Friday, February 27, 2009
At last. More on the job training for the Obama Administration. It shouldn't have been necessary to even go this far with it, but I suppose the administration that thinks diplomatic engagement can cure all the world's ills will need to face reality one knock on the head at a time. The prior administration didn't need to learn these lessons on the job, they knew them coming in. Once again, these guys come around to doing exactly the same thing the previous crew would have done after campaigning on fantasies. How much long-term damage is this dreaming ideologue going to do in other situations that don't have as much attention cast on them, and are just a half-step away from as obvious as this "Durban" situation has been? We can only "hope."
JTA: U.S. pulling out of 'Durban II' conference
The Obama administration has decided to boycott the so-called Durban II conference out of concerns for anti-Semitism.
Multiple sources on a conference call with the White House on Friday told JTA that the Obama administration had opted not to attend any further preparatory meetings ahead of the planned U.N. conference against racism in Geneva in April.
The conference reprises the 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa that devolved into an anti-Jewish free-for-all. Canada and Israel have opted not to attend the conference, and some U.S. Jewish groups had been pressing the United States to do the same.
Preparations for a draft document so far have seen Iran leading a coterie of nations blocking inclusion of anything that might guarantee Jewish protections - including mention of the Holocaust - while inserting draconian language guarding Islam against "insult."
The State Department sent a delegation, including a senior staffer from the American Jewish Committee, to this month's preparatory talks. The delegation's conclusions were that the anti-Israel and anti-Western tendencies were too deeply entrenched to excise.
Now that the United States is withdrawing from the conference, European nations are expected to follow...
P.S. I'm at a business conference this weekend, so blogging will likely be light or even more "linky" than usual.
They had little choice, from a political pov, at least seemingly so. Canada and at least a couple of other more conscionable nations had already pulled out. Further, the pretext offered by the U.S. in going to the Durban II planning session - that without participating they wouldn't be able to positively influence the Durban II hate-fest itself, was belied by 1) the fact the planning had already been virtually solidified such that the wouldbe "planning session" was little more than a rubber stamp session and 2) the protests mounted by the U.S. delegation was tepid and not at all forthright - and that is to be kind according to the two reports I read on the subject.
So, all indications are that this was something of a trial balloon effort by the new administration (Power, Rice, Obama himself, et al.) to see if they could get away with participating. That judgement is admittedly somewhat presumptuous, but it's difficult to interpret it any other way, given the evidence alluded to and other, related evidence as well.
Good.
People might not realize what Durban I was all about because of 9/11 - but there is no doubt in my mind that the bigotry and hate promulgated by such "anti-racism" conferences - which actually are deeply racist - help perpetrate war and terrorism and other forms of violence.
Not only do they promote antisemitism and completely misunderstand Israel, thus helping incite violence against state and people, which results in more violence, more war ad infinitum, Durban I and apparently Durban II deflect attention from REAL racism and religious and ethnic bigotry and the millions of lives claimed and ruined just since WWII.
I am reassured, I was getting a little depressed when Chas Freeman was appointed, but in fact this is good news for people who are tired of living in the mirror world of so-called "progressives" who are actually promoting very dangerous and racist agendas, and which refuse to look honestly at some of the players in Africa and the Middle East (and even Latin America).
Well if Britain joins us I'll find the flying pig icon:)
Speaking of Chas Freeman, it appears this GHW Bush appointee is "The New Hero of the Resistance" (gag)
http://www.hurryupharry.org/2009/02/27/chas-freeman-the-new-hero-of-the-resistance/
PS, this would be funny if it were in a movie.
MB,
Could it be that the US became aware that turning its back on Israel in such an instance would basically be giving the World the green light for anti-Semitism to be let loose on all Jews not just the Israelis?
Cynic,
Yes, it's possible. I'm a mere citizen indulging an informed opinion, in this instance an informed opinion on the basis of 1) administration appointments that include Power, Freeman and Rice, 2) some statements from Obama himself, 3) reports that indicated the planning for Durban II had already been solidified such that the "planning session" was little or nothing more than a rubber stamp and clarificationi session (which is in fact what it turned out to be) and 4) the protests mounted by the U.S. delegation were in fact tepid at best, according to the two reports I read, thus suggesting they were not trying very hard to change the course of events - which was the very pretext for getting re-involved in the first place.
So, several things are possible and without being a White House insider it's impossible to know with greater certainty, but on the other hand I'm basing my intuitive sense on several factors which appear to be sound.
Besides, I thought you were suppose to be the cynic? :-)
Michael I think you have it right. Somebody seriously needs to send Anne Bayefsky some flowers, cause if anyone was responsible for not letting them get away with it, she was.
Besides, I thought you were suppose to be the cynic? :-)
I am, but a Merriam-Webster cynic and not an Oxford Dic one :-))
Anne Bayefsky provides additional red and yellow flags, excerpt:
"It does open a window, however, into Obama’s gerrymandering. On one phone line with Assistant Secretary of State Karen Stewart were Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, the American Civil Liberties Union, the U.N. Foundation, the UNA-USA Association and the Arab American Institute, among others. On the other line with National Security Council member Samantha Power were Jewish organizations. The dangerous message was that an Arab advocacy group does human rights, while Jewish organizations do Jews."
Also:
"Some Europeans and Australia had been teetering on the edge of following Canada and Israel in boycotting the conference. But they were waiting for Obama to walk with them. Rather than encouraging these like-minded states, America’s mixed message has sent human rights organizations and states scurrying. They are looking to inject some creative ambiguity into “not reaffirming in toto”–or as Stewart put it, “not unequivocally reaffirming”–the Durban Declaration. Instead of leadership and clarity of convictions, the U.S. has started a race to the bottom of the diplomatic barrel."
That's "race to the bottom" in diplomatic terms, but I do think Bayefsky's is an apt characterization. I was also surprised to see Norm Geras do nothing more than parrot the administration line.
The correct link: here.