America's Future Middle East Policy: Obama Edition

With violence somewhat down in Iraq and the media paying less attention to the war there, the Middle East hasn't become the prominent issue in the U.S. presidential election thus far that many people expected. Nevertheless, of course, Middle East watchers are still paying a lot of attention. It is worth looking at who is advising the candidates, considering that this year none of them has any experience in dealing with the region. (Unless you count Rudy Giuliani's move to throw Yasser Arafat, an invited dignitary for a U.N. concert, out of the Metropolitan Opera when he was New York City mayor; and Hillary's cheek-kissing with Arafat's wife in Gaza.)

The folks over at Commentary magazine (intellectual base of neo-con thinker Norman Podhoretz, who is a Giuliani advisor) have been scrutinizing Barack Obama's Middle East advisors and policies. Noah Pollak has zeroed in on Samantha Power, a human rights advocate, Harvard University professor and TIME columnist. Pollack goes so far as to suggest that if Obama was elected, Power would be advising him to repudiate Israel and appease Iran--"America's greatest ally in the Middle East," and its "greatest enemy," respectively, in Pollak's view.

Similar pieces (hat tip to Pollak) on Obama's advisors by Ed Lasky appear in the American Thinker (read them here and here). Lasky is critical of people Obama aligned himself with, such as Chicago's Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Jr., and financier George Soros, as well as Obama's actual policy advisors. He singles out Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter's National Security advisor; Brzezinski's son, Mark; and Robert Malley, one of Bill Clinton Middle East advisors. Lasky suggests that the advisors favor pressuring Israel and weakening the U.S.-Israel alliance; are sympathetic to Palestinians; and advocate appeasing anti-Israel forces such as Iran and Hamas. Lasky goes so far as to suggest that Obama himself made anti-Semitic comments (when he says he singled out Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz for the Iraq invasion "to serve the interests of Israel").

Lasky says Obama's choices suggest that a President Obama "would likely have an approach towards Israel radically at odds with those of previous Presidents (both Republican and Democrat)... For all supporters of the America-Israel relationship there is enough information beyond the glare of the klieg lights to give one pause. In contrast to his canned speeches filled with 'poetry' and uplifting aphorisms and delivered in a commanding way, behind the campaign facade lies a disquieting pattern of behavior... One seemingly consistent theme running throughout Barack Obama's career is his comfort with aligning himself with people who are anti-Israel advocates. His electoral success will send a message to all future politicians that they can willingly ignore the views of those Americans who value a close relationship with the sole democracy and our only true ally in the Middle East."

Obama can't be held accountable for all the views of every advisor. In fact, another of the people reportedly giving him advice is former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, who disagrees with many of the things the other Obama advisors argue. It does seem fair to suggest that Obama would take a different approach to the Middle East compared to Bush-- and perhaps even compared to the last Democrat in the White House as well.

-- By Scott MacLeod/Cairo