President Obama Re-Elected - Page 499

On September 14 2012 02:17 xDaunt wrote:

2) He's alienating Israel;

Netanyahu seems determined, more than ever, to alienate the President of the United States and, as an ally of Mitt Romney’s campaign, to make himself a factor in the 2012 election—one no less pivotal than the most super Super PAC. “Who are you trying to replace?” the opposition leader, Shaul Mofaz, asked of Netanyahu in the Knesset on Wednesday. “The Administration in Washington or that in Tehran?”

On a trip I took to Israel a few weeks ago for The New Yorker, the political philosopher Avishai Margalit told me that Netanyahu was a kind of “mythomaniac,” a politician utterly absorbed and guided by his sense of heroic mission, and dismissive of the opinions and analyses of even his closest advisers. This goes for his innate distrust of any and all Palestinians, as well as for the vast range of military and intelligence experts, both inside and outside the Israeli government, who are constantly telling him that a unilateral attack on Iranian nuclear facilities will end in political, diplomatic, and military disaster. Netanyahu’s opponents include the current leaders of the Israeli military and the major intelligence branches and their most recent predecessors, to say nothing of a decisive majority of the Israeli population. They fear consequences as dire as regional war and an Iranian regime unified and strengthened by a sense of common purpose.

In Netanyahu’s view, Obama, despite instituting crippling economic sanctions, despite carrying out a series of covert operations, despite diplomatic pressure, despite vows that an Iranian bomb is impermissible—despite all that—is weak and deluded. The Israeli Prime Minister has made no secret of his distrust, even though Israeli politicians acknowledge that intelligence and defense coöperation has never been stronger. His trusted American allies are not the elected President but, rather, his friends on the American right, the politicians, business people, and lobbyists, who are never willing to disagree with Israel at all. It has reached the point where even Netanyahu’s principal ally in sabre-rattling, the Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has shown signs that he, too, believes the Prime Minister has gone too far.

I don’t think I’ve ever, in the 40 years I’ve been doing this, have heard of another of an American ally trying to push us into war as blatantly and trying to influence an American election as blatantly as Bibi Netanyahu and the Likud party in Israel is doing right now. I think it’s absolutely outrageous and disgusting. It’s not a way that friends treat each other. And it is cynical and it is brazen. And by the way, a little bit of history here: In December of 2006, George W. Bush went over to the Pentagon, met with the joint chiefs of staff and asked them, “What do you think about military action in Iran?” They were unanimously opposed to it. And as far as I know, the United States military, the leaders of the United States military, are unanimously opposed to it to this day. This is a fool’s errand. It would be a ridiculous war with absolutely no good coming of it.

Netanyahu is doing two things that should be intolerable for any patriotic American: he is a foreigner trying to influence our presidential campaign and he is a foreigner trying to shove us into a war of choice in a region where far too many Americans have already died needlessly. The Romney campaign–as well as AIPAC, the AJC and every other American Jewish organization–should make it clear to Netanyahu that his interventions into our political process and policy-making are not welcome here.

On September 14 2012 02:28 xDaunt wrote:
Oh, and as further evidence of Obama's relative incompetence on the international stage beyond killing terrorist, I refer you to Obama's latest fumbling over whether Egypt is an ally or not.

On September 14 2012 02:17 xDaunt wrote:

Whom exactly has Obama "persuaded?" Here's my score:

1) He's insulted the Brits;
2) He's alienating Israel;
3) He screw up with Canada by not agreeing to the XL pipeline;
4) Russia thumbs its nose at him despite the whole "reset button" thing;
5) The "Arab Spring" countries don't give a shit about Obama at best, and at worst, they're protesting him (like outside our Egyptian consulate).
6) Obama hasn't solved Afghanistan.
7) Obama hasn't done anything effective with regards to halting Iran from pursuing a nuke.

The only thing that Obama has done well is kill terrorists, which has nothing to do with "persuasion."

So where am I wrong here? Whom has Obama "persuaded?"

On September 14 2012 02:28 xDaunt wrote:
Oh, and as further evidence of Obama's relative incompetence on the international stage beyond killing terrorist, I refer you to Obama's latest fumbling over whether Egypt is an ally or not.

On September 14 2012 02:33 s3rp wrote:


How is that a fumbling ? He doesn't know wether or not they're an ally yet , nobody does. And tells them if they want to be one act like one .

On September 14 2012 02:36 xDaunt wrote:

Here's why it's a gaffe and why Obama has had to issue a "clarification."

On September 14 2012 02:36 xDaunt wrote:

Here's why it's a gaffe and why Obama has had to issue a "clarification."

On September 14 2012 02:36 xDaunt wrote:

Here's why it's a gaffe and why Obama has had to issue a "clarification."

On September 14 2012 02:35 Adreme wrote:


1. Brits dont seem to mind since Obama still is loved there.
2. I cant think of a single new policy Obama has that is different from previous ones in regard to Israel. The return to old borders got a lot of press but thats been a policy for past 20 years.
3. Parts of that pipeline are actually being built and I would consider making it take longer but be safe be preferable
4. Thumbing nose is very obtuse so I dont actually know what that refers to
5. Egypt doesnt like us because they dont see us as having supported them during the uprising which we didnt because we didnt want the rest of region to think we would just throw our allies under the bus. Several of the countries, including surprisingly Libya, actually have a fairly high opinion of America especially when compared to before
6. Again im not sure which part of Afghanistan you feel was just as broken as in 2009 when we were worried it might spiral out of control
7. I suspect Iran will heat up fairly soon and that all of these sanctions and then having them defied is merely just to build up support for a strike against Iran should it proove nessecary.

On September 14 2012 02:46 Velr wrote:



Obama vs Romney in % (lacking % = no vote/don't know em, whatever):

France: 89 - 2
Germany 87 - 5
Portugal 85 - 7
Netherlands 82- 5
Sweden 79 - 49
Spain 77 - 5
Great Britain 75 - 9
Italy 73 -9
Romania 63 - 9
Turkye 51 - 5
Slovakia 57 - 10
Bulgaria 40 - 8
Poland 35 - 16
Russia 27 - 12

Clearly Obama is doing horrible foreign policy....

German: http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/amerika/USWahlen-Wie-Europa-abstimmen-wuerde/story/21657639

On September 14 2012 02:28 xDaunt wrote:
Oh, and as further evidence of Obama's relative incompetence on the international stage beyond killing terrorist, I refer you to Obama's latest fumbling over whether Egypt is an ally or not.

On September 14 2012 02:49 karpo wrote:


Sweden 79-49? :D

On September 14 2012 02:36 xDaunt wrote:

Here's why it's a gaffe and why Obama has had to issue a "clarification."