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Nasser Shiyoukhi / AP
Palestinian activists vandalize a poster of U.S. President Barack Obama in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Monday.
TEL AVIV – Among Palestinians there is a coming president whose approach is creating quite a buzz of expectation.
With apologies to the White House, it is not Barack Obama, who is set to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on a three-day Middle East visit that kicks off Wednesday.
Indeed, his or her name is not even known. What is being awaited with mounting excitement is the winner of the latest reality TV show.
Called simply "The President," it is a search among the youths of the West Bank and Gaza for a candidate with the skills and charisma to lead a people still in search of their own state.
Some of the 1,000-plus hopefuls were gathered for a recording in Bethlehem over the weekend.
It was quickly obvious that these were well-educated, serious-minded young men and women thinking serious thoughts about the Palestinian territory's many economic, social and political challenges.
An irony was quickly apparent, too.
President Obama will be visiting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu today on his first visit to the country as president, hoping to improve his image among Israelis, nearly 40 percent of whom said in a poll they feel Obama is hostile towards Israel. NBC's Chuck Todd reports.
For many, President Obama's rise from outsider to Oval Office is an inspiration for their own ambitions.
But when it comes to helping realize their ambition for a Palestinian state, they have more or less given up on him.
"Not all Palestinians welcome Obama," said Bashar Falashat, a 26-year-old business studies graduate from Hebron. "Half see his visit as just a tourism trip. We need him to see the reality, to see how we are suffering, but most Palestinians believe that he will not change anything."
Several of the candidates think Obama's heart is with Palestine but his head is wedded to Israeli interests.
Twenty-one-year-old Akhla Salman studies psychology and social work in Jerusalem.
"I know America is the leading country for freedom and human rights, and I respect Obama because he is a good man," she said. "But between America and Israel there is a very strong relationship."
Near-zero expectations
Their near-zero expectations are being deliberately matched by the White House: Obama might be Nobel Peace Prize winner but he has no new plan to make peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Instead, the president will be in "listening mode" as he meets with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, and with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday.
According to a recent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute at Tel Aviv University, a majority of the Jewish public -- 51 percent -- believes Obama's attitude toward Israel is merely neutral, while 10.5 percent regard him as hostile.
Meanwhile, Israel's Arab minority sees Obama as being very much pro-Israel.
On the face of it, Obama's more passive stance ahead of the visit is good news for Aviela Dietch, a mother of three and someone with perhaps as little trust in Obama as in her Palestinian neighbors.
Lior Mizrahi / Pool via Reuters, file
An Israeli border police officer stands in front of a truck lifting a structure during its removal from the Migron outpost near the West Bank city of Ramallah on September 5, 2012.
"I don't find that it is his place to tell us what to do here," she said.
Born in Milwaukee, Dietch is one of the three hundred thousand Jews who have made homes on the West Bank – land seized by Israeli forces in the 1967 war and occupied ever since.
These settlements, illegal under international law, are widely seen as the biggest obstacle to a peace deal. They are eating up territory earmarked for a Palestinian state.
Dietch lived in a hilltop community called Migron, unusual because it was deemed illegal even under Israeli law. Last autumn, after years of court action, the government was forced to demolish it.
"It was gut-wrenching, heart-breaking, to leave," she said as she walked past the few cabins and a small playground that still survive.
Her home now is just a few hundred yards down the hill, in another Jewish settlement.
Asked if she would be prepared to sacrifice that in the cause of peace, she replied without hesitation: "Of course not," she said. "And I don't think it would bring anybody peace. To ask us to sacrifice lives and homes we have been building up – there would be a civil war. A civil war."
The settlers are by no means representative of wider Israeli opinion but they are a big power in the newly formed Israeli coalition government.
That's one reason why Obama seems to have concluded there is no reason to waste energy and political capital on pushing along a peace process.
The highest hope is to cajole confidence-building measures out of Netanyahu: the release of some Palestinian prisoners, or perhaps progress on a temporary settlement freeze.
Indeed, in media briefings, Ben Rhodes, deputy National Security adviser, has placed the Israel-Palestinian conflict last on an agenda topped by Iran, Syria and wider regional turmoil.
'Operation Unbreakable Alliance'
These are issues which matter much more to mainstream Israel, and the best place to measure the mainstream is Tel Aviv – the beach-side city that is more Mediterranean than Middle Eastern.
