It has now become clear that the reaction from essentially everyone in the Middle East to yesterday's big speech by Obama is anger. The Israelis are angry that Obama broke the written agreement that they made with the USA in 2004 at the time of the withdrawal from Gaza. At that time the US agreed that it would support borders for Israel based upon negotiations between the parties and would not call for a return to the 1967 lines. The Palestinians are angry because of what Obama had to say about Jerusalem, among other things. The reaction is similar from essentially everyone else mentioned in the speech.
Presidents do not give speeches in a vacuum. Normally, before a major foreign policy is announced, the government checks out the reaction of the key players in advance. Indeed, candidate Obama blasted president Bush repeatedly in 2008 for what he said was Bush's habit of acting without consulting our allies and adding their views into the mix.
With the speech yesterday, Obama moved US policy without even running the new positions by those affected in order to gauge reactions. Obama did not run the new policy by Congress either. Not even the leaders in Congress got a chance to comment on the new policy. There used to be a show on TV and radio called the Amateur Hour. That may be entertaining when the subject is singing or dancing. When it comes to foreign policy and diplomacy, however, the USA deserves better than to have its positions determined by amateurs. At the moment, we have American policy being determined on the basis of ideological beliefs of a few left wing professorial types rather than on the basis of the actual facts.
America deserves better! Obama has got to go!
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