If Barack Obama Is So Close To God, Why Is He In Bed With The Israel Lobby?

INTELLECTUALLY AGGRESIVE STATEMENT OF THE WEEK

cnulan said ..
Faint praise worth considering in context;

It is perhaps no surprise that the media and chattering class in Israel are following the U.S. presidential nominating process with an intensity not to be seen anywhere else. The interest is somewhat odd, given that no fundamental shift in the U.S.-Israel relationship appears possible.

Apart from Ron Paul, who has no chance to be nominated, no candidate is likely to challenge the "special relationship." Some critics of Middle Eastern policy have been hopeful that Barack Obama, who has less baggage on the issue than the other candidates, might approach the Israel-Palestine conundrum with a more open mind. Such hopes are fleeting, as Obama has adopted an increasingly strident pro-Israel line to make himself more electable. This line was apparently crafted by his key adviser on the region, Dennis Ross, a former State Department official who was the key negotiator between Palestinians and Israelis under President Bill Clinton. Ross has invariably tilted in the Israeli direction by defining most regional problems in terms of Israeli security concerns. When he is not advising Obama, Ross is now a "distinguished fellow" at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), the strongly pro-Israeli Washington think tank that was founded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). He is also a Middle East analyst for Fox News.

Israeli interest in the outcome of the election is legitimate, because the billions of dollars in U.S. economic and military aid are seen by most Israelis as crucial to their country's prosperity. For this same reason, it is worthwhile for Americans to note just how the Israeli media evaluates the various candidates' pro-Israel credentials. The Israeli national interest is clearly not identical to that of the United States, except possibly to AIPAC, but it would be difficult to discern the difference based on the comments being made by American presidential candidates. Indeed, many of the candidates sometimes seem as if they are actually running for office in Israel.

Ha'aretz, the more liberal of the two Israeli English language newspapers, assesses the presidential candidates in a monthly feature called "The Israel Factor: Ranking the Presidential Candidates," which rates the candidates from 1 to 10, with 10 being "best for Israel" and 1 being worst. The most recent "Israel Factor" appeared on Jan. 17. It should be noted that Republican Congressman Ron Paul is not included in the rankings because the Israeli panelists believe that to do so would be a "waste of time."

At the bottom of the heap? Yes, it's Barack Obama with a 5. He has tried to demonstrate that he is true blue when it comes to Israel by manfully supporting last year's invasion of Lebanon, which killed more than 1,000 civilians and caused billions of dollars worth of damage: "I don't think there is any nation that would not have reacted the way Israel did after two soldiers had been snatched. I support Israel's response to take some action in protecting themselves." I suppose that, In spite of the bad grammar, that came off a bit too eggheaded, not to mention mealy-mouthed. Obama lived for a while in Indonesia, which is known to be overrun with Muslims. He could himself be some kind of crypto-Islamofascist, and a few years ago he had some nice things to say about Palestinians. You lose, Barack.