Here's Hillary Clinton giving us a crystal clear statement of the Obama administration's official position on the propriety of Israel's killing of 1285 Palestinians in Gaza, overwhelmingly civilians:
[W]e support Israel’s right to self-defense. The rocket barrages, which are getting closer and closer to populated areas, cannot go unanswered. And it’s, you know, regrettable that the Hamas leadership apparently believes that it is in their interest to provoke the right of self-defense instead of building a better future for the people of Gaza.
Unfortunately none of the reporters at this press conference felt it was necessary to ask Clinton 1) if Palestinians have a similar right to self-defense, 2) what it would take to "provoke" this right, or 3) how many Israeli deaths would be justified—and rationalized by the United States, rather than condemned—once it was provoked.
UPDATE: Ramzy Baroud points out that "For Palestinians, Obama's Message Is Crystal Clear":
These are remarks made by Obama (not Bush), on Jan. 22, and seen as the first major statement by his administration regarding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict: "Let me be clear: America is committed to Israel's security. And we will always support Israel's right to defend itself against legitimate threats." [...]
Funny how Obama started his statement with "let me be clear." He cannot possibly be any clearer as he spent endless hours for many months assuring Israel and its supporters, while condemning Palestinians without any reservation or remorse.
Always good to see someone live down to expectations. Ahh - the soft bigotry of low expectations and the warm feeling when those expectations prove all too acurate.
Posted by: Gekkou | Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 06:23 AM
In other looking-glass news...
Posted by: Gnome Chomsky | Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 10:33 AM
My favorite part is this (in reference to Russia): "It's important for us to keep perspective about their capabilities." And meanwhile, it's also important for us to toss perspective aside as we pretend that Iran is a towering menace to our security.
Posted by: John Caruso | Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 11:38 AM
I want to know more about these "offices" the Iranians are opening in S. America. Sounds dangerous. Terrorist fax machines, and such.
Posted by: SteveB | Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 01:30 PM
clinton voted against condemning the use of cluster bombs a couple of years ago. even obama had the decency to vote the right way on that one. odious is exactly the right word for her.
Posted by: steve m | Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 01:52 PM
when/where did obama vote against the use of cluster bombs?
Posted by: KDelphi | Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 03:03 PM
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/03/13/7655
Posted by: steve m | Thursday, January 29, 2009 at 05:00 PM