Obama On Mideast: "Moment Is Now" To Act
President Obama called Friday for a redoubling of efforts toward separate Israeli and Palestinian states, saying "the moment is now for us to act on what we all know to be the truth."
After meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the U.S. president said: "the United States can't force peace upon the parties. But what we've tried to do is clear away some of the misunderstandings."
At a joint news conference with his German counterpart, Mr. Obama said: "The United States can't force peace upon the parties." But he said America has "at least created the space, the atmosphere, in which talks can restart." (Read the full transcript of their remarks.)
Mr. Obama announced that he was sending special envoy George J. Mitchell back to the region next week to follow up on his own speech in Cairo a day earlier, in which he sought to begin mending the United State's deeply flawed image in the Muslim world.
He called in his speech for both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to give ground in the longtime standoff toward the elusive goal of peace in the Middle East.
The president said while the entire international community is going to have to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace, "ultimately the parties involved have to make the decision that the prosperity and security of their people are best served" by an accord. He stressed that the effort would take time, but added: "I'm confident that if we stick with it, having started early this year, we are going to make some progress on it."
Merkel, for her part, promised to cooperate in her own right on this long-sought goal.
After urging Israel and the Palestinians to find a way to compromise, the president made a point Friday to highlight the example of post-war Europe, reported CBS News correspondent Richard Roth.
"You now have a unified Europe and a Germany that is a very close ally of Israel," Mr. Obama said Friday, hoping the imagery would prompt the parties in the Mideast to envision a future without the horrors of warfare.
On other matters, Mr. Obama said he's seen "some progress" in bringing stability to the world in the wake of the deep recession that has crisscrossed the continents in recent months, and said he and Merkel agreed that they must continue to "work very closely together" to restore their economies and those of other nations as well. He also said he didn't seek any commitments from Germany as the United States seeks to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and determines what to do with the terrorism suspects there.
The two leaders spoke after meeting privately at a castle in Dresden, a city crushed by allied bombing in World War II when it was in East Germany. He later toured the Buchenwald concentration camp, where an estimated 56,000 people perished. Most were Jews - worked to death, shot or hanged by Nazi guards.
"More than half a century later, our grief and our outrage over what happened have not diminished," said Mr. Obama. "I will not forget what I've seen here today." (Click here to read Mark Knoller's account of the visit.)
His symbolic tour of Buchenwald follows a scathing indictment in his Cairo speech of those who question the Holocaust. Mr. Obama said that to do so "is baseless, it is ignorant, and it is hateful."
"Threatening Israel with destruction or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews is deeply wrong and only serves to evoke in the minds of the Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve," Mr. Obama added. It was a pointed message to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has expressed doubts that 6 million Jews died at the hands of the Nazis and who has urged that Israel be wiped from the map.
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. After meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the U.S. president said: "the United States can't force peace upon the parties. But what we've tried to do is clear away some of the misunderstandings."
At a joint news conference with his German counterpart, Mr. Obama said: "The United States can't force peace upon the parties." But he said America has "at least created the space, the atmosphere, in which talks can restart." (Read the full transcript of their remarks.)
Mr. Obama announced that he was sending special envoy George J. Mitchell back to the region next week to follow up on his own speech in Cairo a day earlier, in which he sought to begin mending the United State's deeply flawed image in the Muslim world.
He called in his speech for both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to give ground in the longtime standoff toward the elusive goal of peace in the Middle East.
The president said while the entire international community is going to have to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve peace, "ultimately the parties involved have to make the decision that the prosperity and security of their people are best served" by an accord. He stressed that the effort would take time, but added: "I'm confident that if we stick with it, having started early this year, we are going to make some progress on it."
Merkel, for her part, promised to cooperate in her own right on this long-sought goal.
After urging Israel and the Palestinians to find a way to compromise, the president made a point Friday to highlight the example of post-war Europe, reported CBS News correspondent Richard Roth.
"You now have a unified Europe and a Germany that is a very close ally of Israel," Mr. Obama said Friday, hoping the imagery would prompt the parties in the Mideast to envision a future without the horrors of warfare.
On other matters, Mr. Obama said he's seen "some progress" in bringing stability to the world in the wake of the deep recession that has crisscrossed the continents in recent months, and said he and Merkel agreed that they must continue to "work very closely together" to restore their economies and those of other nations as well. He also said he didn't seek any commitments from Germany as the United States seeks to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and determines what to do with the terrorism suspects there.
