Again, I watch and listen to this stuff so you don't have too..a fairly naive and unanchored speech, but with a couple of surprises.
9:12 - Hillary's opening remarks - yecch!
9:14 - Obama's up...Yes, a eulogizing of the Arab Spring. The US and the Arabs are bound by faith?
9:15: yep, we're bringing the troops home...and hey I killed bin-Laden so the war's over!
9:16: Al Qaeda was bad..not like the good guys, the Arab Spring/Muslim Brotherhood.
9:17 Funny to hear Obama talking about government tyranny!
9:18- Now he's comparing Arab Spring to our revolution, and Rosa Parks!
9:20 - Obama hits the Arab antagonism to Israel as a cynical distraction..he's right there, and it surprises me to hear him say it.
9:22 - Freedom, dignity, yadda yadda...'non-violent action accomplished more in months than terrorism has in years.' We'll see if the Arabs agree.
9:24 - Mentions non-proliferation of nuclear arms...but not Iran!
9:25 - We will keep our commitments to friends and partners? Tell Mubarak that!
9:26 - Here we go,hope n'change...let's hear what he's selling.
9:27 - Here's the caveat 'their version of democracy and their aims might not align with our own'..he's preparing the ground for acceptance of MB regimes.
9:28 - Says US policy will be to support reform and the Arab Spring.
9:30 - Hits Khaddaffi, justifies our involvement on the basis of human rights. Claims we had a mandate for action..that would be the UN's rsponsibility to protect' doctrine, 'R2P' - no mention of Syria yet.
9:31 - OK, he mentions Syria. But sanctions, no armed force.
9:32 Calls for Assad to lead the transition to democracy or 'get out of the way.' Hits Iran for hypocrisy on repression..but again, no mention of any concrete action.
9:33 - refers to Iran's support of terrorism - surprising!
9:34 - Calls for Yemeni president to step down, calls for Bahrain government to step down, even though he acknowledges Iran is 'taking advantage'. Is he suggesting those countries be ceded to Iranian control? The Saudis will love that one.
9:35 Refers to Iraq as a multi-ethnic, multi-sectarian democracy. Ask the Christians about that, who are fleeing in droves. His nose should have grown a foot for that one alone.
9:37 - OK, we'll see more student visas for Arabs and Muslims...lovely.
9:38 - America respects the right of all voices to be heard - ( like the Muslim Brotherhood)
9:39 - Tahrir Square 'Muslims, Christians, we are one' - He would never mention the chants of Jew Jew while Lara Logan was being gang raped, or MB leader and Jew hater Qaradawi speaking before thousands there. Briefly mentions Copts, but I doubt any aid we give Egypt will be tied to their righ tto live in peace.
9:40 - Women's rights and empowerment..OK, easy applause line.
9:41 - OK, here comes the price tag for the US taxpayers.Talks about promoting financial stability - never mind here at home!
9:43 - We're going to start with Egypt and Tunisia. US will forgive $1 billion in debts, $1 billion in loan guarantees for Egypt. We're also going to create 'investment funds' ala' the Marshall Plan. Comprehensive trade and investment plan, trade liberalization - I wonder, will that abrogate the US law prohibiting US companies from participating in the Arab's anti-Israeli boycott? Probably.
9:47 - Here it comes, look out Israel...
9:48 Acknowledges 2 years of work on Israeli-Palestinian peace was a failure.
9:49 - Says Palestinian efforts to work through UN in statehood will not be successful..which means US will not support it.
9:50 - Usual stuff on US supporting Israel's security. Calls Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria 'permanent occupation'. Says peace cannot be imposed. Endorsing two-state solution. Calls for a viable Palestine, a secure Israel.Calls for borders on pre-1967 lines, with land swaps. Sovereign contiguous Palestine? If 'Palestine' is contiguous, Israel cannot be.
9:53 - Calls for Palestine to be a non-militarized state.Fatah and Hamas reject that utterly.
9:54 - Admits he's not addressing issues of refugees and Jerusalem. Calls for negotiations to resume, but acknowledges Hamas/Fatah unity a problem.Meanwhile, we;ll still give 'em our money.
9:56 - A choice between hate and hope..
9:58 - Obama now compares the 'Arab Spring' to US revolution again.
10:00 - 'Hardship always follows a season of hope.'
The bottom line - we're going to work with the new Muslim Brotherhood governments and give them money.Obama sees these new governments as comparable to our American revolution and the civil rights struggle.
On the 'Palestinian'- Israeli conflict, nothing new. The 'Palestinians' in particular will never accept what he's offering as a solution, so I expect that the 'peace' process is on hold for now, until the US sees how the Hamas/Fatah creature behaves. The US will not try to impose a peace agreement or support the 'Palestinians' unilateral attempt to gain statehood via the UN.
Obama is going to do nothing concrete on Syria or on Iran's nuclear program aside from rhetoric.
That's pretty much it.
first things first.
ReplyDeletei want to thank ff of doing this for us.
now.
do you know why hussein can say these things?
i'll give you two very good reasons why hussein can continue to say these things and even more.
reason # 1 from rasmussen:
Most voters still believe President Bush is more to blame for the recession than President Obama.
and reason #2 from rasmussen:
Overall, 49% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty percent (50%) disapprove.
and he's not even in full blown election mode yet.
i was going to include references to a sack of hair, but can't remember the context of how i was going to put it.