In an attempt to convey what he sees as a threat to Israel's existence, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used a cartoon to illustrate how close he says Iran is to developing a nuclear weapon. In a speech at the United Nations General Assembly he asked the world to help stop them. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
"Personally, I was more moved by Bill Clinton, but Obama is totally reliable," said David Malka, a 52-year-old taxi-driver who works streets that were protected by the U.S.-funded Iron Dome missile shield during last year's conflict with Hamas.
That's a practical demonstration of the value of U.S. defense aid worth $3 billion annually, not to mention American diplomatic clout, a sort of Iron Dome that deflects unfriendly fire at the United Nations.
"He is a hundred percent committed to Israel's security and on Iran; if the moment comes, the U.S. has proved in the past that they help when we need help."
As for Iran, Israel and the U.S. are clearly working on different timetables. Obama told Israeli TV last week he believes Tehran is a year away of nuclear weapons; Netanyahu's "red line" is this summer.
The two leaders have notoriously cool relations -- and this visit is Obama's first to the Jewish state as president. Many here suspect Obama doesn't quite get what it is to be Israeli.
But most are as confident as the Palestinians are pessimistic, that the fifth serving president to visit Israel will be true to the trip's branding as "Operation Unbreakable Alliance."
Former NSC spokesperson Tommy Vietor and Aaron David Miller, a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, discuss what's at stake with President Barack Obama's trip to Israel and debate whether he will be able to repair a fractious relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Related:
More stories from NBC's 'On the Brink' series about Obama's Middle East visit
A Palestinian Rosa Parks is needed: Israel's segregated buses spark outrage
A $1 billion bet on peace: Qatar funds huge Palestinian settlement in West Bank
Leave a Comment:
Used to be when an American President went anywhere in the world, he was the headliner. Wonder what happened???
Kumar-889209
When you are a loser everybody knows it. It's really bad when your friends don't like you!!
How fickle the world is... When he arrived in the region before, they were laying palm branches before him and now they would crucify him.... wait thats a different story
Stay home and save the money. Let them take care of their own problems for a change.
When it comes to Obama, having no expectations other than empty words is wise. The Israelis are intelligent people, they know Obama is no friend and can't be trusted.
On the issue of Iran, I think that Netanyahu would be happy if he could get Obama to agree to a firm date for Iran to comply with the UN IAEA or face the use of force. I do not see him getting too pushy about what that date is so long as Obama will agree to a deadline that is within the next year that Israel can bank on. The problem is that Obama does not like to commit to anything and will keep up with the same noncommittal we'll see approach that has been allowing Iran to move ever closer to a working nuke.
Maybe both Israel and the Plastians are getting tired of him and his politicatics ,Because he s putting so many of the sons of islam in his advisors You know he may not be what he says but some of the american voters put him back in office,, An this was probably only because the GOP had a couple o Jokers in the pile... They maybe should run Colin Powell in the next Presidental election???
LOL, Obama has brought back the respect from around the world that the shrub totally trashed.
It's nice to have a President make this trip that won't be kissing Israel's azz for a change.
Happy 10th Anniversary of "BUSH'S GIANT LIE" that America is still paying for!
You want to save money and lives?
Vote every republican out of every office every chance you get!
Obama should wear his black Devil hooded suit they have shown on TV. He can then tell both sides to kill each other off and no further US aid is in their future. I gots to catch a plane back now.
0bamma happened
These people don't give a camel's s*it about Obama, they know he is a goofball.
We should have sent Biden.
Kumar,
What happened is we have a President who is no one's bitch. Definitely not Israel's. Something I respect him for. W. and Clinton both seemed a bit too lenient towards Israel's misbehavior. Yes it is misbehavior. We give them aide and they want to tell us what to do? No! We will not attack Iran. Americans don't have the stomach for another war. If Israel is stupid enough to attack Iran then President Obama will go to their aide after making sure they get a good thrashing first, for their stupidity in picking a fight with a country many times their size. And he will be right doing that.
Since everyone is sick of the campaigning and lies here, Obama figures he will try to campaign in Israel. Only problem is he won't have the lap dog media over thetr to puff ball and lie for him. He is actually so vain that he believes a few campaign speeches will stop the Iranians from building nukes. It is one thing to have a president that is all high on himself, but it is 10 times worse when he is living in a fantasy world.
