Obama has little breathing room with Gaza mess: analysts

[DogPoundPup]

When he becomes president in two weeks, Barack Obama will have little breathing room to deal with "the horrible mess" left by his predecessor George W. Bush over Israel's war in Gaza, analysts say.

excerpt~
This guy is coming into office against a backdrop of incredible bitterness and anger against Israel and, by implication, the United States," Miller said.

"That's a big problem because it strips him of an opportunity to create his own character, his own stamp," he said. "He inherits the Bush administration policies whether he likes it or not."

Miller also said that even if Israel soon ends its onslaught against the Islamist Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, it will still take weeks to work out post-conflict security, humanitarian and economic arrangements.

"This is Obama's or (rather) Hillary's baby," he said, referring to Obama's choice of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state.

Miller expected Hamas to emerge stronger politically from the conflict while it would be more difficult to deal with Israel.

"The United States are going to be perceived to be weak ... We can't or won't deal with Hamas, we can't or won't restrain the Israelis and we don't have the capacity to put together a deal," he said.

"That's horrible for an incoming president, that we're weak. Forget that we're biased. Everybody knows we're biased," Miller added.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090108/pl_afp/mideastconflictgazausobamadiplomacy_newsmlmmd

[CoffeeCat]

1. I don't agree with this article...

Obama has lots of breathing room. The current mess is due to Bush kow towing to Israel, and doing NOTHING to broker
peace. Bush did NOTHING helpful, useful or insightful for nearly a decade.

He simply sided with Israel and sanctioned any violent thing they planned to do or would do.

So, how in the hell is anyone surprised with the current violence? The United States has practically fallen all
over itself, trying to reassure Israel that they have our support--no matter what they do.

So, why would we expect Israel to act any differently than they are now? This president has failed miserably.

Saying that Obama doesn't have a lot of "breathing room" is absurd. If he decides to sit on his ass and do nothing, then yes--he
has no "breathing room."

I have more faith in Obama, and I believe he is a wise, insightful, compassionate man who will do more than wink at Israel
and sanction the killing of hundreds of innocent children. I'm not saying that Obama will be able to convert the Middle
East into some peaceful utopia. However, I think he will at least TRY. He will work hard at this and he will use his
brain, his common sense and his sense of humanity--to help both sides.

I sense that Obama's silence on the conflict is due to his very different views on the situation and his disagreement with
how the Bush Administration has acted.

[kenny blankenship]

2. I hope Obama understands that this all is happening precisely to put him in a box

[RaleighNCDUer]

3. Just the way Bush1 dropped Somalia in Clinton's lap -

I can just hear the private conversation W had with (who did he meet with in the couple weeks prior? Must have been somebody) "You know, the muslims, they like Obama. His daddy was one of them. If you're going to do anything about Gaza, you better get er done quick, before Obama gets in, cuz he'll put the kibosh on the whole thing..."

[Barack_America]

4. Yup. But Israel fucked up big time today.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3679514&mesg_id=3679514

[Still Sensible]

5. Unfortunately, I think waiting for Obama

to take office, and the hope that Obama will take a more favorable position to them than the current administration, is contributing to Hamas in not backing down.

Unfortunately it is the people in Gaza that are suffering for it. There is a France/Egypt proposal on the table for a cease fire, but Hamas refuses to back down. That and their tactic of using their people essentially as human shields says a lot about Hamas.

I hope Obama immediately takes a more active role in advancing the ME peace process and a two state solution. I hope he is already privately urging this administration to put pressure on Israel to get to a cease fire.