get the Palestinians off its back. If only. We left Gaza, but Gaza did not leave us.
Yet if the price for preventing rocket firing is the yearly reenactment of a “Cast Lead” kind of military operation, one question must be asked. Not a single rocket was fired at us from the south when Israel fully controlled the Gaza Strip (i.e. before the Oslo agreements). The price for this quiet status quo was a military occupation for which both Israeli society and world public opinion had lost patience. But how exactly was that occupation less moral than the death and destruction we now had to inflict to stop Hamas from firing rockets? Since relinquishing control over Gaza means destroying it every so often to protect our citizens, it is not only that Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza generated a more challenging military and strategic threat. It also weakened our moral standing.
Israel, of course, is not going to reoccupy Gaza, and the likely scenario for the coming years is a long term war of attrition with the cursed enclave. This is more bearable and manageable than the similar type of warfare we had with Egypt after the Six Day War, unless the US is unable, or unwilling, to deter and neutralize Iran’s regional troublemaking.
One thing is clear, though. Reenacting the “brilliant idea” of the Gaza withdrawal in Judea and Samaria would be suicidal at this point. Israel put an end to massive suicide bombings and shooting attacks by taking control of what was transferred to the PA under the Oslo accords. This is an undisputable fact. The present situation in Judea and Samaria is far from being ideal. It raises the same moral questions that paved the way to Oslo in the first place. But is it more moral to let our citizens be slaughtered by suicide bombers? Since we are in a Catch-22 type of situation anyway, we might as well prevent the ugly and relentless terrorism that prevailed between the Camp David Summit and Operation Defensive Shield.
While we should continue to strive for a political solution, we have to understand that the more the Palestinians feel that we cannot do without such a solution, the less likely they will be to compromise. Managing the conflict, at this point, means making the status quo both bearable and changeable.
Our neighbors need to be convinced that Israel is here to stay in order to consider making peace with us. The “Iron Wall” strategy worked with Egypt. The fact that it does not seem to impress Hamas and Iran (at least until Operation “Cast Lead”) is mostly Israel’s fault. Unbelievably, The Economist wrote recently that “A new obstacle to peace is the apparent crumbling of Jabotinsky’s iron wall”.
What The Economist is implying is that chances of reaching a “cold peace” type of agreement with the Palestinians depend on the restoration of Israel’s deterrence. Coming from a relentless critic, this is a welcome recommendation indeed.
Israelis have two weeks to choose a leadership that can be trusted to restore its deterrence and thus improve the chances of preventing future wars. Those who cut-and-ran from southern Lebanon and from Gaza cannot be reasonably trusted to fulfill this vital task.
During Operation Cast Lead, Israel warned Syria that it would bomb sites and facilities in Damascus if Hizbullah fires rockets on Israeli towns and communities in the North, Egyptian paper Al Ahram reported Tuesday.
The report said Israel conveyed the warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad through a European interlocutor.
Israel warned Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah against entering a confrontation with the Jewish State and even demanded he make an official statement on the matter, according to Al Ahram.
Following scores of denials he would trumpet the plan, President Obama today hailed a so-called “Saudi Peace Initiative,” which offers normalization of ties with the Jewish state in exchange for extreme Israeli concessions.
Defenders of Israel warn the plan would leave the Jewish state with truncated, difficult-to-defend borders and could threaten Israel’s Jewish character by compelling it to accept millions of foreign Arabs.
WND was first to report last November advisers to then-presidential candidate Obama gave positive reception in meetings with Arab diplomats to the Saudi plan – but the reports were strongly denied by Obama’s campaign.
Today, in an interview with an Arab television network – his first formal interview as president – Obama trumpeted the Saudi initiative:
“Well, here’s what I think is important. Look at the proposal that was put forth by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. … I might not agree with every aspect of the proposal, but it took great courage to put forward something that is as significant as that. I think that there are ideas across the region of how we might pursue peace. I do think that it is impossible for us to think only in terms of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and not think in terms of what’s happening with Syria or Iran or Lebanon or Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Obama said he “believes” that there are “Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace. They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side.”
In November, WND quoted a top Arab diplomatic source stating Obama advisers held meetings with Arab countries in which the Saudi Initiative was “very present.”
The source said in most cases it was the Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, that stressed the importance of the plan. He said Obama’s advisers expressed a positive attitude toward the plan, but he stopped short of confirming a London Times article that claimed Obama would make the plan a central part of his Mideast policy.