When Obama was finished a very loud laughing noise could be heard coming from the directions of Iran, Syria and NK
Dont let Michelle and Valerie hear you say that!
What happened?! We don't have a president or a congress that cares about america! That's what happened!!!
Both Michelle(wife) and Valerie(advisor) are very strong women at his side and he would be wise to always listen to them first.
Michelle doesn't know squat about running anything a Valerie is a communist.
@whipsplash
Which lie? The lie about WMDs? So tell me, who was lying about WMDs in 1998 to take military action against Iraq again?
So when Clinton and the democrats were telling the world about Iraq's WMDs it was the truth in 1998, but in 2001 and 2002 it was all a bunch of lies?
The left, fueled by the liberal media, sure has a pretty short and selective memory.
For all you Obama bashers:
Let's send GW over and see what kind of reception he gets...
LoL...Bush happened. That's when American president became a matter of joke. Obama is a recovering president trying to restore what's left of American presidency.
@jax a
Selective memory? Clinton didn't invade Iraq. He did control two thirds of their air space and kept our foot on their neck which kept them under control.
It was the Bush Administration that flat out lied about the existence of WMD's (with no proof what so ever) so they could manufacture a war we didn't need or could afford. It wasn't the Clinton Administration that cost us 4500 American lives and tens of thousands wounded Americans, this one is all on Bush and his gang of chicken hawks.
The right, brainwashed by the corrupt right wing media machine loves being manipulated and lied to.
@jax a
Selective memory? Clinton didn't invade Iraq. He did control two thirds of their air space and kept our foot on their neck which kept them under control.
It was the Bush Administration that flat out lied about the existence of WMD's (with no proof what so ever) so they could manufacture a war we didn't need or could afford. It wasn't the Clinton Administration that cost us 4500 American lives and tens of thousands wounded Americans, this one is all on Bush and his gang of chicken hawks.
The right, brainwashed by the corrupt right wing media machine loves being manipulated and lied to.
@whipsplash -
Didn't you read a single one of those quotes I posted? See where Clinton, Albright, Berger and Pelosi all said Iraq had WMDs in 1998? And he used WMDs for the reason in bombing Iraq in 1998. Why did he have to bomb them if he had them "under control?" Sure, he didn't invade the country, but he took military action based on WMDs.
Remember Desert Fox? Of course you don't. But then again, you're the idiot trying to tell us that when Clinton told us Iraq had WMDs, it was true and it was OK to bomb them...but when Bush said they had WMDs in 2002, it was all a great big lie.
Keep spinning, Sparky.
in 98, but not 2003. talk about spinning
'Several of the candidates think Obama's heart is with Palestine but his head is wedded to Israeli interests.'
With too many sulking free loaders in Palestine and Israel sides, the rates to please/buy have increased.
In case of Palestinians, one hand is on rocks or rockets! So buy out rates have increased.
Highly corrupt/arrogant/stupid Netanyahu and his gangs of Israel, "US ally" are furious that Obama is not doing much on dangerous chemical weapons in Syria and WMDs in Iran.
In Syria and Iran, red lines drawn by oil rich Sunni rulers led of House of Saud, oil companies and their lobbyists have been crossed long time back.
Also, oil rich Sunni rulers, oil companies and their lobbyists are becoming impatient on the use of Netanyahus and their gangs!
If one studies Iraqi wars, the games played will become more apparent!
How can one please them all at the same time?
JS.....A little reminder who is allowing Iran to build nuke stuff ....Rememeber how Bush Put troops in Afgan.....and then toook most of them out to start the Iraq War for War profits and glory....and how he destabilized Iraq when he removed the guy Saddam....and the war with Iraq went on for years and years...and then Afghan was still escalating because Bush abandoned troops there, making another mess to clean up.....and then the republicons pledged to vote against Obama and did it for 4 years...then Iran gets braver as they have America in two war fronts as goes about business as fast as America is distracted because of Bush Cheney greed for war profits and glory......and now.........You whine and complain because repubs were successful in screwing up America so bad in order to blame Obama....the things you complain about were brought on by yourselves.......Republicons crapped on the lawn of America and whine because their turds on on the lawn.........
