Bob Kagan writes today
[B]y insisting that the Israeli government not only put a freeze on new settlements but also halt "natural growth" in existing settlements, the administration has set up an unavoidable and possibly unpleasant confrontation with Israel, precisely at the moment it is importuning a truculent Iran. This sets up quite an image: Unclench the fist at a government that daily calls us the Great Satan, while balling up a fist at a longtime ally.
While Obama smiles and bows before the Saudi King, his administration is debating ways to sanction Israel. It's a stunning contrast, and it will only get worse as Obama heads to Egypt. President Obama refused to describe Egypt's leader as "authoritarian" in an interview yesterday, saying "I tend not to use labels for folks." And he will speak at Cairo University, which as the Washington Post explains is the very model of totalitarian higher-ed:
"Student political groups are prohibited. The university's policy on artistic and cultural events, according to its Web site, is ‘protecting students from all sorts of destructive ideas and corrupt thoughts.' Faculty deans are chosen by the administration, rather than elected by professors, ‘as a way to combat Islamist influence on campus,' according to the State Department's latest human rights report. Students who use the Internet as an outlet for their political or social views are on notice: One Cairo University student blogger was jailed for two months last summer for ‘public agitation,' and another was kicked out of university housing for criticizing the government."
But in another interview yesterday, this one with NPR, Obama brushed aside concern about Egypt's political system -- saying American has flaws, too, just like Turkey and Egypt (it's not like one form of government is better than another, they're just different, and we need to respect diversity):
INSKEEP: Does it undermine your effort - reaching out to the Muslim world, which you'll do with a speech in Cairo, that you'll be speaking in a country with an undemocratic government that is an ally with the United States?
OBAMA: Well, keep in mind, I already spoke in Turkey. They have a democracy that I'm sure some Turks would say has flaws to it, just as there are some Americans who would suggest there are flaws to American democracy.
America's enemies are responding to all this quite well. Hugo Chavez today praised "Comrade Obama," the North Koreans are testing nuclear weapons and missiles, and the Iranians just keep on working toward civilian nuclear power. All the while, the only country in the world that has gotten any rough treatment from the Obama administration, been the subject of any threats or demands, is Israel.
