Thread: Obama: hype clouds just more of the same

His whole platform is change, change, change, but he's come out exactly the same as the rest of them on Israel. Why do none of these have the will or balls to tackle this properly?

Obama's "change" = hype.
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Obama toughens Iran stance, backs Israel on Jerusalem | Politics | Reuters

Obama toughens Iran stance, backs Israel on Jerusalem

Thu Jun 5, 2008 1:50am EDT



By Caren Bohan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barack Obama toughened his terms for diplomacy with Iran and backed Israel's stance on Jerusalem on Wednesday in his first foreign policy speech since capturing the Democratic nomination for U.S. president.

The Illinois senator vowed to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and insisted Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of the Jewish state in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby group.

Obama, who clinched the nomination on Tuesday, has faced wariness among Jewish voters over his commitment to Israel, buoyed partly by a rumor campaign suggesting he is a Muslim and that his advisers have a pro-Arab bent.

Obama, a Christian, vowed in his speech to work for peace with a Palestinian state alongside Israel. His campaign has tried to dispel suggestions he might pressure Israel in negotiations more than his rival, Republican Sen. John McCain.

"Let me be clear. Israel's security is sacrosanct. It is nonnegotiable. The Palestinians need a state that is contiguous and cohesive, and that allows them to prosper," Obama said.

"But any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel's identity as a Jewish state, with secure, recognized and defensible borders. Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided," he said.

Israel calls the city its undivided and eternal capital, but this status has never been recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, for a future capital.

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Obama supported Israel's efforts to renew talks with Syria over the Golan Heights and backed its September airstrike on a site in Syria that Israel claims was aimed at pursuing nuclear weapon, which Syria denies.

"Syria has taken dangerous steps in pursuit of weapons of mass destruction," Obama said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on a three-day visit to Washington, welcomed Obama's comments. (That's all the endorsement I need)

"Barack Obama's appearance was very impressive and his remarks on Jerusalem were very touching," Olmert said. "If he is elected president, we will discuss with him all the issues on the agenda."

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Obama termed danger from Iran in the Middle East "grave."

"I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon -- everything," he said to a standing ovation.

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Then he back peddles on it.....

Facing criticism, Obama modifies Jerusalem stance | Politics | Reuters

Facing criticism, Obama modifies Jerusalem stance

Fri Jun 6, 2008 8:25am EDT



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama amended his support for Israel's stance on Jerusalem on Thursday, saying Palestinians and Israelis had to negotiate the future of the holy city.

Palestinian leaders reacted with anger and dismay on Wednesday to Obama saying Jerusalem should be Israel's undivided capital.

"Well, obviously, it's going to be up to the parties to negotiate a range of these issues. And Jerusalem will be part of those negotiations," Obama told CNN when asked whether Palestinians had no future claim to the city.

Asked if he opposed any division of Jerusalem, Obama said: "As a practical matter, it would be very difficult to execute. And I think that it is smart for us to -- to work through a system in which everybody has access to the extraordinary religious sites in Old Jerusalem but that Israel has a legitimate claim on that city."

In Washington on Wednesday, Obama told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby group, that if elected president in November, he would work for peace with a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

"Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided," he told the lobby group.

The U.S. Congress passed a law in 1995 describing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and saying it should not be divided, but successive presidents have used their foreign policy powers to maintain the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and to back negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the status of Jerusalem.

U.S. diplomats say that, despite the U.S. legislation, Washington's foreign policy is in practice broadly aligned with that of the United Nations and other major powers, which do not view Jerusalem as Israel's capital and do not recognize Israel's annexation of Arab East Jerusalem following the 1967 war.

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Another yes-man who's willing to drop his trousers and bend over.

Well done Barack, you're different from Bush. Congrata-fucking-lations.

"change" my left foot.

^you not buying in robi?

if they receive hype and lots of coverage by the corporate/establishment/mainstream media in the US there'll be no real change.

that's my yardstick.

pre-election words and post-election actions never seem to equal out with ANY 'mainstream' hyped candidates.

Remember all the promises made by the Democrats of what was going to happen if only they would be made the majority in Congress in the 2006 election? I do.

Do you think Obama will change this?

Gulfnews: New agreement lets US strike any country from inside Iraq

if it's approved that is....

Originally Posted by redhaze

It is just total nonsense to say that, because Obama is not some freedom fighter willing to reclaim land for Palestine, that all of a sudden that makes him no different from Bush or McCain.

I agree with Redhaze.

Best you can do is hope for a bit of a 'mole'. That the guy plays all these cards now, appearing to 'sell his soul' and pissing some onlookers (us) off mightily while pleasing others (establishment fucks) and it gets him in the seat of power. That's how he gets in, because these guys pull the strings. But once he is there he pisses more of THOSE guys off and starts doing some of the things we wished to see all along. And it's all based on the power of the office - on the notion that he can, once he's in, afford to piss off the same superpowerful folks he bullshitted with earlier. Let's hope theres a brave 'mole' kind of thing working in Obama. We're gonna need a guy like that.

Originally Posted by Matthew

That's how he gets in, because these guys pull the strings. But once he is there he pisses more of THOSE guys off and starts doing some of the things we wished to see all along. And it's all based on the power of the office - on the notion that he can, once he's in, afford to piss off the same superpowerful folks he bullshitted with earlier.

How did that turn out for JFK?