Then-senior Obama Mideast adviser Dennis Ross flatly denied the Times report, which quoted a source close to Obama stating that the president-elect intended to throw his support behind the Arab plan. Ross is now Obama’s Mideast envoy.
One senior Obama adviser was quoted telling the Times that on a visit to the Middle East last July, Obama said privately to the Palestinian leadership it would be “crazy” for Israel to refuse the Saudi Initiative, which Obama purportedly said could “give them peace with the Muslim world.”
Although Ross denied Obama would trumpet the Arab plan, Israeli President Shimon Peres told the British in November that in conversations he held with the president-elect, Obama proclaimed himself “very impressed” with the the Saudi plan, which was ratified by the Arab League. Peres was responding to questions about whether he thought Obama would advance the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in general and the Saudi plan in particular.
Initiative threatens Jewish state
The Saudi Initiative, originally proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2002, states that Israel would receive “normal relations” with the Arab world in exchange for a full withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem, which includes the Temple Mount.
The West Bank contains important Jewish biblical sites and borders central Israeli population centers, while the Golan Heights looks down on Israeli civilian zones and twice was used by Syria to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state.
The Saudi plan also demands the imposition of a non-binding U.N. resolution that calls for so-called Palestinian refugees who wish to move inside Israel to be permitted to do so at the “earliest practicable date.”
Palestinians have long demanded the “right of return” for millions of “refugees,” a formula Israeli officials across the political spectrum warn is code for Israel’s destruction by flooding the Jewish state with millions of Arabs, thereby changing its demographics.
When Arab countries attacked the Jewish state after its creation in 1948, some 725,000 Arabs living within Israel’s borders fled or were expelled from the area that became Israel. Also at that time, about 820,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries or fled following rampant persecution.
While most Jewish refugees were absorbed by Israel and other countries, the majority of Palestinian Arabs have been maintained in 59 U.N.-run camps that do not seek to settle its inhabitants elsewhere.
There are currently about 4 million Arabs who claim Palestinian refugee status with the U.N., including children and grandchildren of the original fleeing Arabs; Arabs living full-time in Jordan; and Arabs who long ago emigrated throughout the Middle East and to the West.
According to Arab sources close to the Saudi Initiative, Arab countries are willing to come to an agreement whereby Israel absorbs about 500,000 “refugees” and reaches a compensation deal with the PA for the remaining millions of Palestinians.
A little-discussed provision in President Obama’s economic stimulus plan would demand that every American submit to a government program for electronic medical records without a choice to opt out, and it has privacy advocates more than a little alarmed.
Patients might be alarmed, too, privacy advocates said, if they realized information such as documentation on abortions, mental health problems, impotence, being labeled as a non-compliant patient, lawsuits against doctors and sexual problems could be shared electronically with, perhaps, millions of people.
Sue A. Blevins, president of the Institute for Health Freedom, said unless people have the right to decide “if and when” their health information is shared, there is no real privacy.
“President Obama has pledged to advance freedom,” she said. “Therefore the freedom to choose not to participate in a national electronic health-records system must be upheld.”
Blevins’ organization, one of the few raising the alarm at this point, said the stimulus plan would impose an electronic health records system on every person in the U.S. without any provision for seeking patient consent or allowing them not to participate.
“Without those protections, Americans’ electronic health records could be shared – without their consent – with over 600,000 covered entities through the forthcoming nationally linked electronic health-records network,” Blevins said.
The organization said Americans who care about health privacy should contact members of Congress and the president to let them know about the need for opt-out and consent provisions.
According to the institute, the measure currently includes plans for:
An electronic health record “for each person in the United States by 2014.”
A national coordinator to develop a “nationwide health information technology infrastructure that allows for the electronic use and exchange of information.”
The institute said the medical privacy rule established under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 already allows personal health information to be passed along without patient consent for treatment, payment and “oversight.” The recipients of such information could be any of the people in the 600,000 organizations in the industry.
“Nobody wants to stop the proper use of good technology,” Blevins said, “and for some people privacy is not an issue.”
But she said the bottom line is that patients “would end up losing control of his or her personal health information.”
“There’s a lot at stake with electronically transferring health data and paying claims within the $2.2 trillion healthcare industry,” warned the organization, which works on issues of health freedom in the U.S.
Another group, Consumer Watchdog, even suggested today Google is trying to lobby for the “sale of electronic medical records.”
The group said, “Reportedly Google is pushing for the provisions so it may sell patient medical information to its advertising clients on the new ‘Google Health’ database.”
