From NBC's Ali Weinberg
A battle between Israelis and pro-Palestinian activists aboard a flotilla of humanitarian aid ships headed to Gaza that left at least nine dead is used by both the liberal and conservative blogosphere to make their respective political points regarding foreign policy.
And just as the oil seeping from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico shows no sign of subsiding, neither does criticism of the way the oil spill is being handled, both by BP and the Obama administration.
“If there's a better example of how not to address a flotilla of charity ships, I doubt it,” AMERICAblog’s Chris in Paris wrote. “As an avid supporter of Israel, this event is extremely upsetting. The state of Israel is going down a very dangerous path which will not do anyone, any good.”
ThinkProgress’ Ben Armbruster wrote, “In a damage control effort, Israeli officials and their right-wing American supporters are now trying to deflect blame onto the activists, saying that there was no reason for them to be trying to breach the blockade to deliver supplies because there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
Countering the Israeli defense, Armbruster cited a U.N. fact-finding mission describing the Israeli blockade of Gaza as “collective punishment.” More: “A U.N. official said last week that the formal economy in Gaza has ‘collapsed,’ and 60 percent of households there were short on food. The Guardian notes that according to UN statistics, ‘around 70% of Gazans live on less than $1 a day, 75% rely on food aid and 60% have no daily access to water.’”
On the question of whether the Israeli army’s response to the flotilla’s attempt to enter the blockaded Gaza Strip was proportional, the conservative blogger Michael Rubin wrote at NRO: “When attacked, why should not a stronger nation or its representatives try to both protects its own personnel at all costs and, in the wider scheme of things, defeat its adversaries?” He continues: “Ultimately, it may be time to recognize that, in the face of growing threats to Western liberalism, strength and disproportionality matter more to security and the protection of democracy than the approval of the chattering class of Europe or the U.N. secretary general, a man whose conciliatory policies as foreign minister of South Korea proved to be a strategic disaster.”
Responding today about reports of additional plumes of oil beneath the surface of the sea, AMERICAblog’s Chris in Paris condemned both the oil company and the White House: “This brings us back to the same old problem of Obama failing to take charge of this. Let BP use their expert engineering (however pathetic it may be or sound) to do the deep water drilling to add the relief wells but beyond that, shut them down now.”
More: “BP should not be involved in the process of cleanup other than paying the bill. They shouldn't be telling scientists about the environment when the only thing BP knows is how to kill the environment. They shouldn't be confiscating tainted clothing that could be used in legal action against BP. How thick is this team at the White House that they can't get this into their heads? For an arrogant bunch, they sure look like 98 pound weaklings who get sand kicked in their face five times a day for weeks on end.”
Balloon Juice’s John Cole shrugged his cyber-shoulders at BP’s latest attempt to plug the hole, the Lower Marine Riser Package: “I’m not going to even bother crossing my fingers,” he writes.
And Daily Kos wrote that BP’s nickname for the attempt, “cut and cap,” is a misnomer: “The only problem with BP's ‘cut and cap’ operation is that it won't cap anything,” wrote Jed Lewinson. “At best, it will allow BP to salvage some of the oil (hopefully a substantial amount), but it won't stop the leak, and it won't keep oil from escaping. And whenever there's a serious storm, the drill site will need to be abandoned, and the oil will flow without restriction, just as has been for the past six weeks, except the flow rate will be around 20% greater because the salvage operation requires BP to make a clean cut on its riser piping, giving BP's containment dome easier access to the leaking oil at the expense of increasing the flowrate. Let's hope we don't have to endure the worst case scenario, an unabated flow of oil and gas through August.”
HotAir’s Ed Morrissey contrasts the White House’s assurance that BP operates at its with recent announcements from Obama which Morrissey sees as attempts to distance the administration from the oil company’s operations: “Unfortunately for the White House, Barack Obama has yoked himself to BP by insisting that the federal government has been in charge since Day 1 and continues to dictate all of BP’s actions in response to the spill. Obama deliberately took ownership of the response in Thursday’s press conference. It’s a little late now to start putting distance between BP and the federal government, especially in the present tense, when everyone now expects the federal government to run the show.”
Red State’s Vladimir focused on the economic toll foreseen as a result of Obama’s offshore drilling moratorium, announced last week. He quoted from a Times-Picayune article today which reported, “Within a very short time, [LA Economic Development Secretary Stephen] Moret believes the state will lose 3,000 to 6,000 direct and indirect jobs. If the suspensions are maintained, it could rise to 10,000 jobs. And if the moratorium persists while oil prices rise, the state could lose 20,000 jobs over the next 12 to 18 months in the form of lost direct and indirect jobs.”
Vladimir calls the Times-Pic story “one of the bigger ‘duh!’ headlines of the year,” adding, “maybe this is payback, Chicago-style.”
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We really need to stop giving the Israelis a free pass for everything. They are completely taking advantage of it.
