Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Post Debate Talk Re-Redux

If the last debate proved anything it all, it is that both Romney and Obama hate one another. One could see it when Romney reminded Obama of his apology tour.




What a way to exude strength to the international community which apparently still respects the US!


Libya: despite what the Obama administration had been saying since the attack on the embassy in Benghazi, the attack was the result of Islamists and an indifferent State Department that failed to heed warnings and requests of help, resulting in the death of four Americans. This was Romney's chance for a home-run and he didn't take it. Disappointing.


Russia: yes, Russia is very much a geopolitical fly-in-the-ointment. The defense shield in eastern Europe was abandoned because Russia demanded it. Who has veto power because of its permanent seat on the UN Security Council and has used it to favour North Korea and Bashar al-Assad? It was good for Romney to remind voters what Obama "transmitted" to Medvedev:


President Obama: On all these issues, but particularly missile defense, this, this can be solved but it’s important for him to give me space.
President Medvedev: Yeah, I understand. I understand your message about space. Space for you…
President Obama: This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility.
President Medvedev: I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir.

China: China also has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council which it has used to help North Korea, a country it helped separate. China is also guilty of cyber-espionage. Neither candidate should want to deal with it. Also, don't forget that Obama has a stock in a Chinese-owned company:


For many sophisticated and wealthy investors, as well as for ordinary workers invested in pension funds, China is a part of any diversified investment strategy. President Obama, a former Illinois state senator, has as much as $100,000 in a state retirement plan that contains shares of Sensata Technologies, the same auto parts company controlled by Bain that is closing its Illinois factory.


Canada: was not mentioned at all.


Israel: Obama's relationship with Israel has not been friendly. It has either been non-existent or hostile:


The Obama team was not only silent on the new "Israel is racist" language, it also said nothing when faced with Holocaust denial. Negotiators from the European Union suggested on Wednesday a new provision to "condemn without reservation any denial of the Holocaust and urges all states to reject denial of the Holocaust as an historical event, either in full, or in part, or any activities to this end." Iran--whose president is a Holocaust-denier--immediately objected and insisted that the proposal be "bracketed" or put in dispute. The move blocked the adoption of the proposal and ensured another battle over the reality of the Holocaust in April--at these supposedly "anti-racism" meetings. After Iran objected, the chair looked around the room, expecting a response. He said: "Is there any delegation wishing to comment on this new proposal by the European Union? It doesn't seem the case. We move on." U.S. delegates said nothing, even after the prompt.
**
Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rebuked Barack Obama on Friday following a White House meeting, disagreeing vehemently with the United States president’s call a day earlier that Israelis and Palestinians return to peace talks using 1967 borders.


The Israeli prime minister’s visit had been scheduled for weeks, but it took on a new urgency following Obama’s unexpected endorsement of a longtime Palestinian position — that the eventual state of Palestine must be based on borders that were in place before the 1967 Six Day War that resulted in Israel occupying eastern Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

When they spoke to the media in the Oval Office following the 90-minute meeting that went on twice as long as scheduled, Obama called their discussions “extremely constructive.” He stressed the importance of the close U.S.-Israel friendship, never mentioning the 1967 lines.

Netanyahu, however, took a different approach.

“Israel wants peace, I want peace,” he said, looking directly at Obama throughout most of his remarks, not at the small pool of assembled reporters.

“What we all want is a peace that will be genuine, that will hold, that will endure.... We cannot go back to the 1967 lines because these lines are indefensible because they don’t take into account certain changes that have taken place on the ground.”

Between 1948 and 1967, Netanyahu said, “these were not the boundaries of peace. They were the boundaries of repeated wars.”

Obama sat tensely next to him, one hand over his mouth while the other firmly gripped the arm of his chair, as Netanyahu predicted that the president’s vision for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would fail to create an enduring peace.


As desperate as Obama was to paint himself as the pro-oil president,so, too, is he desperate to show himself as pro-Israel even after deliberately alienating Israel and catering to the Islamists with apologies and money ($450 million to the failed state of Egypt remind anyone?).


Iran: is now four years away from a nuclear weapon. Obama promised to meet Iran without pre-conditions in 2008, wished it a happy Nowruz once in office, remained quiet in 2010 when civilians were shot in the streets and still insists that Iran can be contained. That's not leadership or strength. That's a path to war.


Syria: the Benghazi embassy was a hub of terrorist recruitment. To whom will one give aid?


(Gracias)


Drones: Romney could have mentioned the drone that observed the attack on American embassy in Benghazi but did not. Sigh.


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