Consumer Watchdog said, “Americans will benefit from an integrated system capable of making our medical records available wherever we may need them, but only if the system is properly used.
“The medical technology portion of the economic stimulus bill does not sufficiently protect patient privacy, and recent amendments have made this situation worse. Medical privacy must be strengthened before the measure’s final passage,” the group said.
WND previously has reported on attempts in Minnesota by state lawmakers to authorize the collection and warehousing of newborns’ DNA without parental consent.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been successful in stopping the action there so far.
The Citizens’ Council on Health Care has worked to publicize the issue in Minnesota. The group raised opposition when the state Department of Health continued to warehouse DNA without parental consent in violation of the genetic privacy and DNA property rights of parents and children.
Twila Brase, president of CCHC, said at the time the problem is that “researchers already are looking for genes related to violence, crime and different behaviors.”
In an extensive interview with WND at the time, she said, “In England they decided they should have doctors looking for problem children, and have those children reported, and their DNA taken in case they would become criminals.”
In fact, published reports in Britain note that senior police forensics experts believe genetic samples should be studied, because it may be possible to identify potential criminals as young as age 5.
Brase said efforts to study traits and gene factors and classify people would be just the beginning. What could happen through subsequent programs to address such conditions, she wondered.
“Not all research is great,” she said.
Classifying of people could lead to “discrimination and prejudice. … People can look at data about you and make assessments ultimately of who you are.”
The Heartland Regional Genetics and Newborn Screening is one of the organizations that advocates more screening and research.
The group proclaims in its vision statement a desire to see newborns screened for 200 conditions. It also forecasts “every student … with an individual program for education based on confidential interpretation of their family medical history, their brain imaging, their genetic predictors of best learning methods. …”
Further, every individual should share information about “personal and family health histories” as well as “gene tests for recessive conditions and drug metabolism” with the “other parent of their future children.”
Still further, it seeks “ecogenetic research that could improve health, lessen disability, and lower costs for sickness.”
“They want to test every child for 200 conditions, take the child’s history and a brain image, and genetics, and come up with a plan for that child,” Brase said at the time. “They want to learn their weaknesses and defects.
“Nobody including and especially the government should be allowed to create such extensive profiles,” she said.
The next step, said Brase, is obvious: The government, with information about potential health weaknesses, could say to couples, “We don’t want your expensive children.”
“I think people have forgotten about eugenics. The fact of the matter is that the eugenicists have not gone away. Newborn genetic testing is the entry into the 21st Century version of eugenics,” she said.
A new bill introduced in Congress authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to set up a network of FEMA camp facilities to be used to house U.S. citizens in the event of a national emergency.
The National Emergency Centers Act or HR 645 mandates the establishment of “national emergency centers” to be located on military installations for the purpose of to providing “temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster,” according to the bill.
The legislation also states that the camps will be used to “provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response, and recovery efforts of government, private, and not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations”.
Ominously, the bill also states that the camps can be used to “meet other appropriate needs, as determined by the Secretary of Homeland Security,” an open ended mandate which many fear could mean the forced detention of American citizens in the event of widespread rioting after a national emergency or total economic collapse.
Many credible forecasters have predicted riots and rebellions in America that will dwarf those already witnessed in countries like Iceland and Greece.
With active duty military personnel already being stationed inside the U.S. under Northcom, partly for purposes of “crowd control,” fears that Americans could be incarcerated in detainment camps are all too real.
The bill mandates that six separate facilities be established in different Federal Emergency Management Agency Regions (FEMA) throughout the country.
The camps will double up as “command and control” centers that will also house a “24/7 operations watch center” as well as training facilities for Federal, State, and local first responders.
The bill also contains language that will authorize camps to be established within closed or already operating military bases around the country.
As we have previously highlighted, in early 2006 Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root was awarded a $385 million dollar contract by Homeland Security to construct detention and processing facilities in the event of a national emergency.
The language of the preamble to the agreement veils the program with talk of temporary migrant holding centers, but it is made clear that the camps would also be used “as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency.”
As far back as 2002, FEMA sought bids from major real estate and engineering firms to construct giant internment facilities in the case of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack or a natural disaster.
