It’s been obvious for some time that Obama simply cannot stand Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It’s also increasingly obvious that the President feels a real sense of liking for and fellow-spiritedness with Turkish leader Recep Erdogan, who has moved his country away from secular democracy and disturbingly far in the direction of Islamic fundamentalism and hostility to Israel.
Which says plenty about the kind of leadership we are getting from Obama himself.
More here.
Yes. The photo of a grinning Obama embracing Hugo Chavez was no accident. The anti-Honduras and anti-UK/Falklands maneuvers were no accident. The photo of Obama with his feet on the desk talking to Netanyahu was no accident. The continued subsidies to Palestinian gangsters are no accident. The abandonment of anti-missile defense, including the recently overheard convo with the Russian flunky, was no accident. The negotiations with the Taliban are no accident. The gutting of our military is no accident. If there were secret exchanges with the Chinese, perhaps asking them to buy more of our debt in exchange for US concessions on important issues, that would have been no accident. The lack of cooperation with our Canadian allies is no accident. The hostility to Colombia was no accident. The lack of concern about US/Mexican border security is no accident, etc., etc.
If Romney is elected president, the situation will be completely reversed:
April 7, 2012
A Friendship Dating to 1976 Resonates in 2012 By MICHAEL BARBARO
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/us/politics/mitt-romney-and-benjamin-netanyahu-are-old-friends.html
* * *
But in 1976, the lives of Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu intersected, briefly but indelibly, in the 16th-floor offices of the Boston Consulting Group, where both had been recruited as corporate advisers. At the most formative time of their careers, they sized each other up during the firm’s weekly brainstorming sessions, absorbing the same profoundly analytical view of the world.
That shared experience decades ago led to a warm friendship, little known to outsiders, that is now rich with political intrigue. …
The relationship between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Romney ”” nurtured over meals in Boston, New York and Jerusalem, strengthened by a network of mutual friends and heightened by their conservative ideologies ”” has resulted in an unusually frank exchange of advice and insights on topics like politics, economics and the Middle East.
* * *
Only a few weeks ago, on Super Tuesday, Mr. Netanyahu delivered a personal briefing by telephone to Mr. Romney about the situation in Iran.
“We can almost speak in shorthand,” Mr. Romney said in an interview. “We share common experiences and have a perspective and underpinning which is similar.”
Mr. Netanyahu attributed their “easy communication” to what he called “B.C.G.’s intellectually rigorous boot camp.”
“So despite our very different backgrounds,” he said through an aide, “my sense is that we employ similar methods in analyzing problems and coming up with solutions for them.”
The ties between Mr. Romney and Mr. Netanyahu stand out because there is little precedent for two politicians of their stature to have such a history together that predates their entry into government.
* * *
“To the extent that their personal relationship would give Netanyahu entree to the Romney White House in a way that he doesn’t now have to the Obama White House,” Mr. Indyk said, “the prime minister would certainly consider that to be a significant advantage.”
Meant to also link this piece on the status of women under Erdogan’s leadership of Turkey.