All last years during elections....repubs whined and cried..."oh President Obama only talks to Israel by phone"....so now he goes there and republicons whine and cry..."Oh President Obama is going to Israel.........
Republicons ....Bunch of non stop whiners who obstruct everything good for America....then crybabies after they do it. Why do republicons hate America so much?....Greed for $$$$$$$$$$
Jax.....try reading some new info on what went on in 1998...and....How Bush/Cheney and cabinet lied the nation and world into Iraq war........pick and choose fairyland info for a meaningless rant .......The blogs discussed what went on the last couple days......guess you were left behind huh? Like disco do ya?
Pssst....in other words you're making yourself look foolish........
@Jax a
Your clueless. The "tenth anniversary" I spoke of was the anniversary of the Iraq war which was based on nothing but lies from the Bush administration, period.
LMAO, I never mentioned Clinton in my first post.
Your attempt to ignore the giant mistake that was the invasion of Iraq by Bush built on nothing but lies is just sad.
Bottom line, there were NO WMD's IN IRAQ!
BTW, your name calling needs work.
I read these comments and its so sad. We have allowed the elitist, political classes, aided by the lame brain media, to divide us for their own power and gain. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. America was great before because we put aside our differences to solve problems. We all know we are heading toward an economic collapse and we all know fingers are pointing. Stop the BS, face the facts, and lets start working together. I have to say, this administration is the most devisive in my life time and it's sad. All to create blocks of votes. Wise up all you useful idiots.
Well, now that Syria has launched chemical weapons......lets see if Obama sticks to his plan of a red line drawn...
President Obama has long said the use of chemical weapons would be a "red line" for his administration. However, the warning has always been directed at the Assad regime -- it's unclear whether the administration would feel compelled to intervene if the opposition used chemical weapons. U.S. officials downplayed the allegations Tuesday and said they could find no evidence of chemical weapons, as they uniformly voiced skepticism at the Assad regime's claims.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/03/19/syrian-fighters-trade-accusations-chemical-attack-putting-pressure-on-us/#ixzz2O4pVyFXz
starsailing and whipsplash...I'm still waiting for either of you to explain to me how when Clinton and all the democrats said Iraq had WMDs in 1998, it was true, but when Bush, the UN and the rest of the world said it in 2002 it was all a lie. Yup, 1441 was just for fun and the UN was lying too.
Go on explain it....still waiting....
dont hold your breath Jax!
Where do you think Syria got their chemical weapons that they are now using???
The rest of the world can see the endless promises broken by Obama. The world also sees the endless blame and excuses that Obama feels is governing, and the fact he constantly moves the goalpost. So any world leader that takes Obama at his word is a fool, he epitomizes the adage of telling the people what he feels they want to hear. Not to mention the fact he cut and ran in Iraq, announced a withdraw date from Afghanistan, sat back and watched as Libya and Egypt moved radical, and is enjoying the view from the sidelines in Syria. Obama's advice to Israel before the last election, don't do anything that might impact my chances. Now Israel should realize that with Obama's help they are seriously outnumbered in the region. The middle east is a tinderbox, and Obama lit the fuse. Utter world chaos is right around the corner.
Lukewarm, why wouldn't they be. Nobody likes a fence sitting liar.
I looked up in the Dictionary FOS and there was a the picture of the OB.
The Israeli's have Obama's number, it's a big ZERO like the first letter in his last name looks like.
Oblama was late with his meeting with Netanyahu because he had to watch the rerun of his appearance on the View.
What? How dare they dis' the Campaigner-in-Chief by not bowing before him and saying "All hail obama".
Netanyahu campaigned for the BIG LOSER ROMNEY;he's luckey Obama showed up at all. Lets not forget Regan,Bush 41 never went to Israel and the treasonast Bush 44 went to Israel in the end of his eighth useless year as President. Obama has been very paitent with Netanyahu who want us to go to war.
The U.S., Israel and Palestinians should come together to create a new joint military force dedicated to protecting the citizens of the Strip from terrorists.
You are John Lennon reincarnated?
out of your mind???
You are assuming that terrorists are coming from alien lands!
Your suggestion should have been acceptable if Bush was the President.
Of course, Bush would have taken prior permission from the strategic ally, House of Saud ruler whether US could form a joint military force!
