In his further attempts to unravel long-standing US foreign policy and realign allies, President Obama’s Administration has backed a UN resolution for a nuclear-free Middle East.
The resolution adopted by the United Nations on Friday calls on Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and urges it to open its facilities to inspection.
It also calls for a regional conference in 2012 to advance the goal of a nuclear-free Middle East.
Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, with around 200 warheads, but has maintained a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its capabilities since the mid-1960s.
The document, which singles out Israel but makes no mention of Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, drew a furious reaction from the Jewish state who decried it as “deeply flawed and hypocritical.”
This action followed yet another Obama lie:
“In the secret talks that Netanyahu held with Obama’s men… Israel was promised that the resolution would not focus on Israel and that if it did, the Americans would vote against.”
How could any nation be fool hardy enough to become a US ally in light of the above? We have made “secret” talks with anyone impossible. We have amply demonstrated that no matter the ally, Obama is willing to kick it under the bus if needed.
The Israeli assessment of the Obama Administration’s action nailed Obama precisely:
“It is an undeniably negative change to US policy” with regards to Israel’s nuclear programme, said Eitan Gilboa, an analyst from Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv.
Pointing to contradiction between Obama both applauding the resolution and criticising it for singling out Israel, Gilboa said Washington was “losing its leadership role because of the naive and unrealistic” outlook of its president.
Amen Professor Gilboa. And all of this played out as Obama builds a huge force in the Gulf region – in particular positioning a nuclear sub near the Straits of Hormuz. No wonder Israel has now sent a nuclear sub to the same area. Is the buildup primarily to prevent Israel from attacking Iran? [Breitbart]
This morning the world awoke to news of an Israeli commando attack on a Turkish flotilla bringing medical and food supplies to Gaza. The expected result has been that tensions between Israel and Turkey. 10 people have been killed with at least 9 being Turkish.
Large demonstrations are underway in the Turkish capitol, Istanbul. Turkey is in NATO and a key to inroad into other Middle East countries. Obama’s recent actions have made it impossible for the US to support the Israeli action no matter the outcome of an investigation into the matter. All countries impacted have demanded an investigation.
The attack occurred in international waters. Representatives of other nations had been on board. However, Israel declared that there were members of Hamas and Muslim factions against Israel on board which may explain why Turks were killed:
Greece and Sweden summoned their respective Israeli ambassadors to explain the raid and report on the safety of their citizens on board the flotilla, while Kuwait’s Cabinet is to hold an emergency meeting today regarding the convoy, which also included 15 Kuwaiti citizens and an MP. [TimesOnline]
This chess game has turned deadly and the outcome surely will be for Israel to now operate without US restraint in its actions relating to Iran. As for Turkey…
Several more ships were scheduled to leave Cyprus for Gaza in the coming days, and organisers said that they would not be deterred by the violence.
UPDATE:
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said the raid will inflame the region.
“Lebanon strongly condemns this attack and calls on the international community, and specifically on the major countries which are supposed to be responsible about the peace process, to take action in order to stop this continuous violation of human rights, which is putting the international peace at risk,” Hariri said.
In saying this, Saad Hariri has of course, thrown down the gauntlet to the group known as the Quartet for Middle East Peace that last met in Moscow earlier this year (United Nations, Russian Federation, United States and European Union).
Obama has a role in any further military actions that may come out of this. In addition to this attack, Obama’s deplorable treatment of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu coupled with the US signing of the UN accord on a nuclear-free Middle East may empower the Palestinians to launch attacks on Israel. The peace process is hidden somewhere in the dust from this upheaval.
Something the US does not want at this time would be to enrage China. Israel and China have a growing relationship particularly in trade. Israel could use this for leverage. This would complicate the Obama Administration’s ability to leverage China to help cool the situation in Korea. Clearly the Obama administration is unaware of the fine points of foreign relations.
UPDATE June 2, 2010
From the New York Post –
Anti-Israel sharks sniff O’s weakness
Michael GoodwinIn the aftermath of the Gaza flotilla fiasco, the air is thick with nonsense. Chief among the instant myths is that Israel has created a dilemma for President Obama.
Actually, it’s the other way around.
The president’s appeasement policies helped to create the incident. Israel took the bait, but the trap was set in Washington.
Weakness always begets aggression, and, like clockwork, Obama’s repeated signals that he is weakening America’s commitment to Israel are emboldening the Jewish state’s enemies. From Syria to Iran to Lebanon, from Hezbollah to Hamas and the PLO, the wolves smell blood and are trying to gauge whether they can get close enough for the kill.
<!– ad(quigo_intext,/news,news_story) sports_story_lower
sports_page quigo_lower
1482096
871776 440 225 * –>
And whether the United States will stop them. That they even dare hope we won’t reflects the danger of Obama’s demented decisions.
The huge flotilla is the latest example of the open-season mania, with the result that Israel is under international siege — for defending itself. And, not incidentally, for defending an embargo on Gaza that Washington supports.
Obama says he wants the facts of the incident, but let’s hope he also wants the truth, even if it is inconvenient to his worldview.
The first fact is that the flotilla was not really a humanitarian effort. The compassion claim was a fig leaf for the political aim of busting the 3-year-old maritime blockade, as organizers admitted last week.
They knew they would not be allowed to dock in Gaza, but still rejected Israel’s offer to unload the goods in Israeli ports and, after inspection, truck them overland. At least a few of the passengers were armed.
“We’re trying to break the blockade of the Gaza Strip and tell the world that Israel has no right to starve 1.5 million Palestinians,” Greta Berlin, the head of an organization called Free Gaza Movement, said in typical exaggeration to a British newspaper.
Her group’s boats were turned away before, but they vowed not to be stopped this time. “The previous boats were making a statement — these boats will be making a real impact,” Berlin said four days before the launch.
Israel, of course, is not exempt from criticism for what was clearly a bungled effort. Incredibly, given what they knew beforehand about the intent of the activists, its military leaders sent in only a handful of lightly armed commandos who were easy targets as they slid down ropes from helicopters.
Yet it’s also fair to ask where Obama was while the problem was building. Even if he was too busy with the oil disaster in the Gulf, where was the secretary of state? It was long clear the flotilla had the potential to cause a regional ruckus, but Washington watched it unfold like a spectator.
roxannadanna
May 31, 2010
You are so right about Obama throwing Israel under the bus. Great article and great insight on it, Sam. Why would anyone want to be allies with us when they look at the past year and a half and how Obama has totally destroyed our foreign policy?
I’m anxious to see how he treats Netanyahu this week. What he did to him on the last visit was more than just the ultimate in rude.
samhenry
May 31, 2010
Thanks, R. I am not certain there will be any meaningful contact between the US and Israel – we shall see. This is a mess. Israel of course will act on its own from now on and will not feel obligated to inform the US in advance. Obama’s signing of the UN accord and treatment of Netanyahu will empower Palestinians to do whatever they want militarily. Here again, Obama is not only responsible for the loss of our standing in the world, he will have been largely responsible for the breakdown of Middle East peace if Palestine feels empowered to react. This whole thing is exceedingly dangerous. Obama can’t afford to drag his feet this time.