[Peace-discuss] Fw: Will Congress Undermine President Obama's Middle East Diplomacy?

Wed May 6 19:28:11 CDT 2009

I certainly hope Congress -- and an angry public -- undermines Obama's Mideast
"diplomacy," because it's mainly a matter of killing people in "AfPak." The
antiwar movement should be doing everything it can to undermine this sort of
diplomacy.  Note the murder of a hundred civilians in Afghanistan today: Obama
is responsible for that.

Obama's "reaching out" to Iran, as the Iranians rightly recognize, is at best a
gesture, not a change in policy.  Both the last US administration and the
current one have vetoed the neocon/Israeli plan for an overt strike on Iran,
principally because the USG needs Iran's cooperation in Iraq and Afghanistan, as
part of the general policy of US occupation and the control of the region's
energy resources.

Last summer Congress came close to passing a resolution (HR 362), strongly 
supported by the neocons and the Israeli lobby, virtually calling for a blockade 
of Iran, a very high priority for Israel.  It would have been an act of war and 
could have set off the conflagration that is greatly feared in the region and 
around the world. But as usual the lobby knows when to disappear, when it comes 
up against USG policy, rather than promoting it.  By then (June 2008) the USG 
was back in the hands of the Realists, as it still is, and the Neocons lost, 
even though there was enough congressional support to pass the resolution.  The 
administration let it be known that it didn't want it -- didn't want to be 
dragged into a war with Iran -- and it was dropped; the lobby was silent, not 
unusually.

The administration knows that serious opposition to the constant US policy is 
coming from AfPak, the "central front" of the war, as Obama calls it. 
Netanyahu, Karzai, and Zardari were all in Washington this week, receiving their 
instruction on how the war there is to be prosecuted. For the latter two, that 
meant that they were told to give up their peace initiatives. Pakistan had had a 
cease fire in Swat, and Afghanistan had been seeking an understanding with 
Mullah Omar. Obama undoubtedly made it clear that the US demanded war. For 
Netanyahu, the search continues for an appropriate quisling regime to act as a 
jailer for the Palestinians; that will probably have to involve Hamas.

A much better way for us to take action is to write our congresspeople and tell 
them to vote against the war funding Obama is requesting.  Anyone who recognizes 
what Obama's Mideast policy actually is, will recognize appeals like the one 
below as fundamentally misleading -- appearing to be anti-war while in fact 
supporting a war policy. The Obamans have always been good at that.

Instead, Obama's war policy should be exposed and condemned.  --CGE

Jenifer Cartwright wrote:
> Here's a good way to take action.
> 
> --- On *Tue, 5/5/09, Robert Naiman, Just Foreign Policy 
> /<info at justforeignpolicy.org>/* wrote:
> 
> Take Action. Now!  *Will Congress Undermine President Obama's Middle East 
> Diplomacy?* Dear Jenifer,
> 
> President Obama has taken initial steps to reach out to Iran and to engage 
> with Hamas. Recent polls show that the American public supports President 
> Obama's engagement policies [1] and opposes Israeli settlement expansion in 
> the West Bank [2], the key obstacle to the President's efforts for 
> Israel-Palestine peace.
> 
> Unfortunately, some are urging Congress to obstruct President Obama's 
> efforts. This week the America Israel Public Affairs Committee is having its 
> annual policy conference in Washington. Thousands of AIPAC activists will be 
> on Capitol Hill, urging Members of Congress to support new sanctions against 
> Iran and to oppose President Obama's efforts to engage Hamas.
> 
> Can you write your Representative and Senators, asking them to support 
> President Obama's diplomatic engagement?
> 
> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/diplomacynow.html
> 
> Congress is considering new Iran sanctions bills that would undermine 
> President Obama's diplomacy and hurt ordinary citizens in Iran. The so-called
>  "Iran Diplomacy Enhancement Act" (H.R. 1985)[3], the "Iran Refined Petroleum
>  Sanctions Act" (H.R. 2194/ S. 908)[4] and the "Iran Sanctions Enabling Act
> of 2009" (H.R. 1327) [5] seek to block Iran from importing gas and to attack
> the energy sector of its economy. If these measures become law, President
> Obama will have less ability to pursue diplomatic engagement with Iran,
> because he'll have less ability to lift sanctions on Iran if Iran cooperates
> with the U.S.
> 
> Meanwhile, Members of Congress are attacking President Obama's proposal to 
> allow U.S. aid to the Palestinians continue if there is a Palestinian 
> national unity government that includes officials appointed by Hamas. 
> Republican Rep. Mark Kirk said President Obama's proposal was akin to 
> supporting a government that included "Nazis." [6]
> 
> Don't let these voices go unchallenged. Please write your Representative and 
> Senators today, asking them to support President Obama's diplomatic 
> engagement.
> 
> http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/diplomacynow.html
> 
> Thank you for everything you do to support a just foreign policy.
> 
> Robert Naiman Just Foreign Policy * Please support our work. * Your financial
>  contribution helps us create opportunities for Americans to advocate for a 
> just foreign policy. http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/donate.html
> 
> References: 1)  "NYT: Americans Support Obama's Outreach to Iran and Cuba," 
> Huffington Post, April 29, 
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/nyt-americans-support-oba_b_192452.html
> 
> 
> 
> 2) "On Israeli Settlement Freeze, Public Has Obama's Back," Huffington Post, 
> May 1, 2009, 
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/on-israeli-settlement-fre_b_194751..html
> 
> 
> <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/on-israeli-settlement-fre_b_194751.html>
> 
> 
> 
> 3) Text of H.R. 1985: http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1985:
> 
> <http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1985:> 4) Text of H.R. 2194:
>  http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.2194:
> 
> <http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.2194:> 5) Text of H.R. 1327:
>  http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1327: 
> <http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.2194:>
> 
> <http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.2194:> 
> <http://www.thomas.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.2194:>6) "Obama move alarms 
> Israel supporters," Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times, April 27, 2009. If you 
> no longer wish to receive e-mail from us, please click here 
> <http://capwiz.com/justforeignpolicy/lmx/u/?jobid=123752031&queueid=3298076776>.
> 
> 