Owebama is hated in Israel and Palestine? LMFAO! I guess it makes sense. He is hated all around the world. I own a software company here in the US. I have offices all over Europe. When I go there, all I hear are the Obama jokes. He is an embarrassment to us all. Thanks to all you independents and Hispanics for giving this idiot-in-chief another 4 years.
Including the Palestinians would be like including the Afghani's in the coalition in Afghanistan.....Oh, wait, we did that. They had to coin a term, they're called "Green on Green" killings.
No one takes Barack Obama seriously. The man is all talk all the time, and contradicts himself constantly. He lives for the moment-HIS moment.
SERIOUSLY.
Apparently at least 54% Americans do. But of course 47% of those don't count.
and it all went wrong during the Bush years. how soon YOU forget, or chose to not acknowledge
You have to admit that Obama is still the best among the bad/corrupt/stupid/arrogant lot!
If Romney had won, there would have been building "democracy" in Syria, removal of "dangerous WMDs" in Iran and most politicians would have been busy buying oil companies stocks!
Most of us would have been busy discussing about gas prices, how to save gas, how to improve environment and so on!
Soldiers would have been busy discussing: do we get a break from Afghanistan before we enter Syria and Iran?
Jonathon so right....but those oil wells Romney has eyes on....well.....literally well.....remember those burning wells for a year?...I do....ya think they wouldn't keep them burning?....Again?
Blame Bush!! Blame Romney!!
LMFAO!!
Liberals. God love em! LOL!
No, no one took BUSH seriously. He was an embarrassment, period.
Casual, we all remember how embarrassed you were when he came to NYC after 9/11 to reassure Americans that we would make those idiots pay for what they did. Did you forget how tight your butt was then before he took control?
john; are you high, if Romney won, you'd be fitting your children in uniforms to go to war in Iran. Romney missed out on sending Iranian jobs to his companies in China...........
One can only conclude that people throughout the world know what a complete liar Obama is!
Why would they take him serious? They know they will get their aid from the US regardless.
They take Obama a hell of a lot more seriously than they did Bush, the laughing stock of the planet.
Casual, better check today's Gallup poll about your boy. Most are unhappy about how how he handles foreign affairs.
Amazing how the Israelis and the Palestinians have become acutely aware that o'bama is a bold faced liar and he's playing both of them, yet the people in this country are so blindly sycophantic, they don't realize the same.
He is leading us ALL into the ovens of ruination...
NEVER AGAIN!
bald face
Reality,
Never again! A little late for that. All the idiots who voted for him again to send this country into hell and never to come back
Reality- "ovens of ruination" what are you smoking? I hope Obama keeps us out of war- it seems you want war. NEVER AGAIN
Why are we even concerned with the middle east..........the oil, is that it??
Of course it is, and Obama does not want us to be oil independent !!
BTW: NO oil in Israel nor in Palestine!!! Moron!
Morons know only their side of arguments. Oil or no oil - who cares?
If neither side cares, screw 'em both. Save the travel money, wait for them to kill each other and move in and assume control of the resources in the area.
Best post yet! Send the bible thumping Republitards over there into the fray as well.
The time is long overdue to leave them - the Israelis and Palestinians - to their own devices. Who cares, cut funding to both of them, end any and all military and intelligence assistance - maybe just maybe the Palestinians will regain THEIR land and the Israelis will have to move house.
"...maybe just maybe the Palestinians will regain THEIR land and the Israelis will have to move house."
There is a greater likelihood that you will be eaten by a dinosaur tonight (or better still...that you will eat the dinosaur).
Amen. Enough American blood shed for the oligarchs and dictators in the sand kingdoms. They wouldn't send their ivy league educated kids to fight for their own countries.
It is obvious that Obama can't please everyone, here or in a foreign country. So give him credit for trying. I hope he puts on his bullet proof vest while in these messed up countries, that he is trying to help.
More MSN rhetoric. They can't stand this guy over there and he's in for one rocky visit. When they say 51% of Israel think he's neutral on Israel they are making up numbers.
if the U.S. press want to announcement of the disqualification combination of a Palestinian state and the Israeli state over the land and one and a holy city and one is Jerusalem
So the U.S. press make bad direct coverage in media of a visit of President Obama to the State of Palestine and the State of Israel that dialog of the U.S. press is like the dialog of the Islamic terrorism
Lets hope they keep him and then we can send Bidden with Kerry to make a western boil, add Polosi and Feinstein for seasoning!That would relieve the US of a lot of problems!
