Being President 101
By Tony Blankley
January 7, 2009
Page 2 of 2
He went to Israel during the campaign and said -- referring to Hamas rockets hitting Israel -- that if such a thing happened to his daughters, there is nothing he wouldn't do to stop it. That statement clearly was seen as a green light for Israel to defend itself. Whether Obama intended it that way we will never know.
Then, when Israel took action two weeks ago, Obama remained silent. The result in the Middle East was well-described by The Guardian, a British newspaper, last weekend: "Obama is losing a battle he doesn't know he's in. The president-elect's silence on the Gaza crisis is undermining his reputation in the Middle East. (His) chances of making a fresh start in US relations with the Muslim world, and the Middle East in particular, appear to diminish with each new wave of Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets in Gaza. That seems hardly fair, given the president-elect does not take office until January 20. But foreign wars don't wait for Washington inaugurations."
Now, I -- and many other conservatives -- always thought Obama was being unforgivably naive in thinking he could talk us out of the clash of civilizations between radical Islam and the West.
But my views notwithstanding, given Obama's intentions, his first gratuitous words (in Israel) followed now by his loud silence seem rather obviously destined to undercut his own intentions. If he intends to shrewdly lead the world, he should understand that images of him golfing in Hawaii while saying nothing as Palestinians are being bombed to death are going to be both seen and condemned in the Middle East, which he aspires to lead to better days.
Perhaps, like Jack Kennedy's Bay of Pigs fiasco, this will be an early lesson for Obama in Being President 101.
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Tony Blankley is executive vice president of Edelman public relations in Washington. E-mail him at TonyBlankley@gmail.com.
COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2
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