| As Barack Obama makes his way towards his historic inauguration, the foreign policy challenges facing the nation loom large. President Obama will have to work closely with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the rest of his leadership team to address the withdrawal from Iraq, the challenges posed by Iran, the war in Afghanistan and instability and escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Chief among all of them, and at the core of most of the other problems in the Middle East, is the rapidly escalating tensions between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians. During the presidential campaign, Senator Obama made it very clear that he recognized that Israel was a close ally of the U.S. He also made it clear that he would strengthen efforts to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Tensions have increased this past week as the Israeli’s responded to missile assaults by Hamas from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Air Force responded by bombing the sites from which the missiles were launched. Other targets included the government offices of the Palestinian Authority. The death toll in Palestine is approaching 500 with many of them being civilians including women and children. The war further escalated this past weekend when the Israeli Army invaded and occupied Gaza. Politically, this could make a bad situation worse and could end-up as a quagmire if the occupation is long-term and has as its goal the elimination of Hamas as a governing entity. The reactions around the world have been predictable. Conservative to moderate Arab kingdoms and governments called for a cease fire and negotiation. Many of them have been lukewarm in their support for Hamas. In contrast, the reaction on “the Arab street” has been angry and hostile towards Israel with more than 600,000 protesters in Jordan. European leaders have called for a truce and for an immediate effort to address the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians who are facing a government in crisis and a crumbling infrastructure. President George Bush has done very little over the last eight years to address the festering situation between the Israeli’s and the Palestinians. His effort to promote democracy in the Middle East backfired when Hamas emerged as the democratically-elected government of Palestine. His efforts to get the parties to the negotiation table have been undertaken only recently via Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In his address to the nation over the radio last weekend, he reiterated his support for the Israeli’s, stating that they had every right to take action against Hamas to stop the missile attacks. President Bush has also used the U. S. veto power in the U.N. Security Council to block a resolution that called for a halt to the hostilities. While it is clear that the Israeli’s have the right to defend themselves, the response by Bush was not evenhanded. President Obama was contacted by the media to get his response to the escalating crisis. He refused to give commentary noting that there is only one president of the nation and that is George Bush. His pass on this question will only be temporary. President Obama will have to take immediate steps to end the carnage from both sides and get the United Nations and other members of the international community involved in making real and sustained efforts to bring about real and serious negotiations to bring peace to a region that has been in a constant state of upheaval since the end of the World War II. He must do so by getting his Democratic Party and the Congress on board ready and willing to make hard decisions in the face of a powerful Israeli lobby. If he does, he will accomplish a feat that no other President has come even close to resolving. The Palestinians, the Israeli’s and indeed the world community are calling for peace. |
Policy challenges loom large for President Obama
