Take It Back, Boehner
- 05.14.2008 - 5:56 PMIn a press release on May 12, House Republican Leader John Boehner said this:
Israel is a critical American ally and a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, not a ‘constant sore’ as Barack Obama claims. Obama’s latest remark, and his commitment to ‘opening a dialogue’ with sponsors of terrorism, echoes past statements by Jimmy Carter who once called Israel an ‘apartheid state.’ It’s another sign that Obama is part of the broken Washington Americans are rejecting.
In fact, Obama claimed no such thing, as a check of his interview with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic demonstrates. Here’s the relevant passage:
JG: What do you make of Jimmy Carter’s suggestion that Israel resembles an apartheid state?
BO: I strongly reject the characterization. Israel is a vibrant democracy, the only one in the Middle East, and there’s no doubt that Israel and the Palestinians have tough issues to work out to get to the goal of two states living side by side in peace and security, but injecting a term like apartheid into the discussion doesn’t advance that goal. It’s emotionally loaded, historically inaccurate, and it’s not what I believe.
JG: If you become President, will you denounce settlements publicly?
BO: What I will say is what I’ve said previously. Settlements at this juncture are not helpful. Look, my interest is in solving this problem not only for Israel but for the United States.
JG: Do you think that Israel is a drag on America’s reputation overseas?
BO: No, no, no. But what I think is that this constant wound, that this constant sore, does infect all of our foreign policy. The lack of a resolution to this problem provides an excuse for anti-American militant jihadists to engage in inexcusable actions, and so we have a national-security interest in solving this, and I also believe that Israel has a security interest in solving this because I believe that the status quo is unsustainable.
In the full interview, Obama went out of his way to praise Israel several different times, in several different ways, and often eloquently. In fact, he answers “no, no, no” when asked if Israel is a “drag on America’s reputation overseas.” What Obama seems to be referring to as a “constant wound” and “constant sore” which “infect[s] all of our foreign policy” is, as best as I can tell, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (or, perhaps, Israel’s settlement policies more narrowly).
It’s perfectly acceptable if people want to criticize Obama for his comments. One could, for example, dispute Obama’s assertion that the Israeli-Palestinian issue “infect[s] all of our foreign policy.” There is a widespread view among many foreign policy elites that all the problems of the Middle East can be traced to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I believe that proposition is false and belied by history (see the Iran-Iraq war, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, and Syria’s subjugation of Lebanon for starters).
In addition, jihadists don’t need the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an excuse to kill Americans. Osama bin Laden’s fatwas, issued in the late 1990’s, were at least as concerned with our presence in Mecca and Medina and our policies toward Iraq as our policies toward Israel. Jihadists will certainly use our support for Israel as an excuse to attack us, but our mere existence will also do. That said, there are more than enough legitimate grounds on which to criticize Obama. It’s not necessary, and it’s wrong and dishonest, to tether him to claims he simply did not make. John Boehner should correct the record.
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May 14th, 2008 at 6:04 PM
people are very touchy about the israel issue. I remember during the debates ron paul said we treat israel like a step child in regards to us telling them how to defend themselves and so forth. mike huckabee was like “I’ve been to israel 9 times!” rudy guliani was like “I’m good friends with the prime minister we have lunch every tuesday” or something. none of which had anything to do with what anyone was talking about. so folks are flinchy when this issue comes up which it seldom does
May 14th, 2008 at 6:16 PM
Oh…. POOR BAMBI!! Fuhgeddaboudit! You’re saying O’Bomma doesn’t deserve a taste of his own medicine a la ‘100 years in Iraq’?
At this point, I’m open to whatever it takes to get rid of him.
All’s fair in love and politics!
May 14th, 2008 at 6:24 PM
“All’s fair in love and politics!”
That simply is not true. You are unwittingly an enemy of Western Civilization. Lying in the political arena is never acceptable. It destroys any chance of sustaining a viable social order. Also, as a practical manner—we only hurt ourselves by exaggerating the faults of “Barry” Obama.
May 14th, 2008 at 6:37 PM
President Bush and Secretary of State Rice are spreading cheer around the Middle East while Arab terrorists bomb an Israeli shopping center in Ashkelon. This is where Israel would normally set things straight, but the US will have none of that. What are Boehner and the other Republicans in Congress doing to make their own President recognize the reality?
May 14th, 2008 at 6:39 PM
“Lying in the political arena is never acceptable.”
That’s pretty funny! You obviously ain’t from Chicago.
May 14th, 2008 at 7:01 PM
I think it is more important to note that Obama did not say that the combination of Islamic tyranny and Islamic terrorism is a constant wound, a constant sore. That would put him in the position of having to support military action to put an end to it. Instead Obama took what Peter calls the elitist approach and blamed it on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
This implies that the problem did not exist before 1948 and would not exist if Israeli did not exist. Israel is not an excuse for depravity; it should be a beacon for the rest of the region. To imply that Israeli success should be partially to blame for shining a light on its neighbors’ failures is dangerous. It is equally dangerous to say as Obama does that the Palestinians need to be granted the gift of dignity by the American president. Dignity for having done what, we should ask. Meantime, Palestinians in Gaza are manning phone banks to call Americans to persuade them to vote for Obama. Maybe they understand the implications of Obama’s message better than some of us do.
May 14th, 2008 at 7:17 PM
#6 So right you are. Note the recent terrorist bombing in India. One might be led to believe the cause was the illegal and immoral Indian occupation of Palestine.
Steven from Indiana
May 14th, 2008 at 7:39 PM
I for one was very disappointed in Boehner and these comments. I’ve liked him a lot ever since he became House Minority leader. He should be above making disingenuous comments like he did here. Not that Obama doesn’t deserve it for his “100 years” disingenuousness.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:10 PM
“It’s not necessary, and it’s wrong and dishonest, to tether him to claims he simply did not make.”
Please. When Obamessiah takes back the 100 years dishonesty, then Boehner can take back his unintentional (probably) misstatement. Until then, I’d rather get down and dirty and win. This ain’t beanbag.
May 14th, 2008 at 11:29 PM
The reality is that Islam is a totalitarian religion of violence which must be fought everywhere. Pakistan was created by Moslems causing ethnic cleansing and the death of a million Hindu’s. The current Middle East is part of the thousand year history of this ugly faith which tolerates nothing save submission or death.
I would like to hear that from some politico from either side, but I’m still smoking crack.
Israel is fighting the same war we all are. Someone needs to say that, too.