Secty Hillary Clinton?
According to the Mafia, "keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer." That advice may explain the reason why Pres.-elect Obama has selected Hillary Clinton to be his Secty. of State.
Normally, as in the VP choice, he would tend not to trust the Clintons (they come as a package), but he has to keep an eye on them, and how better than to give her a PR job, travelling the world, representing the USA, and doing what they do best, kibbitzing.
Whether or not Hillary will have an impact on foreign policy, as Condoleeza Rice did, with her comparatively low-key Pres. George W. Bush, is uncertain. But, I'm sure she/they will try. After all, Obama has no foreign policy experience, so there is a vacuum to fill. In terms of the Middle East, I suspect we will be back to the former Clinton policy, pushing the "two-state solution" for all its worth, except that things have changed. Unlike when Bill was Pres., we no longer have Arafat to push us around any more, and now Gaza is in the hands of the pro-Iranian terrorists of Hamas. So there will be a need to make appropriate adjustments. The Clintons have been regarded as pro-Israel, especially since Hillary was NY Senator, but anything can change, especially in politics, and probably will.
A harbinger of change is the meeting of the two "lame-ducks" Olmert and Bush, meeting in the White House now. The ostensible reason for the meeting is for Olmert to ensure that all the commitments that Bush gave to him regarding Israel, including the all-important letter that excludes some regions of West Bank Israeli population centers (Maale Adumim, Etzion, Ariel, etc.) that will be exempt from transfer to the PA, will be honored by the Obama Administration.
Even though Bill/Hillary will be eager to follow up on his lost opportunity after the election of Bush, nevertheless the Obama Administration in its first days will initially be focussed on the financial crisis, so we may have a breather before the US focuses on our region. Before then hopefully we will have our own elections in Feb, and we'll see where that takes us. With new Govts. in both the USA and Israel, Abbas gradually losing power in the PA areas (although still talking big), and Iran coming more to the fore, we may enter an entirely new situation.
Normally, as in the VP choice, he would tend not to trust the Clintons (they come as a package), but he has to keep an eye on them, and how better than to give her a PR job, travelling the world, representing the USA, and doing what they do best, kibbitzing.
Whether or not Hillary will have an impact on foreign policy, as Condoleeza Rice did, with her comparatively low-key Pres. George W. Bush, is uncertain. But, I'm sure she/they will try. After all, Obama has no foreign policy experience, so there is a vacuum to fill. In terms of the Middle East, I suspect we will be back to the former Clinton policy, pushing the "two-state solution" for all its worth, except that things have changed. Unlike when Bill was Pres., we no longer have Arafat to push us around any more, and now Gaza is in the hands of the pro-Iranian terrorists of Hamas. So there will be a need to make appropriate adjustments. The Clintons have been regarded as pro-Israel, especially since Hillary was NY Senator, but anything can change, especially in politics, and probably will.
A harbinger of change is the meeting of the two "lame-ducks" Olmert and Bush, meeting in the White House now. The ostensible reason for the meeting is for Olmert to ensure that all the commitments that Bush gave to him regarding Israel, including the all-important letter that excludes some regions of West Bank Israeli population centers (Maale Adumim, Etzion, Ariel, etc.) that will be exempt from transfer to the PA, will be honored by the Obama Administration.
Even though Bill/Hillary will be eager to follow up on his lost opportunity after the election of Bush, nevertheless the Obama Administration in its first days will initially be focussed on the financial crisis, so we may have a breather before the US focuses on our region. Before then hopefully we will have our own elections in Feb, and we'll see where that takes us. With new Govts. in both the USA and Israel, Abbas gradually losing power in the PA areas (although still talking big), and Iran coming more to the fore, we may enter an entirely new situation.
posted by Jack Cohen at 8:09 AM
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