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Radio talk show host Dennis Prager has been lauded by political activists of all beliefs as an intelligent and persuasive writer. One a teacher of...
Read more about Dennis Prager.
Radio talk show host Dennis Prager has been lauded by political activists of all beliefs as an intelligent and persuasive writer. One a teacher of...
Read more about Dennis Prager.
Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
Dennis Prager
According to the Jerusalem Post, as recently as six weeks ago, just 4
percent of the Jews of Israel regarded President Obama as pro-Israel.
Even if exaggerated, it is likely the most negative Israeli view of an
American president since Israel's creation.
If you think Israelis are irrational in this matter, perhaps Tibet will help persuade you otherwise.
Yes, Tibet.
Whereas every Democratic and Republican president since 1991 has met with exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, when he visited the United States, President Obama has decided that he will not do so during the Tibetan leader's visit to the United States. The president does not wish to annoy China's dictators prior to his upcoming visit to Beijing. As US News & World Report reported, "The U.S. decision to postpone the meeting appears to be part of a strategy to improve ties with China that also includes soft-pedaling criticism of China's human rights ..."
This is particularly troubling to Israelis because it means that an American president is placing appeasement of strong dictators above America's traditional defense of embattled small countries. (One assumes that the Taiwanese are equally worried; and the Iranian fighters for liberty have come close to giving up on Obama's America.)
The line between selling out Tibetans and selling out Israelis is a direct one. Even liberal New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd was disturbed by the president's snubbing of the Dalai Lama:
"Dissing the Dalai was part of a broader new Obama policy called 'strategic reassurance' -- softening criticism of China's human rights record and financial policies to calm its fears that America is trying to contain it ... the tyro American president got the Nobel for the mere anticipation that he would provide bold moral leadership for the world at the very moment he was caving to Chinese dictators. Awkward."
The world is quite aware of the importance of Mr. Obama's snubbing the Dalai Lama. Dowd noted that:
"In an interview with Alison Smale in The Times last week, Vaclav Havel ... pricked Barack Obama's conscience. Havel (who led) the Czechs and Slovaks from communism to democracy, turned the tables and asked Smale a question about Obama... Was it true that the president had refused to meet the Dalai Lama on his visit to Washington?"
Those who worry about good and evil know that if America decides that the world's approval is important, evil will increase exponentially. Only an America willing to be disliked, even hated, will consistently support the smaller good guys against the bigger bad guys.
If America starts shaping its foreign policy based upon getting along well with everybody, it will become less tenable to support Israel. The number of people and countries that want Israel destroyed are far more numerous than tiny Israel and its people. The price of supporting free, democratic, tolerant Israel against its death-loving, totalitarian and authoritarian enemies is reduced popularity of America in those countries. And if America now values getting along well with everyone above moral considerations, the days of strong American support for Israel are numbered.
They may indeed be numbered for additional reasons. Having been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, President Obama may be even less inclined to consider an American attack, or in any way countenance an Israeli attack, on Iran's nuclear weapons facilities. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate isn't supposed to support, much less initiate, first strikes.
Additionally, the president, given his yearning for a nuclear weapons-free world, may support an Iranian offer to disband its nuclear weapons program if Israel is forced to abandon its nuclear arsenal.
All this combined with the economically weakest America in memory -- increasingly dependent on other countries to help prevent the dollar from becoming more like Monopoly money -- means that the 96 percent of Israelis who do feel they cannot rely on this president of the United States as they have on prior presidents is, unfortunately, not irrational.
This president characterizes his presidency as essentially the opposite of that of his predecessor, George W. Bush. He may be right, as reflected by this note from the Washington Post: "The last time he (the Dalai Lama) was here, in 2007, George W. Bush became the first sitting president to meet with him publicly, at a ceremony at the Capitol in which he awarded the Dalai Lama the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress's highest civilian award."
If you were Israeli, which American president would you feel more secure with -- the first one in 18 years who refused to meet with the Dalai Lama or the first one ever to meet with him publicly and give him a public honor?
=========
Dennis Prager hosts a nationally syndicated radio talk show and is a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He is the author of four books, most recently "Happiness Is a Serious Problem" (HarperCollins). His website is www.dennisprager.com. COPYRIGHT 2009 CREATORS.COM
Copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.