The two leaders spoke after meeting privately at a castle in Dresden, a city crushed by allied bombing in World War II when it was in East Germany. He later toured the Buchenwald concentration camp, where an estimated 56,000 people perished. Most were Jews - worked to death, shot or hanged by Nazi guards.
"More than half a century later, our grief and our outrage over what happened have not diminished," said Mr. Obama. "I will not forget what I've seen here today." (Click here to read Mark Knoller's account of the visit.)
His symbolic tour of Buchenwald follows a scathing indictment in his Cairo speech of those who question the Holocaust. Mr. Obama said that to do so "is baseless, it is ignorant, and it is hateful."
"Threatening Israel with destruction or repeating vile stereotypes about Jews is deeply wrong and only serves to evoke in the minds of the Israelis this most painful of memories while preventing the peace that the people of this region deserve," Mr. Obama added. It was a pointed message to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has expressed doubts that 6 million Jews died at the hands of the Nazis and who has urged that Israel be wiped from the map.
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June 5 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Richard Lugar praised President Barack Obama?s Cairo address to the Muslim world as a ?signal achievement? and dismissed Republican criticism that the speech was too apologetic.
The speech was important and necessary, said Lugar, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noting a ?lack of sympathy for our country? in many Muslim nations.
?We probably as Americans need to give a lot of speeches in the Arab world,? the Indiana senator said in an interview on Bloomberg Television?s ?Political Capital with Al Hunt,? airing this weekend. Obama?s language on Iran was tough enough and was meant to reassure Arab countries, which also are concerned about Iran?s quest to acquire nuclear weapons, Lugar said.
bloomberg.com
We are only just beginning to understand the immensity of time and space, and all we have to work with is our tiny little brain which has only a small portion of it working..
Bukhari:V4B53N412 ?Allah?s Apostle said on the day of the conquest of Mecca, ?There is no migration now, only Jihad, holy battle. And when you are called for Jihad, you should come out at once.??
Bukhari:V4B52N311 ?Allah?s Apostle said, ?There is no migration after the Conquest of Mecca, but only Jihad. When you are called by the Muslim ruler for Jihad fighting, you should go forth immediately, responding to the call.??
Qur?an 47:4 ?So, when you clash with the unbelieving Infidels in battle (fighting Jihad in Allah?s Cause), smite their necks until you overpower them, killing and wounding many of them. At length, when you have thoroughly subdued them, bind them firmly, making (them) captives. Thereafter either generosity or ransom (them based upon what benefits Islam) until the war lays down its burdens. Thus are you commanded by Allah to continue carrying out Jihad against the unbelieving infidels until they submit to Islam.?
Qur?an 9:122 ?It is not proper for the Believers to all go forth together to fight Jihad. A troop from every expedition should remain behind when others go to war.?
Noble Qur?an 2:190 Footnote: ?Jihad is holy fighting in Allah?s Cause with full force of numbers and weaponry. It is given the utmost importance in Islam and is one of its pillars. By Jihad Islam is established,
Bukhari:V4B52N54 ?The Prophet said, ?Were it not for the believers who do not want to be without me, I would always go forth in army-units setting out for Jihad.??
and many more..
Posted by stuart2000
That's because we've never had a president as loyal to Islam as Obama is. He's spent more time devouting his time and efforts and loyalty to Islam in his first 5 months as president. No suprises, considering his life story and the "church" he went to for 20 years that hates Israel and gave Louis Farakan a lifetime achievement award.
Obama the hidden muslim fools no one except the gullible.
Posted by king-diamond
You could only wish.
Posted by IThoughtItWasFunnyAgain at 3:14 PM : Jun 5, 2009
Boy, are you gullible. You read this is some crackpot far-right website and you actually believed it ??? LOL
Middle-Eastern obsession with Jihad is reflective of their long memory of the Crusades which was organized and performed by Catholics, not Christians ... This is pay-back time to descendants' victims ... Unfortunately for US and for them Arabs don't differentiate between the two and, neither do most of US. Let me clarify the difference with one idea ... Christ never taught murder as a means of conversion. Therefore, Catholics were never real Christians ... The Arab world must learn this differentiation and, well must we.