The Washington Times
  • Subscribe
  • RSS
  • Mobile Headlines
  • e-edition
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • REGISTER
  • LOG IN
  • E-MAIL ALERTS
  • WELCOME
  • Your Profile
  • Log Out
  • Front Page Image
  • Classifieds
  • Autos
  • Real Estate
  • Jobs
  • Special Sections
  • Customer Service
  • Home
  • News
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Commentary
    • Columns
    • Water Cooler
    • Letters
    • Cartoons
    • Books
  • Sports
  • Culture
    • Home & Living
    • Family & Kids
    • Travel
    • Health
    • Washington Visitors
    • Books
    • Auto
    • TV Listings
    • Movie Listings
    • Death Notices
    • Entertainment
  • Communities
  • Rebate Shopping
    • Stores
    • Coupons
    • Daily Double
    • Promotion
    • How It Works
  • Photos
  • Podcasts
    • About Headlines
    • Audio and Radio
    • America's Morning News
  • World

    Gitmo suspects allowed laptops while in custody

  • Politics

    Health-vote ally Nelson to get new VA hospital for Nebraska

  • National

    Poll finds stubborn suspicion of census

  • National

    PRUDEN: Into the twilight zone

  • National

    Blockbuster chain mulls bankruptcy

  • Politics

    Bachmann: Pelosi has 'eternity' to get votes

  • Politics

    Price tag in hand, Dems prepare for final health care vote

Home » News » Editor Favorites

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

ANALYSIS: Obama's silence lets him assess conflict, reaction

Rate this story

Average 0.00
after 0 votes
Login or register to rate this story

  • Font Size -+
  • Print
  • Email
  • Comment
  • Tweet this!
  • Share
  • Article
  • Comments ()
  • Click-2-Listen
Please stand by, images loading!
  • Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg noted that the president-elect has defended a nation's right to protect its citizens.
  • Associated Press
WATCHING: President-elect Barack Obama, in Hawaii, has yet to comment on the Gaza conflict.

More Editor Favorites Stories

  • Gitmo suspects allowed laptops while in custody
  • Health-vote ally Nelson to get new VA hospital for Nebraska
  • Poll finds stubborn suspicion of census
  • PRUDEN: Into the twilight zone

By Jon Ward

ANALYSIS:

President-elect Barack Obama's silence during the early days of Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip speaks volumes about the complexity of the Middle East crisis that he will soon inherit and may preserve some of his options for when he is able to act on his own - outside the shadows of President Bush.

U.S. Jewish groups beckoned Monday for a sign of support for Israel from the incoming president while a prominent Muslim group sought a condemnation for a military response that it viewed as excessive. Yet Mr. Obama remained silent as he vacationed in Hawaii, leaving the U.S. response thus far as the Bush administration's unequivocal support for the Jewish state.

In the absence of Mr. Obama's reaction, Democratic leaders in both chambers of Congress offered their own assurances that their party strongly supports Israel's right to protect itself from continuing rocket attacks from Hamas.

"Israel is acting in clear self-defense in response to heinous rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland declared. "As a sovereign nation, Israel has an unequivocal right to take action to ensure the security and safety of her citizens."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gave an equally forceful response in support of Israel.

Since his election, Mr. Obama has weighed in regularly on such issues of the day as the financial crisis and the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, and most observers expect he eventually will be forced to respond to the Gaza conflict, which has killed more than 300 people. But his early silence may buy him time to examine the fallout of the military action - and the possibilities for a truce - and therefore leave him options for action when he takes office on Jan. 20, diplomatic analysts said.

"The problem is that many people would like to have him make a clear statement, but to make a clear statement before he becomes president means he has to live with it when he becomes president," said Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who noted that the outcome of the Israeli operation is still very much uncertain.

By staying silent, Mr. Obama "is making a virtue out of necessity," said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. Middle East negotiator and author of "The Much Too Promised Land." "He is going to inherit a crisis that doesn't have an easy or quick exit.

"He will create a process, say terrific things and hold more meetings than you can believe, but in the end, this is not a bridge he can cross."

123Next »

Post a comment

There are comments on this article, submit your opinion!

Please login or register to post a comment

Top Stories

Most Shared

  1. EDITORIAL: Obama surrenders gulf oil to Moscow
  2. Obama endorses immigration blueprint
  3. KOFFMAN: A prescription for life or death?
  4. EDITORIAL: Obama's medical horror stories
  5. CBO feels crush of health care requests
More Top Stories »
  1. Medical pot lights up D.C. debate
  2. KUHNER: Impeach the president?
  3. EDITORIAL: Obama nominee's sympathy for sexual sadists
  4. WOLF: Obama family health care fracas
  5. Feds defend $450K for art, design shows

Most Commented

  1. EDITORIAL: Obama surrenders gulf oil to Moscow
  2. Obama endorses immigration blueprint
  3. Tehran aiding al Qaeda links, Petraeus says
  4. Kucinich will vote for health care reform
  5. CBO feels crush of health care requests
More Top Stories »
  1. EDITORIAL: Obama's medical horror stories
  2. Group condemns textbooks about Islam
  3. Obama dismisses procedural tactics
  4. Price tag in hand, Dems prepare for final health care vote
  5. 'Self-executing rule' decried as a 'trick'

Listen to Washington Times Radio

  • America's Morning News

    with John McCaslin

Question of the day

Weighing the right of free speech against the right to privacy, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on protests at military funerals. What do you think?

Blogs & Columns

  • Water Cooler

    Video - Coburn to House members: We will expose any sweetheart deals for votes

  • Belief Blog

    Sayonara to the president's faith-based council

  • Technology

    Ordering iPad is painless, except for the wallet hit

Advertising Links
TWT Store
  • e-edition
  • Print Edition
  • Weekly Washington Times
TWT Affiliates
  • Middle East Times
  • Golf
  • UPI
  • Arbor Ballroom
  • Washington Times Global
  • About TWT
  • Press Room
  • F.A.Q.
  • Work for TWT
  • Advertise
  • Sponsors
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Site Map

All site contents © Copyright 2009 The Washington Times, LLC.