This news arrived on: 10/20/2009
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Posted Comments:
10-24-2009 05:55
JCE wrote:
I find it interesting that some people think Obama has taken on too much, and others think he is indecisive, and others still think he isn't doing enough. I think he is playing a very dangerous, very tight game, and is surrounded by enemies. He must pick his way with care, trust no one, and he has some things going on most people don't see. I think he is being very shrewd, and knows just what he is doing. I, like a lot of people, don't always agree with it, but then, he has knowledge that I don't have, and could know just what he is about.
10-23-2009 18:12
Catharyne Stauffer wrote:
After The Glow
Perhaps history will have to be called again to judge whether or not President Obama's decisions and words were wise ones .
let's look at some recent history;
1, The pseudo elected president of Iran has made many public statements that he will not rest until Israel is no more or it is wiped from the map .
2, When Muslim terrorists have been interviewed they have all had one thing in common. The wish to murder as many Jews and Christians as they can in hopes that they will receive 72 virgins .
(Which makes me kinda wonder, would these 72 virgins in the after life would they want someone who murdered innocent people them or do they not have a choice . Perhaps God treats them like mindless slaves and gives them away like chocolates . Doesn't sound like a type of heaven that is very friendly towards women . I think I like the Christian version of heaven where no one is enslaved .
Another thought is, after the physical body dies and we become an incorporeal being , I think the act of sex would be impossible so 72 virgins would be an utter torment . Like a man dying of thirst but can only look at the water . )
3, Iran has not admitted anything unless certain facts become absolutely undeniable like their other nuclear facilities and of course their recent long range missile testing .
Plus Russia agreeing to enrich uranium for Iran seems all a bit dire for the security of Israel .
President Obama taking the path of least resistance like water that has been poured on the ground does , may prove to be not an exactly wise choice considering Public statements made by his international counter parts .
History will be a judge on all things wise and not so wise and it can be all read in the light of The After Glow .
let's look at some recent history;
1, The pseudo elected president of Iran has made many public statements that he will not rest until Israel is no more or it is wiped from the map .
2, When Muslim terrorists have been interviewed they have all had one thing in common. The wish to murder as many Jews and Christians as they can in hopes that they will receive 72 virgins .
(Which makes me kinda wonder, would these 72 virgins in the after life would they want someone who murdered innocent people them or do they not have a choice . Perhaps God treats them like mindless slaves and gives them away like chocolates . Doesn't sound like a type of heaven that is very friendly towards women . I think I like the Christian version of heaven where no one is enslaved .
Another thought is, after the physical body dies and we become an incorporeal being , I think the act of sex would be impossible so 72 virgins would be an utter torment . Like a man dying of thirst but can only look at the water . )
3, Iran has not admitted anything unless certain facts become absolutely undeniable like their other nuclear facilities and of course their recent long range missile testing .
Plus Russia agreeing to enrich uranium for Iran seems all a bit dire for the security of Israel .
President Obama taking the path of least resistance like water that has been poured on the ground does , may prove to be not an exactly wise choice considering Public statements made by his international counter parts .
History will be a judge on all things wise and not so wise and it can be all read in the light of The After Glow .
10-21-2009 16:20
JCE wrote:
His typical nonsense. When he says every president since 91, he is trying to make it sound like Obama is breaking with a major tradition. If Bush in 07 was the first sitting president to meet with the Dalai Lama, it sure isn't a tradition. The truth is, Obama is looking at what will benefit his country the most. We aren't borrowing money from the Dalai Lama. We aren't up to our assess in debt to him either. Nor are we wanting or needing some things that only China can give. Seems like Obama is putting country before looking good, and that is a very pleasant change, one a lot of people are having trouble getting used to. Those who worry about good and evil know that if America decides that the world's approval is important, evil will increase exponentially. "Only an America willing to be disliked, even hated, will consistently support the smaller good guys against the bigger bad guys." That quote is a joke. That is the official republican policy, pretend to support the little guy, all the while supporting the biggest guys. Those who are concerned about good and evil are very glad that we no longer have the Bush policies that were evil. And to even suggest "And if America now values getting along well with everyone above moral considerations", is a bigger joke. America, for the first time in decades, is actually trying to become moral again, while at the same time representing the people of America. And Prager, and his ilk, feel very threatened by that. Hence the double talk, and double standards. And the amnesia about Bush. And the distortions about our long standing traditions.
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