Arab States To Obama: No Seriously, We're Not Going To Make Even Symbolic Concessions To Israel
Obama's brilliant plan of reviving long-dormant Arab fantasies regarding Israel's destruction is encouraging entities like the Palestinian Authority and countries like Saudi Arabia to run out the clock and wait for the US to abandon the Jewish State. Which is exactly what you'd expect. Which begs the question of what Obama could possibly have been thinking when he signaled that he intends to detonate the US-Israel alliance:
Sources say Obama was hoping to persuade the king to be ready to show reciprocal gestures to Israel, which Washington has been pushing to halt settlements with the goal of advancing regional peace and the creation of a Palestinian state. "The more time goes by, the more the Saudi meeting was a watershed event," said the former U.S. official who recently traveled to Riyadh. "It was the first time that President Obama as a senator, candidate, or president was not able to get almost anything or any movement using his personal power of persuasion.""The bottom line is that the Saudis were not prepared," the former official continued, for Obama to ask them to take steps toward Israel. Obama changed his trip to go to Saudi Arabia, he pointed out. "Senior sources in the Saudi national security team," he said, "think the president's trip was poorly prepared." From their perspective, "he was coming and asking them for big favors with no preparation," but "the Saudis never give big" in that situation. The former official said that Ross has told associates that Obama was "upset" about the meeting "because he got nothing out of it." Ross didn't respond to a query.
What I really want to know is which member of Obama's team - undoubtedly working off something that some prince said at some reception - assured the President that Justice's pro-Saudi stance in the 9/11 lawsuit would translate into concessions elsewhere. I'm curious to figure out how many members of the White House Iran Lobby are following Chas Freeman's lead and also carrying water for the Saudis.
Smart power!
References and previously after the jump...
References:
* Abbas: Olmert Offered Us The West Bank And The Right Of Return, But It Wasn't Good Enough [MR]
* Revisiting Obama's Riyadh meeting [FP The Cable]
* Obama Gearing Up To Present Ultimatum To Israel, Detonate US-Israel Alliance [MR]
* Justice Dept. Backs Saudi Royal Family on 9/11 Lawsuit [NYT]
* The "Iran Lobby" Moves Into The White House [MR]
* Former Ambassador To Saudi Arabia Chas Freeman To Be Appointed To Top Intelligence Post, Join Obama's Anti-Israel Intel Team (Plus: He Blames US-Israel Ties For 9/11) [MR]
Previously:
* Super-Smart President Screws Up Putin's Title Three Times [Video]
* Four Theories Why Obama Is Throwing Britain Under The Bus
* Obama Refuses To Visit Normandy Memorial Because It Might Offend Germany [MR]
