How Barack Obama learned to love Israel
Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 4 March 2007
I first met Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama almost ten years ago when, as my representative in the Illinois state senate, he came to speak at the University of Chicago. He impressed me as progressive, intelligent and charismatic. I distinctly remember thinking 'if only a man of this calibre could become president one day.'
On Friday Obama gave a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Chicago. It had been much anticipated in American Jewish political circles which buzzed about his intensive efforts to woo wealthy pro-Israel campaign donors who up to now have generally leaned towards his main rival Senator Hillary Clinton.
Reviewing the speech, Ha'aretz Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner concluded that Obama "sounded as strong as Clinton, as supportive as Bush, as friendly as Giuliani. At least rhetorically, Obama passed any test anyone might have wanted him to pass. So, he is pro-Israel. Period."
Israel is "our strongest ally in the region and its only established democracy," Obama said, assuring his audience that "we must preserve our total commitment to our unique defense relationship with Israel by fully funding military assistance and continuing work on the Arrow and related missile defense programs." Such advanced multi-billion dollar systems he asserted, would help Israel "deter missile attacks from as far as Tehran and as close as Gaza." As if the starved, besieged and traumatized population of Gaza are about to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.
While constantly emphasizing his concern about the threat Israelis face from Palestinians, Obama said nothing about the exponentially more lethal threat Israelis present to Palestinians. In 2006, according to B'Tselem, Israeli occupation forces killed 660 Palestinians of whom 141 were children -- triple the death toll for 2005. In the same period, 23 Israelis were killed by Palestinians, half the number of 2005 (by contrast, 500 Israelis die each year in road accidents).
When Obama first started running for president, he came across as being concerned about the plight of the Palestinians.
Until the "LOBBY" swung into action.
They used their vast media resources to castigate Obama in the press and used their financial acumen and control over a substantial amount of campaign finance money to dry up Obama's fundraising.
No dummy, Obama quickly learned that in order to stay in the race, he needed to start sucking up to Israeli interests, as this article clearly shows.
In the Fall of 2008, once again, the "LOBBY" will dictate what person is elected as president of the "UNITED STATES OF ISRAEL."
BTW, when did Israel become a democracy?
Israel's power will be immediately diluted once Mother Russia rise as the waking giant in response to regional strife involving Iran and Syria.
Russia is the largest nation on Earth in terms of square miles. Israel is the shitty little country facing certain fate should it successfully prod USA to commit military attack on behalf of Zionism.
I think Obama has been pickled and heavily trained to 'impress' as presidential and is put out to cover a niche space in the race, somebody who looks qualified to speak on behalf of less fortunate layers of the society. He is well known now not because of what he has accomplished as a senator or in his career (business, academic, leadership roles, ...), but because of well orchestrated media promotions.
Anyone with that type of profile in today's america normally keeps a crooked ugly skeleton in the basement.