Dr. Blanchard and others seem to wish President-Elect Obama would quit golfing and take over as spokesman for American foreign policy.
Quick question: if the President-Elect were staking a more public position on U.S. Middle East policy, especially if that included sending signals differing from those coming from the current administration, would not the conservative commentariat go ape over the President-Elect's crass presumption?
Some games you just can't win. Middle East peace might be one such game; satisfying those who call Obama "The One" is definitely another.
Middle East problems will never be solved because they are generational. Hatred has been spewed over thousands of years from grandparents, to sons and daughters and their children. It won't go away, although tensions can be reduced, the underlying hatred, jealousy and desire to hurt one's neighbor is ingrained into their society. Forgiveness is not part of middle east culture. Obama and Ms. Clinton can only hope to help reduce tensions for the next four or eight years. A friend who is from India told me once, "You Americans are too nice. You lie to each other. In my country, if we don't like someone, we'll tell you and strike your face." That, basically, told me everything I needed to know about why nothing gets resolved over there. Third world mentality versus a civilized society. You can't have both.
ReplyDelete