Hillary Clinton: Darling of the Israel Lobby
Source: Hillary Clinton is the US secretary of choice by Israel and its army of lobbyists in Washington.Her selection is deeply disappointing to important segments of the Middle East which simply do not trust Clinton to exert pressures on Israel to move forward the stalled peace process.
Clinton has never criticized Israel's repressive policies toward the Palestinians or the Israeli government's illegal settlements, just as her husband, former president Bill Clinton, looked the other way when the size of Jewish settlements in the West Bank more than doubled during his tenure.
Throughout her campaign for presidency, Clinton never once spoke of the need for a more balanced US foreign policy in the Middle East. Instead, she constantly raised her voice for the state of Israel.
Even when former Democratic president Jimmy Carter published a controversial book decrying the oppression of Palestinians as "worse than apartheid", she maintained her silence.
Despite campaign lip service about the need to "talk to our adversaries", Clinton is expected to do little more than present Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice with respect to Iran, a country that Clinton once bluntly promised to "annihilate" if it dared attack Israel.
Fully committed to underwriting Israel's security, Clinton has more than proved her determination to also fulfill Israel's foreign policy expectations from the US.
This is one reason why Washington's pro-Israel pundits, such as Bill Kristol and Fox TV's Chris Wallace, were beaming when Obama first met Clinton a couple of weeks ago to consider her for the post.
This was a fatal error on Obama's part as it opened a flood gate of pro-Israel spin doctors in the US media to put the limelight on her selection, eclipsing the chances of other candidates, such as Massachusetts Senator John Kerry and former New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson. Both are too independent as far as the pro-Israel lobby is concerned.
Continuity instead of change; this is the most likely scenario for US foreign policy in the foreseeable future if Clinton, a former first lady, is put in charge of US foreign policy with other familiar faces such Gates and former marine general Jim Jones, chosen as national security advisor. The entire foreign policy team of Obama reeks of politics as usual.
One wonders how Obama expects to be more successful that the Bush administration in the absence of appointees aligned with his vision of change?
From the point of view of many foreign observers, this represents a false start by the Obama administration. He is apt to lose a great deal of his international aura within months, if not weeks, of assuming the presidency in January. More...