The Quicker Than Expected Bankruptcy Of Barack Obama

“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).”

ei: How Barack Obama learned to love Israel

These facts are known to anyone who cares to pay any attention to the middle east, yet during a speech before the AIPAC Policy Forum on March 2, 2007, Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama conceded not even a hint of culpability on the part of Israel, either for the ongoing, brutal (according to human rights organisations) and illegal (according to the UN and World Court/ICJ) occupation of land seized during the 1967 war; the illegal wall (also ruled by the World Court/ICJ); nor even the relentless bombing of civilians both in Gaza and Lebanon).

The points made in his speech were for the most part meaningless emotional anecdotes about a brief trip to Israel in 2006. At no point did he mention any meetings with Palestinians. In fact during the entire speech the Palestinian people are given barely a cursory mention, and the only references to their leadership is entirely critical.

As far as policy there is nothing to distinguish anything said from the most hard-nosed apologists for the continued occupation and expansion into the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Thus ends the hope that Barack Obama might provide some sort of alternative candidate to Hilary Clinton or any other Clinton crone that is running. Poor Democratic voters - you know you’re in trouble when the best outcome you can hope for now is that a former general, who ordered the bombing of television and radio stations and the cluster bombing of a market in his last campaign, decides to run.

For those who want more detail on just how far Obama has sunk see Ali Abunimah’s editorial, and for those US citizens out there, now might be a time to consider a third party candidate if you haven’t already.

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