[Marxism] Cynthia McKinney: we lived to tell the story

[Ruthless Critic of All that Exists]

On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 2:43 PM, Louis Proyect <lnp3 at panix.com> wrote:
> Counterpunch, January 2 - 4, 2009
> How Lebanon Rescued Us
> We Lived to Tell the Story
>
> By CYNTHIA McKINNEY
>
>
> And one final note, President-elect Obama roared like a mighty lion onto
> the political scene, but now he is as silent as a lamb in the face of
> the death and destruction that is happening in Gaza.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/usTopNews/idUKTRE50329820090104

Politics, diplomacy behind Obama's Gaza silence

Sun Jan 4, 2009 7:09pm GMT
By Deborah Charles - Analysis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even as Israelis and
Palestinians plunged deeper into conflict, U.S.
President-elect Barack Obama remained silent, refusing
to budge from his one-president-at-a-time mantra.

Obama takes office on January 20 but has not commented
on the Middle East crisis since Israel launched
attacks on Gaza nine days ago. His advisers insist
that only President George W. Bush can speak for
America until then.

The Palestinian death toll in nine days of Israeli
attacks has risen to more than 500. Hamas, which ended
a six-month ceasefire, has fired rockets deeper into
Israel than ever before, hitting major cities and
killing four Israelis.

While most prominent U.S. politicians have backed
Israel, critics have noted that Obama joined Bush in
condemning the killing of civilians in attacks in
November in Mumbai, India. They would have liked him
to say something about the fate of Palestinian
civilians caught in the fighting.

The president-elect also has commented on the global
economic crisis and his plans to try to pull the U.S.
economy out of recession.

Asked about the apparent contradiction, an Obama
transition aide who asked not to be named said on
Sunday: "President Bush is our nation's president
until January 20, and he is responsible for our
nation's diplomacy with the world.

"During this transition period, we are not engaging in
any action that could send confusing signals to the
world about who speaks on behalf of the United
States."

POLITICS, DIPLOMACY

Domestic politics and international diplomacy could be
factors in Obama's silence. He may hope the crisis
will reach a turning point where a new president,
untarnished by previous comments, can make a
difference with a fresh start.

He also knows any statement is fraught with traps.

"If I were Obama, I wouldn't want to talk about it
either. Frankly, it's a lot more comfortable to let
this one hang on the president," said Edward Walker
Jr., who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel from 1997
to 1999.

"I don't think he wants to be tagged at this point
with either advocating the Israeli response or
condemning it because our (U.S.) interests are sort of
torn on this one," added Walker, an analyst with the
Middle East Institute think tank.

Pro-Israeli comments by Obama risk upsetting the Arab
world even before he takes office. Comments that seem
critical of Israel would anger its American
supporters.

Morton Klein, president of the pro-Israel Zionist
Organization of America, noted that Obama spoke out on
Mumbai.

"And he's acting almost as if he's president when it
comes to the economy, right? He's not screaming
'there's only one president' when he's talking about
the economic stimulus package," Klein said.

FLEXIBILITY

James Carafano, a defense expert at the Heritage
Foundation think tank, said Obama may not want to
comment on foreign policy issues like Gaza because
"you're going to be held accountable for anything that
you say.

"The Mumbai attacks, that's a one-time attack, the
thing's over, you say some platitudes -- you're not
making any policy," Carafano said.

"If Obama weighed in now on Hamas and Israel, people
would take that as policy. But there's two weeks
between now and his inauguration. Events on the ground
could change significantly. So in a sense you would
walk into office with no flexibility."

There's nothing in Obama's campaign statements or
those of Hillary Clinton, his choice for secretary of
state, to suggest they would steer a different course
from Bush.

"In terms of negotiations with Hamas, it is very hard
to negotiate with a group that is not representative
of a nation-state, does not recognize your right to
exist, has consistently used terror as a weapon, and
is deeply influenced by other countries," Obama said
in July.

In a CBS interview a week ago, Obama's aide David
Axelrod recalled that when then-candidate Obama
visited the southern Israeli town of Sderot in July,
he voiced understanding for Israel's urge to end Hamas
rocket attacks on Sderot from Gaza.

On the broader issue of Middle East peace, Obama
promised to engage in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking
from the start but has yet to propose a policy shift
that might rescue a two-state solution from oblivion.

Unlike other major governments, the Bush
administration has not called for an immediate
ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, insisting that any
ceasefire be "durable and sustainable" and that Israel
avoid killing civilians.