11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Those who think the first beast signifies Rome pagan by this second beast would understand Rome papal, which promotes idolatry and tyranny, but in a more soft and lamb-like manner: those that understand the first beast of the secular power of the papacy take the second to intend its spiritual and ecclesiastical powers, which act under the disguise of religion and charity to the souls of men. Here observe,
I. The form and shape of this second beast: He had two horns like a lamb, but a mouth that spoke like the dragon. All agree that this must be some great impostor, who, under a pretence of religion, shall deceive the souls of men. The papists would have it to be Apollonius Tyranæus; but Dr. More has rejected that opinion, and fixes it upon the ecclesiastical powers of the papacy. The pope shows the horns of a lamb, pretends to be the vicar of Christ upon earth, and so to be vested with his power and authority; but his speech betrays him, for he gives forth those false doctrines and cruel decrees which show him to belong to the dragon, and not to the Lamb.
II. The power which he exercises: All the power of the former beast (v. 12); he promotes the same interest, pursues the same design in substance, which is, to draw men off from worshipping the true God to worshipping those who by nature are no gods, and subject the souls and consciences of men to the will and authority of men, in opposition to the will of God. This design is promoted by the popery as well as by paganism, and by the crafty arts of popery as well as by the secular arm, both serving the interests of the devil, though in a different manner.
III. The methods by which this second beast carried on his interests and designs; they are of three sorts:–
1. Lying wonders, pretended miracles, by which they should be deceived, and prevailed with to worship the former beast in this new image or shape that was now made for him; they would pretend to bring down fire from heaven, as Elias did, and God sometimes permits his enemies, as he did the magicians of Egypt, to do things that seem very wonderful, and by which unwary persons may be deluded. It is well known that the papal kingdom has been long supported by pretended miracles.
2. Excommunications, anathemas, severe censures, by which they pretend to cut men off from Christ, and cast them into the power of the devil, but do indeed deliver them over to the secular power, that they may be put to death; and thus, notwithstanding their vile hypocrisy, they are justly charged with killing those whom they cannot corrupt.
3. By disfranchisement, allowing none to enjoy natural, civil, or municipal rights, who will not worship that papal beast, that is, the image of the pagan beast. It is made a qualification for buying and selling the rights of nature, as well as for places of profit and trust, that they have the mark of the beast in their forehead and in their right hand, and that they have the name of the beast and the number of his name. It is probable that the mark, the name, and the number of the beast, may all signify the same thing–that they make an open profession of their subjection and obedience to the papacy, which is receiving the mark in their forehead, and that they oblige themselves to use all their interest, power, and endeavour, to promote the papal authority, which is receiving the mark in their right hands. We are told that pope Martin V. in his bull, added to the council of Constance, prohibits Roman catholics from suffering any heretics to dwell in their countries, or to make any bargains, use any trades, or bear any civil offices, which is a very clear interpretation of this prophecy.
IV. We have here the number of the beast, given in such a manner as shows the infinite wisdom of God, and will sufficiently exercise all the wisdom and accuracy of men: The number is the number of a man, computed after the usual manner among men, and it is 666. Whether this be the number of the errors and heresies that are contained in popery, or rather, as others, the number of the years from its rise to its fall, is not certain, much less what that period is which is described by these prophetic numbers. The most admired dissertation on this intricate subject is that of Dr. Potter, where the curious may find sufficient entertainment. It seems to me to be one of those seasons which God has reserved in his own power; only this we know, God has written Mene Tekel upon all his enemies; he has numbered their days, and they shall be finished, but his own kingdom shall endure for ever.
We have, in this chapter, a further discovery and description of the church’s enemies: not other enemies than are mentioned before, but described after another manner, that the methods of their enmity may more fully appear. They are represented as two beasts; the first you have an account of (ver. 1-10) the second, ver. 11, &c. By the first some understand Rome pagan, and by the second Rome papal; but others understand Rome papal to be represented by both these beasts, by the first in its secular power, by the second in its ecclesiastical.
The First Beast.
A. D. 95.
Revelation 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If any man have an ear, let him hear. 10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
We have here an account of the rise, figure, and progress of the first beast; and observe, 1. From what situation the apostle saw this monster. He seemed to himself to stand upon the sea-shore, though it is probable he was still in a rapture; but he took himself to be in the island Patmos, but whether in the body or out of the body he could not tell.
2. Whence this beast came–out of the sea; and yet, by the description of it, it would seem more likely to be a land-monster; but the more monstrous every thing about it was the more proper an emblem it would be to set forth the mystery of iniquity and tyranny.
