So now we have GOP House Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen hammering Obama for his supposed diplo-speak - and for not coming out and "just saying no" to the upcoming Palestinian effort to achieve recognition as a non-member state by the UN General Assembly. Her hope is to get Congressional approval of legislation that would retaliate against any UN organization that embraces the Palestinians' cause.
This, even as most the rest of the UN member states are lining up to vote for Palestinian recognition, despite the ongoing arm-twisting by US, Israeli, and even German diplomats in hopes of getting Mr. Abbas to stand down and once again place his people's hopes and trust in the hands of a US-led effort to restart peace talks - which, as we all know, have produced SO MUCH progress in recent years.
Who the hell do they think they're kidding? To channel John McEnroe: You can't be serious!!
While Ileana and the rest of her AIPAC-purchased pals in Congress sink ever more deeply into their dreamworld where the US still holds the best cards and calls the shots (and where the Israeli leadership acts as if American support is still supposed to be a game-changer), the people who really hold the cards are signaling that there are some new dealers at the table. Turkey is thumbing its nose at Israel's continued efforts (and the US's continued support of them) to enforce its blockade of Gaza, declaring today that any future flotillas from Turkey bearing aid for Gaza will be escorted by Turkish warships. Egyptians are making it ever clearer that business as usual with Israel is no longer acceptable, especially as it relates to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and perpetual denial of Palestinians' nationalist aspirations - that the 1979 treaty may be becoming a dead letter.
Ileana and her pals can huff and puff all they want. The US has made itself irrelevant. Meanwhile, a "new Middle East" is being born. It's just not the kind about whose birth pangs Condi waxed euphoric 5 years ago.
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