Most Americans give him credit for dividing the USA and the world. He deserves no credit. He's got his own agenda for the USA and it is Socialist in it's roots. He has achieved one thing, he's brainwashed millions through controlled media and the continually pounding of his message. The government will take care of you and needs to get bigger. Can't wait until he faces the music over there.
That is a problem him being from Chicago where there are a lot of people on Welfare that want to set around and let Obama pay them for doing NOTHING!!!!!!!!
@Dan-312359
You obviously know nothing about Chicago. You have already proven you don/t know anything about welfare and how much wingnuts use it while bitching about it.
Eagle, you are so right. This is already a nazi type government and it is only going to get worst. I can't wait for them to freeze our income to help obamas kids go on another vacation.
You do know that the Nazi Party was a far right political party. They used Nationalism to draw workers away from Communism. Nazi Germany was never a communist state they actually abolished communism in Germany. They were an anti-Semitic and anti-Marxist ruled state. Then gave up on try attacking big business and capitalism to gain the Industrial support.
Most Americans voted for Obama. The world laughed at Bush. Deal.
Eagle 57,
Interesting, except that government employment has gone down,not up; the deficit has gone down by almost 50%; the stock market (the voting booth of capitalism) has doubled. If he's a socialist trying to grow the government and take over everything, he's not very good at it. On the other hand, it could just be that you are totally disconnected from reality....
The Palestinians seem to forget that Obama is not their leader. They don't have a leader since their terrorist leader Yasser Arafat was killed by Syria several years ago to keep him from making peace with the Israelis.
American press in extremism in line with Jewish and Arab extremists
.American press is deliberately direct insult to President Obama's visit to the State of Palestine and the State of Israel To tell people disqualification combination of a Palestinian state and the Israeli state over one land and the one holy city in Jerusalem and the 1967 borders
if the American press in line with Jewish and Arab extremists ........ in non-acceptance of the other and the other genocide over the land of Palestine
It is sad but true that our president lost all respect, when he did not respond to Bibi’s lecturing him, like a teacher reprimanding his 5 year old student.
Bibi knows that our president can’t do anything to persuade him or pressure him.
The Palestinians too know that and they don’t see the point of his visit.
Obama has more world respect in his little finger than Bush had in his whole lying, idiotic being.
So, lets see...he hasn't been able to part the Red Sea and he hasn't been able to bring the Israeli and Palestinians together... John Ray, you have pretty high standards for mortal man. These two groups have been locked in mortal combat and no one has been able to bring them together including those considered to be the best politicians from the 20th Century. Wow, I'm glad you weren't grading me in my graduate thesis.
No, but he was able to close Gitmo...oh, wait...
He was able to get rid of the Patriot Act... nope, not that, either...hold on...
He did let those tax cuts expire in 2008, as promised....oh, wait, he didn't do that either....
Well, he did "put on a pair of comfortable shoes" and marched right along side labor like he promised when WI went after collective bargaining... no, hang on...
At least he stuck to his guns and his speech in 2006 when he said raising the debt ceiling was a failure in leadership...
...oh well, he tried....
Yeah, well I've got news for the israelis...the rough ride is going to be theirs if he doesn't get some kind of peace in place...and if they don't start playing nice with their neighbors. Don't hate me, it's the truth...just gaze into the future and tell me what happens if Israel doesn't find a way to make peace. They have maybe 15-20 years before a) the Arabs come together into a (meaningful) Union of sorts and b) global oil dependency diminishes. Israel will need to have a stable position in that Middle East or it will cease to exist.
Or....wait for it?
They will just turn the rest of the ME into green glass and live in peace and harmony for once.
You do understand that any large nuclear device used on any of their Neighbors means fallout for them some of Europe, India and Russia and all previous USSR block countries.
Everyone who in their freedom doesn't choose to make the sacrifice of reducing some power and size in their vehicles are solely responsible for making the middle east relevant. Simple as that. At our current consumption, no domestic production options come close to making us independent, despite republican bull**** exaggerations about our shale deposits and what we can pipe in from the north. But a steady and relatively painless increase in mileage standards over the past few decades actually could have made us independent. We have coal for electricity, but we need oil for transportation, and oil is the only thing that makes these ridiculous desert people and their ridiculous outdated desert religions relevant.