The world seems to be going to hell in a hand basket. Volcano in iceland stopping air travel, sink holes in Guatamala, catastrophic oil spill in the gulf, economy crashing in Greece, Euro dying in Europe, North Korea blowing up a South Koren ship, Israel stopping humanatarian aide ships to Gaza resulting in death of passengers, Turkey and Iran starting to chum around, Thailand in a near civil war, Al & Tipper Gore separating, creation of a tea bagger party in the U.S., Rush Limbaugh running the Republican partry, Liz Cheney being given any attention at all, some guy named Rand Paul who is against civil rights wins Kentucky primary, FR changing their blog site confusing everyone, etc. etc. I swear these predictions regarding the end of the world in 2012 are looking more and more legit.
You forgot hurricane season started. My grandma used to say that nothing was so bad that it couldn't get worse; I think she was on to something.
Chuck Todd >>>
No reputable reporter or journalist would ever make a statement like you did.
That was absolutely out of bounds.
Leave that to the commentators and pundits. Apologize or resign and step down to their level.
Hey to my ace Clara I see you. This registration Newsvine thingy looks like it"s going to be interesting. I've been kind of busy playing with this new format and what you can and can't do with it today but when I get a chance I'll fill that thing out a little bit for you'll. Looks like I'm going to have to expand my horizon's some whether I'm technologically challanged or not. You know what? That's a good thing. Keeps me off the streets and out of low dives and other bad things that I might get into.
-blinks-
Lolwut?
60% of the people don't have constant access to drinking water. You know. Like if you don't drink, in three days you die. But then again, the people who found that out were from the U.N., so they are apparently... um... evil or something.
-blinks again-
Ah. So now we have abandoned any sort of pretense toward the, "U.S./Israel have the moral high ground" line of reasoning and instead have plunged straight into the, "Well, screw it, we're bigger and stronger and that's just the way it is" side of the debate.
Which is, you know, the eminently logical reasoning of bullies everywhere.
Gotta wonder how these folks can write such comments and not be struck by lightening.
I'm surprised some right winger hasn't claimed it is President Obama's fault that Israel attacked the Turkish aid ship; they blame him for everything else including that he blew up BP's oil well.
I sympathize with Israel at time but find this incident disgusting and unnecessary. What are they protecting, their country or their blockade? They have now antagonized Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country which has been an Israeli ally. The Turkish Government had inspected and certified that the ship contained humanitarian aid only, no weapons. This incident makes Israel appear to be the bully, the aggressor and the rest of the world is watching.
They did it on purpose. They don't like Obama so this makes him look bad/worse. They want a repub' back in the WH and this is a way that they help make that happen. Pub's give them more goodies and support their slaps to the Palestinians.
That won't work in "Neo-Con Land". We must unconditionally support Israel as the only true democracy in the Middle East.
Democracy is "The Silver Bullet"...W said so!
Time for President Obama to read Isreal and Bozo Natenyahoo the riot act regarding the Gaza Concentration Camp. Isreal's latest pirate attack upon 6 peaceful ships bringing in much needed humanitarian aid to Gaza is despicable in the extreme. All Isreal is good at is getting the USA in trouble with their tyrannical oppression of the Palestinian people. Isreal is a true member of the Axis of Evil, alongside North Korea, Iran, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). Isreal isn't our friend and ally, it's nothing but a parasite that makes enemies for us. Time to cut off all aid to Isreal until such time as they get serious about making peace with the Palestinians!
Force Isreal to the Peace Table!
I know this is off topic, but...
WOW... a new format!! I kinda like it. Now I can respond directly to a post without having to lay a foundation.
I have been away for a few days, and I second CA's post. What in the SAM HILL is going on in the world? I will have to study this situation in Isreal, but with BeBe Netanyahu around, you NEVER KNOW what Isreal will do.
FR, nice job on the website. It takes some getting used to, but I am willing to give it a try.
Time for the United States to be evenhanded regarding the middle east. We have to stop blindly supporting Isreal and ignoring the Palestinians, they ARE people too...
I think that I would be concerned about the fact that that was a Turkish Aid ship.....Since Iran and Turkey have in cahoots with each other lately.. I think that Israel could have handled that much differently. Look to the future of possible hostilities between Iran, Turkey and Israel.
My heart and thoughts to the people of Gaza. No one should be treated that way.
ooooo I like this format much better.
We need to understand that Israel has offered people ways to get supplies into the Gaza Strip. Hamas, a terrorist organization that has promised to destroy a soverign state, is in control there. They have allowed the random firing of unguided missles into CIVILIAN areas that have caused death and destruction. If Israel can't control what goes in, then they have given up their security. There was only one ship where there was any violence. Could you imagine if these ships were delievering something to Jews in a majority Arab state? Would there be any outcry? I don't think so at all.
To those that support the terrorists running Gaza, I have question for you. When the Israelis left the Gaza Strip and left all of their greenhouses intact, what was done with them? The Arabs there destroyed them rather than use them. You really have to wonder what they were thinking or if they were thinking at all.