3. What was the form and shape of this beast. It was for the most part like a leopard, but its feet were like the feet of a bear and its mouth as the mouth of a lion; it had seven heads, and ten horns, and upon its heads the name of blasphemy: the most horrid and hideous monster! In some part of this description here seems to be an allusion to Daniel’s vision of the four beasts, which represented the four monarchies, Dan. vii. 1-3, &c. One of these beasts was like a lion, another like a bear, and another like a leopard; this beast was a sort of composition of those three, with the fierceness, strength, and swiftness, of them all; the seven heads and the ten horns seem to design its several powers; the ten crowns, its tributary princes; the word blasphemy on its forehead proclaims its direct enmity and opposition to the glory of God, by promoting idolatry.
4. The source and spring of his authority–the dragon; he gave him his power, and seat, and great authority. He was set up by the devil, and supported by him to do his work and promote his interest; and the devil lent him all the assistance he could.
5. A dangerous wound given him, and yet unexpectedly healed, v. 3. Some think that by this wounded head we are to understand the abolishing of pagan idolatry; and by the healing of the wound the introducing of the popish idolatry, the same in substance with the former, only in a new dress, and which as effectually answers the devil’s design as that did.
6. The honour and worship paid to this infernal monster: All the world wondered after the beast; they all admired his power, and policy, and success, and they worshipped the dragon that gave power to the beast, and they worshipped the beast; they paid honour and subjection to the devil and his instruments, and thought there was no power able to withstand them: so great were the darkness, degeneracy, and madness of the world!
7. How he exercised his infernal power and policy: He had a mouth, speaking great things, and blasphemies; he blasphemed God, the name of God, the tabernacle of God, and all those that dwell in heaven; and he made war with the saints, and overcame them, and gained a sort of universal empire in the world. His malice was principally levelled at the God of heaven, and his heavenly attendants–at God, in making images of him that is invisible, and in worshipping them;–at the tabernacle of God, that is, say some, at the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ, in which God dwells as in a tabernacle; this is dishonoured by their doctrine of transubstantiation, which will not suffer his body to be a true body, and will put it into the power of every priest to prepare a body for Christ;–and against those that dwell in heaven, the glorified saints, by putting them into the place of the pagan demons, and praying to them, which they are so far from being pleased with that they truly judge themselves wronged and dishonoured by it. Thus the malice of the devil shows itself against heaven and the blessed inhabitants of heaven. These are above the reach of his power. All he can do is to blaspheme them; but the saints on earth are more exposed to his cruelty, and he sometimes is permitted to triumph over them and trample upon them.
8. The limitation of the devil’s power and success, and that both as to time and persons. He is limited in point of time; his reign is to continue forty-and-two months (v. 5), suitable to the other prophetical characters of the reign of antichrist. He is also limited as to the persons and people that he shall entirely subject his will and power; it will be only those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s book of life. Christ had a chosen remnant, redeemed by his blood, recorded in his book, sealed by his Spirit; and though the devil and antichrist might overcome their bodily strength, and take away their natural life, they could never conquer their souls, nor prevail with them to forsake their Saviour and revolt to his enemies.
9. Here is a demand of attention to what is here discovered of the great sufferings and troubles of the church, and an assurance given that when God has accomplished his work on mount Zion, his refining work, then he will turn his hand against the enemies of his people, and those who have killed with the sword shall themselves fall by the sword (v. 10), and those who led the people of God into captivity shall themselves be made captives. Here now is that which will be proper exercise for the patience and faith of the saints–patience under the prospect of such great sufferings, and faith in the prospect of so glorious a deliverance.
According to the Obama Administration, the United States has been too ready to “dictate” and too unwilling to “listen” to the Muslim world. President Obama reached out a hand toward Islamic countries in an interview on Arabic television as part of an effort to change what he perceives as America’s reputation for being overbearing.
Obama gave an interview on Al Arabiya network on Monday, in which he discussed the Middle East and specifically Israel. His interview was conducted as his Middle East envoy George Mitchell began a trek through Egypt, Israel (including the West Bank), Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Obama told Al Arabiya that his envoy was under direction to “start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating.” During his campaign, Obama avoided talking about his Muslim heritage, but he did mention his many Muslim relatives in Kenya and his childhood in Muslim Indonesia in speaking to his Arab audience on Monday. He made clear the US is still a supporter of Israel, but included remarks intended to show his willingness to be equitable.
“The Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives,” said Obama. He wanted Muslims to know “that the Americans are not your enemy.”
“We sometimes make mistakes,” he said, and he wanted to once again find “the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago.”