Every time you see some f***ot redneck in his fa**oty unneccessarily large personal pickup truck compensating for his tiny d***, you might as well think of him as Abdul Hussein Terrorist-Supporting Muslim Raghead, and he makes Obama look like baseball and apple pie. Deny the facts if you want, there it is. I like muscle cars myself, trucks are for people with jobs who need trucks. But I'll personally choose to sacrifice having a muscle car with a V-8 for god's sake if it means these table-cloth headed scumbags don't have the money to support terrorism and spread Islam, and the Jews can just be Jews in Israel or whatever they do without being bothered or bothering anyone.
If you are still driving you are the problem. Please walk and don't forget to put out the fire before you leave the cave with your club to go hunting for apples.
Bill-
I believe that you are wrong. It is NOT so much the people as it is the oil companies and the government. We the people have to do what we need to do and get where we need to be with the modes of transportation available to us. I agree with you so much that we can reduce our usage and make some sacrifices where we can, but to say we're solely responsible is utterly foolish. The technology exists, but it is bought up and hid away by the oil companies and the government does little more than symbolic changes to MPG standards.
The "hope and change" I voted for in '08 was to see this change. I hoped for meaningful change to reduce independence on foreign oil and in doing so our government wouldn't feel so compelled to get involved with the Middle East. For more investment in and development of clean, sustainable energy that would propel the US as the world leader for generations to come technologically and economically. I do feel disappointed and I do think Obama bears some of the blame, but he is just one man no matter his job title. It took many people doing the wrong things for years to get to this point and it will take many people doing better things for years to get out of it.
KingK
Ziiiinggggggg. Unfortunately your post has absolutely no meaning, factual information, or relevance. But I see 4 dumbasses liked it. Hey are you watching the rehabilitation this week? I hear Beef Supreme is making a comeback and the guitar army is playing. I just hope they can get the Dilldozer through the gate this time. Brawndo is sponsoring it. It's got electrolytes.
Bill
Give it up, they leave when you arrive at the water cooler and your posts here are no better than your chat there. BTW, the Larry King suspenders went out in 1982.
Yeaahhh. Uhhh, I'm guessing you don't know too much about movies, pop culture, your general surroundings, etc.
Dan you are in a long line of misinformed idiots that get your news the old fashion way. Propaganda!
Obama could care less about these people, he just shows up for appearances sake, not to actually do anything.
For what reason. Is he running again or is it your brain running wild?
Frankly, I could care less about those people. Most Americans voted for Obama and I'm glad he's not leading us to war. Most Americans are too.
Wonder how many BILLIONS this trip is going to cost in aid to match what The Current Incumbent granted Syria.
So what if they're lukewarm? That about sums up what I think most of us believe of either side. We have to stop aiding Israel - then they might stop the ultimate insult, which is building settlements on Palestinian territory. And Hamas needs to stop lofting missiles into Israel. A pox on both their houses.
I'm with you Jan. The Palestinians and Israelis don't have to listen or respond when others point out what needs to happen (to achieve lasting peace) and what is counterproductive - and neither of them do. So now the entire world recognizes how pointless it is to try and broker any reconciliation...and so no one does. Tough love is, I believe, the order of the day.
lukewarm reception...no wonder...our Israeli ally feels snubbed and the Palestinians feel he isn't acting Muslim enough...
yea Zionazis demand 100% submission, only 99% submission is not good enough for the Zionazi parasites
IN other words, Israelis demand 100% of not-trying-to-kill them. If you only take shots at 1% of them, that's not good enough.
Luke warm because over the decades only Carter could have made peace.
Except his idea of peace was "no Israel', you would probably be OK with that, but of Israelis it would kind of suck.
After NoBama, Carter was the worst of them!
Actually, Obama is proving much better for Israel, even if he sounds reluctant.
To sum up the many previous posts and clear the Air; this President can go to any country, can you say that of the previous? Which President is considered a war criminal? Answer???? You may have or may not guess it right; that depends on your own views.
And we hope he'll stay there! Imbecile!