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Raise your hand if you're surprised: Romney trashes the two-state solution in Israel.
And the melding of the Likud and the GOP is now complete.
We have ourselves now a transnational political party. Any light that existed between these two organizations is now gone. The GOP, at least its foreign policy wing, is officially led by Benjamin Netanyahu. If it hadn't been already for years, which I suspect it has. http://www.motherjones.com/politics/...dle-east-peace SECRET VIDEO: On Israel, Romney Trashes Two-State Solution At a private fundraiser, the GOP candidate calls Middle East peace "almost unthinkable" and says he would "kick the ball down the field." —By David Corn Tue Sep. 18, 2012 3:00 AM PDT At the private fundraiser held May 17 where Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney candidly spoke about political strategy—noting that he saw half of the American electorate as freeloaders and "victims" who do not believe in personal responsibility—he discussed various foreign policy positions, sharing views that he does not express in public, including his belief that peace in the Middle East is not possible and a Palestinian state is not feasible. Mother Jones has obtained video of Romney at this intimate dinner and has confirmed its authenticity. The event was held at the home of controversial private equity manager Marc Leder in Boca Raton, Florida, with tickets costing $50,000 a plate. During the freewheeling conversation, a donor asked Romney how the "Palestinian problem" can be solved. Romney immediately launched into a detailed reply, asserting that the Palestinians have "no interest whatsoever in establishing peace, and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish." Romney spoke of "the Palestinians" as a united bloc of one mindset, and he said: "I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say there's just no way." Romney was indicating he did not believe in the peace process and, as president, would aim to postpone significant action: "[S]o what you do is, you say, you move things along the best way you can. You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem…and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it." Romney did note there was another perspective on this knotty matter. He informed his donors that a former secretary of state—he would not say who—had told him there was "a prospect for a settlement between the Palestinians and the Israelis." Romney recalled that he had replied, "Really?" Then he added that he had not asked this ex-secretary of state for further explanation. Here's Romney's full response; he starts out saying he has "two perspectives," but as he answers the question, it turns out that's not really the case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=ukhFBJgrZxM Quote:
On his campaign website, Romney, whose foreign policy advisers include several neocons known for their hawkish support for Israel, does not explicitly endorse the peace process or a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the Republican Party platform does state unequivocal backing for this outcome: "We envision two democratic states—Israel with Jerusalem as its capital and Palestine—living in peace and security." The platform adds, "The US seeks a comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East, negotiated between the parties themselves with the assistance of the US." In public, Romney has not declared the peace process pointless or dismissed the two-state solution. In July, when the Israeli newspaper Haaretz asked Romney if he supports a two-state solution and the creation of a Palestinian state, he replied, "I believe in a two-state solution which suggests there will be two states, including a Jewish state." Yet Romney’s remarks to these funders—this was one of his longest answers at the fundraiser—suggest he might be hiding his true beliefs regarding Israel and the peace process and that on this subject he is out of sync with the predominant view in foreign policy circles that has existed for decades. Throughout the hourlong fundraiser, Romney discussed other foreign policy matters with his patrons, especially Iran. He repeated the tough talk he has issued on the campaign trail, but he also provided an odd reason for drawing a red line with Tehran about its nuclear program: Quote:
Talking to these funders, Romney also demonstrated that his campaign-long efforts to criticize Obama's handling of foreign policy in simplistic and exaggerated terms—he's an appeaser, he's an apologist—are not reserved for public consumption. Romney told these well-to-do backers that the president is a naïf with an oversized ego: Quote:
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#91 |
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http://www.attackerman.com/deserving-freedom/
Deserving Freedom Spencer Ackerman September 18, 2012 By now you’ve probably read a lot of people expressing shock at Mitt Romney’s comments on walking away from an Israeli-Palestinian peace process. (If not, start with Dan Drezner.) Let’s zero in on something Romney doesn’t say, but which he’ll have to address if he becomes president now that these comments are out there. That’s the idea that Palestinian freedom is a reward for good behavior. Romney questions whether the Palestinians — all of ‘em, from Ismail Haniyeh to Salam Fayyad to the dude on the street in Ramallah — want peace with Israel. Then he runs through a series Israeli security concerns about the West Bank under Palestinian sovereignty, which he considers an inevitable Iranian proxy. These concerns have salience as modalities for independence. They do not have salience as grounds to oppose independence, unless you conceive of Palestinian independence as justly conditional on Israel’s comfort with granting it. Then they’re the whole ballgame. There is an alternative available. That alternative says that Palestinians deserve independence by virtue of their humanity and their nationhood. The modalities of their independence ought to be worked out with Israel as part of a process moving toward that goal, since the security of both states on the day after independence is a legitimate concern. I believe Zionism, which advanced precisely this argument to establish the first principle that there ought to be a Jewish state in a Jewish homeland, compels accepting this alternative. My understanding from Romney’s public remarks is that he cheers the Arab Spring, because of its promise to advance human freedom in a region lacking it. Maybe I’m misunderstanding. But if he accepts that proposition, there are no grounds to deny it to Palestinians. Should Romney become president, his Arab interlocutors will justifiably wonder what his position is on any of these foundational questions — a bitter irony for someone attacking President Obama for inviting Mideast embassy attacks through policy vagueness. Even if he walks the Palestinian comments back, he’ll probably have to deal with questions about his sincerity on the Freedom Question through his presidency. U.S. policy in the Mideast does not reduce to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But I’ve tended to find that people in the region, Arab and Israeli, consider an American president’s perspective on the conflict to be a threshold issue, a prism through which they can understand what sort of relationship to expect from the U.S., and whether that presidency ought to be embraced or endured. Romney may not be interested in the peace process, but the Mideast is very interested in Mitt Romney, and turning away from the peace process — either explicitly or through neglect — will have a cascading effect on anything else he wants to accomplish in the region. |
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#92 | |
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The Likud/GOP is no more interested in a two-state solution than Hamas is. |
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#93 | |
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If the "non-militant" majority of Hamas is unwilling to part with its militant wing, then the whole organization must be considered terrorist.
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#94 | |
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I'm glad to see that you don't think that Israel is a terrorist organization. I disagree with this, however. Both groups apparently share the same requirement for such talks to even begin, though.
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#95 | |
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#96 | |
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![]() “The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.” - Hillary Clinton |
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#97 |
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That has nothing to do with my take.
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#98 |
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Swing and a Miss. Israel as a country is held accountable for what they do. We do not break down Israel into a "military wing" and a "civilian wing"....the nation as a whole is judged on what they do. As Hamas should be, since they are the elected leaders of the Palestinians. The reality is, the "militant wing" of Hamas has support, or they would not be doing what they are doing. If the Palestinians wanted peace, then why did they vote for terrorists to lead them?
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#99 | |
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The GOP and the Likud are just as subject to criticism for their actions as any other organization on earth. |
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#100 |
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Except for Hamas, of course. They are just a bunch of peace loving folk trying to get along with their neighbors.
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#101 | ||||
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Direckshun |
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#102 |
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Hamas being cynical is not excuse for their actions. You seem to think it is okay for them to bomb women, children, and civilians because they are "cynical." Israel does not.
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#103 |
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Your support of terrorists is disgusting to me, so I guess we are even.
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#104 |
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I was responding to your suggestion that I believe Hamas is above reproach.
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#105 | |
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If that is the same thing as supporting terrorists in your eyes, then you can join patteeu in the shower because you two have got a lot of sand to clean out. |
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