In the meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters the new administration would be willing to talk to Iran without conditions. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had offered to talk to Iran in 2006 if Iran would agree to stop enriching uranium. Clinton made no such requirement for talks. She told reporters at the State Department, “There is a clear opportunity for the Iranians […] to demonstrate some willingness to engage meaningfully with the international community.”
While Obama’s willingness to be at peace with the Muslim world is admirable (on the face), it isn’t as great a move from the former administration as Mr. Obama seems to believe. The Bush Administration constantly declared that America was at war against terrorism and not against Islam. The US federal government already has friendly diplomatic relations with most countries in the Middle East and only butts heads with those nations that are also state sponsors of terrorism, like Iran.
And while Obama’s willingness to be at peace with the Muslim world is admirable (on the face), it isn’t necessarily the gentle hand and the listening ear that bring about that desired peace. Israel’s willingness to pull out of Gaza in 2005 did not bring peace in the Gaza Strip. America was not being mean to the Muslim world in 1979 when 52 American diplomats were taken hostage. Carter’s weak efforts did nothing to free the hostages. It was only when Ronald Reagan took a strong stand that the hostages were released. The US embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the USS Cole bombing were not the results of America’s bossiness. The attacks on September 11 were not caused by America’s need to “dictate,” but rather by Islamic terrorist groups with a goal of dominating the world for Islam.
We all hope that the Obama Administration will have success with Iran, and we pray that Iran will not produce a nuclear bomb with which to nuke Israel. The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), though, predicts that Iran will have enough enriched uranium this year to make a nuclear weapon. We will watch and see what happens in the Middle East under Obama’s softer approach.
While the world struggles financially, many eyes grimace at the great factory of the world – China. The Chinese Premier will visit the European headquarters on Friday to discuss a variety of areas of necessary cooperation. In the meanwhile, the Obama Administration has gotten off to a rocky start with China by accusing it of manipulating the value of its currency.
The vast majority of the items we buy off the shelf these days have a little “Made In China” sticker on them. The entire world is straining from of the economic downturn, and many nations are feeling the pinch of massive trade deficits with China. China benefits from the trade surplus, but it still has an interest in helping ease the world’s economic difficulties. China suffers too if the consumers of the world are less able to purchase its products.
The meetings this week will be good for China. At their meeting, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will sign nine accords in which the EU will agree to give China the equivalent of $79 million for cooperation in student exchanges, in fighting pirated goods and illegal drugs, and in protecting European companies with plants in China from copyright violations.
The balance of trade has clearly been in China’s favor for years, and both the US and EU want to address the problem. Aside from housing 1.3 billion people who are willing to work for pennies, China has been accused of undervaluing its currency. Barroso will urge Wen to increase the value of the yuan because its low value gives Chinese exporters an unfair advantage. In the first 10 months of 2008, the EU’s trade deficit with China reached euro138.8 billion ($183 billion).
In 2007, the US trade deficit with China hit a record $256.3 billion, and the Obama Administration recently accused China of manipulating the value of the yuan. China reacted strongly against this criticism on Saturday. “China wants a good start with Obama, but trade conflicts are the one issue most likely to hurt this,” said Shi Yinhong, an expert on ties between the two nations at Renmin University in Beijing. “Now our diplomacy is conditioned by the financial crisis.” (A number of people in the US and EU governments believe the yuan is undervalued.)
Economic problems are not the only thing being discussed in Europe this week. Barroso intends to speak to Wen about China’s list of human rights violations.
Amnesty International made a statement on Tuesday, in which it encouraged the new US administration to make China’s human rights violations a priority, especially the tendency of Communist governments to imprison political dissidents in forced labor camps. “Urge Chinese authorities to abolish the ‘Re-education through Labor’ system, under which approximately 250,000 to 500,000 people are imprisoned without charge or trial,” the human rights organization exhorted.
China still controls its media and openly censors the information its citizens receive from the outside world. China cut out portions of President Obama’s inauguration speech before it reached the Chinese people. The rights of workers is also of great concern. International Herald Tribune recently made a case for the miserable state of the migrant workers in China. Not only are these laborers made to work in dangerous conditions, but their employers are not required to pay them monthly. Significant numbers of migrant workers are paid annually at the time of the Chinese New Year. If their employers decide not to pay them after all, there is little these workers can do about it. In the interest of making sure that business goes on as usual, the Chinese government has done little to help these people. So much for the Communist dream.
China continues to be a force to be reckoned with, especially as China feels the strain of a suffering world economy.
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