New Direction, Old Results

President Obama gave his Mideast speech at the State Department yesterday, and tried to take America's foreign policy in a new direction with some bold words.  Unfortunately, nobody is interested in words anymore as far as America's foreign policy is concerned, and I can't blame them.  The big takeaway at least as far as the Village is concerned was Obama calling on Israel to return to its 1967 borders and stop occupying Palestinian territory:

In a major speech Thursday, Obama became the first president to formally endorse the policy, but he also acknowledged the need for modifications through the negotiating process due to conditions on the ground.

"The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine," Obama said in the concluding section of his 45-minute address that looked at political and social change sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa.

"We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states," Obama continued.

But as always with any speech involving Israel, everyone hears exactly what they want to hear and no more.  The right is stopping just a micron short of accusing Obama of being an enemy to Israel (and the United States) and GOP presidential hopefuls like Mitt Romney wasted no time in assaulting the President.

Romney, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, said Obama had breached a "first principal of American foreign policy" by suggesting the shift.


"President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus," Romney said. "He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace. He has also violated a first principle of American foreign policy, which is to stand firm by our friends."

Look folks, the 1967 borders has always been our unofficial policy, he's just the first to say it.  Netanyahu immediately responded with "Die in a fire, Arab stooge."

President Obama's remarks, during a major address on the Middle East, drew an immediate response from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who issued a statement as he prepared to leave for Washington, where he is to meet Friday with the U.S. leader.

Mr. Obama appeared to upset Israeli leaders by saying the borders of Israel and a future Palestinian state should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps. 

The "1967 lines" reference is to pre-war boundaries before Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights in fighting with Jordan, Egypt and Syria.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor says Mr. Netanyahu will ask President Obama for clarification of the remarks.

"The 1967 line was never an international border. It was never recognized as such. It was a cease-fire line with many unclear areas that were considered no-man's land and therefore because of their nature, they are considered an indefensible border," he said. 

Reaction from the wingers ranged from "He sounds like Bush, thus vindicating Bush's foreign policy!" to "Obama is leaving Israel vulnerable" to "SCREEEEEEEEEEEECH!"


Even more interesting, the reaction from the emo left:  "No Substance" to "missed opportunity to apologize for supporting dictators" to "His words ring hollow".



But the winner had to be Andrew Malcolm of the LA Times, who went straight for "President Darkie Shabazz X is always on Black People Time and it's pissing me off."

And people wonder why Obama even tries to deal with Israel.