As you are likely aware, Israel has now sent ground forces into Gaza to weed out the terrorists. I will spare you a history and military strategy lecture and stick to my point: the response from the United States. More specifically: who is talking and who is not.
According to the BBC, Still-President Bush has said, in a White House statement,
Hamas has held the people of Gaza hostage ever since their illegal coup against the forces of (Palestinian) President Mahmoud Abbas
Not untrue, but it glosses over (ignores) what Israel is carelessly doing to thousands of innocent civilians. This is expected.
And, also according to the BBC, President-Elect Obama’s spokesperson has said:
The president-elect is closely monitoring global events, including the situation in Gaza.
This is all I can find from the President-Elect. There is nothing to be found on either BarackObama.com or Change.gov. The New York Times and Washington Post pieces are both devoid of Obama comment.
This begs a serious question: where is the President-Elect? Obama hasn’t exactly been invisible since Election Day. Why is he ducking this issue? For all his talk on international leadership he’s being awfully silent at a time when American leadership is as important as ever. I understand he’s not the president yet, but sheesh! No comment at all? No generic condemnation of acts of violence on either side? Not to warn Israel to keep civilians safe? It doesn’t even have to be differnet from the official White House statement. I just want to hear something.
