Obama has decided to fly into the region at a time of deep crisis. Gaza lies in ruins, the Pakistani government remains unstable, Hezbollah appears set to win elections in Lebanon and Iran continues to rattle the saber. Terrorist threats abound and Obama is banking on the fact that words still count. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
This is very much about what the GlobalPost journalist expects, one would like to have some more hard facts.
President Obama visits Egypt in a very difficult international situation, so I see no point in comparing some visit of former president Carter at an easier-to-manage time of history, and I miss a mentioning of the topic of human rights in the Islamic world.
This sets forth some of the issues involved in Obama's mid East trip quite well, gives some background on Egypt's status and role in the mid East, and some local opinion. It might have made a better choice for the comparisons section??
One thing I've heard is that Egypt is having trouble in negotiations with the Palestinians because Hamas and Fatah can't seem to find necessary areas of compromise. Has anyone else seen or heard this - I think it was in a 'traditional' media article.
Good story, but impaired by the claim that Iran is rattling the saber when in fact the war threats in the Middle East come primarily from Israel. If Hezbollah's coalition wins the elections in Lebanon in a few days, it need not produce a crisis.
Obama needs to come put publicly in support of the Arab League peace plan, allowing for some modifications. Obama should be pulling all US forces out of Iraq on a steady basis, so all are out within a year.
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