Oliver North: Obama's Mideast Tack 'Deadly Mistake' and More from former Mayor Ed Koch

Friday, 20 May 2011 11:55 AM

By Henry J. Reske and Kathleen Walter

President Barack Obama’s prescription for peace in the Middle East could be a deadly mistake for the United States, retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North tells Newsmax.TV.The former National Security Council member was commenting on Obama’s speech at the State Department where he laid out his vision for the Mideast after the killing of Osama bin Laden and the struggles for reform in the region that have rocked long-established regimes in countries such as Egypt and Libya.

“I think we ought to look very carefully at a very naïve, utopian idea for how the world works,” North said. “And the idea of stepping back, as Mr. Obama has done, from a leadership position when we are the world’s superpower is a deadly mistake for the United States. It offers opportunities for our adversaries and makes our allies very insecure.”

Lt. col. Olliver North

Obama devoted a major portion of his speech to Israel and pushed for the country to negotiate a peace agreement with the Palestinians. The president endorsed a key and controversial Palestinian demand that borders for a Palestinian state be based on the national boundaries that existed before the 1967 Six Day War when Israel occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is to meet with Obama at the White House Friday, quickly rejected the idea, calling the 1967 lines “indefensible.” North characterized the idea as something “Jimmy Carter could be proud of.”

“What he obviously intends to do is to try to build on whatever momentum he has in the Arab world, the Muslim world, by attacking America’s only ally in that part of the world, the only real democracy in that part of the world and that’s Israel by pressuring them on the 1967 border issue,” North said. “It’s been around since Jimmy Carter and obviously he’s returned to that same political philosophy.”

North also questioned the wisdom of putting forth such a proposal the day before Netanyahu’s visit to the United States.

“To do this on the eve of Netanyahu’s visit to the United States clearly shows this man’s ego, and I’m talking about Mr. Obama’s, and his willingness to savage, as I call it, the only ally we’ve got in that part of the world,” North said.

On other topics, North said:

• Obama considers the death of Osama bin Laden to be “the game changer” in the region but it is “anything but clear that the outcome of what’s transpired in Egypt or what’s going on today in Syria or anything’s that’s happened in Bahrain or Yemen is going to end up in with positive change for the people.”
• The president sees the war on terror coming to an end and that view will be reflected as the budget process moves forward. “I think you’re going to see dramatic cuts to America’s defense posture . . . If you abandon everything out there, pull out of Iraq in its entirety and cut down to nothing in Afghanistan over the course of the next three years, you could end up with Iranian hegemony over that entire part of the world. That’s not good for anybody and it’s certainly a threat for those allies we do have in the Persian Gulf.”
• That the situation is Iran is not yet a second U.S. missile crisis but Iran will exploit every opportunity they have, making deals with China for missile hardware and North Koreans to get nuclear weapons equipment, technology and know-how. “There no doubt we have adversaries in that region.”
• That Syria will not transform itself overnight. The regime’s goal is to maintain itself and they are doing everything they can to repress the people who want self-determination.

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Read more on Newsmax.com: Oliver North: Obama’s Mideast Tack ‘Deadly Mistake’

Koch: Israel Facing ‘Most Dangerous and Critical Period’ Ever

Friday, 20 May 2011 12:48 PM

By Martin Gould

Democratic senior statesman Ed Koch says Israel is facing its “most dangerous and critical period” and he is ready to break with his party in the next presidential election over President Obama’s policies on the Middle East.In an exclusive interview with Newsmax.TV, the former New York City mayor said, “Mitt Romney correctly summed it up when he said that President Obama has once again thrown Israel under the bus.“I believe this is the most dangerous and critical period that Israel has ever faced and regrettably it does not have the support of the President of the United States, which in past difficult situations it could count on.”

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch says President Barack Obamas Israel policy has damaged the special relationship between Israel and the United States. In an exclusive Newsmax.TV video, he says he would not hesitate to cross party lines in 2012 if a Republican candidate shared his views on entitlements and Israel.

Koch, who crossed party lines to support President George W. Bush against John Kerry in 2004 due to his foreign policy stance, said he would do it again. All it would take is the right candidate.

“I’m a Democrat. I support the Democratic domestic philosophy and policies and will always be supportive of them,” said Koch, mayor of America’s largest city from 1978-89. “But I have no hesitation in crossing party lines when I think America’s interests demand that I cross party lines.

“I supported President Obama, believing he would be good on foreign policy, particularly with respect to the support of Israel. It turned out badly.”

But 86-year-old Koch said that no “decent” Republican candidate has yet come forward – “their efforts to privatize social security and Medicare and Medicaid absolutely turn me off,” he said.

“Now if a Republican candidate were to appear who was good on Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid and support of Israel, I wouldn’t hesitate to cross party lines.”

Koch was speaking in the light of Obama’s Thursday speech on the Middle East in which the President called for a two-state solution to the Israel/Palestine gridlock with borders that were in place before 1967.

Koch said he believes the president took the position because “he thinks it’s more important that America have the support of the Arab nations as opposed to the support of what we heretofore have said was our ally in the Mideast – the only democratic state there.”

But he said he has doubts that the speech will affect the support that Jewish voters have traditionally given Democratic presidential candidates.

“Regrettably the Jewish vote has been tied to the Democratic Party since FDR. No matter who’s running for president, many Jews think it’s still FDR.
“That’s been harmful to the Jewish community supporting the State of Israel.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: Koch: Israel Facing ‘Most Dangerous and Critical Period’ Ever

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