Obama Middle East Policy will Fail Unless Congress Sides with US President Instead of Israeli Lobby, Louis Farrakhan

Obama Middle East Policy will Fail Unless Congress Sides with US President Instead of Israeli Lobby, Louis Farrakhan 20/07/2009 16:37:00
Despite the sincerity of his heart, the United States President Barack Obama’s ambitious Middle East Policy will fail unless the American Congress sides with the American President instead of siding with Israel, says the most influential African-American leader the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.Minister Farrakhan also warns that the strong bonds of friendship between the United States and Israel can be strained by Israeli policies that can drag America and its soldiers, sailors and marines into another war.He suggests that US President Barack Obama does not have much power and influence with the US Congress which is largely controlled by the Israeli lobby.When asked whether Obama’s deeds with regard to solving the Middle East conflict would match his words in the famous Cairo speech in 4 June, Minister Farrakhan told The Tripoli Post “when Barack Obama spoke, he spoke from the sincerity of his heart. The question for the world is, how much power and influence he has with the Congress of the United States to bring his policies to fruition.” The interview will soon be published in full.Mr. Farrakhan is sending a signal to the people of the Middle East and the Palestinians that given such political situation in Washington they should not hold high expectations for a just peace in the region, and they should always expect the worst. “I respectfully suggest to you and your wonderful readers that this is like climbing Mt. Everest,” he told The Tripoli Post.Farrakhan’s remarks come at a time when the credibility of the United States and its national interest in the Middle East and in the World at large are at stake. In such difficult times, Farrakhan sees the stand by the Congress, whether in support of the US President or the Israeli lobby in the US, will eventually make the real difference.On Sunday, Israel rejected a US demand to suspend a planned housing project in east Jerusalem, a Palestinian part of the city that was occupied by Israel in 1967 and it is prohibited by international law to introduce any physical changes in it. Israeli officials said their ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, was summoned to the State Department over the weekend and told that a project made up of 20 apartments developed by an American millionaire should not go ahead.Minister Farrakhan highlighted the close links between Washington and Tel Aviv saying that “America has tremendous leverage with Israel because Israel gets more assistance from the taxpayers’ dollars than any nation on earth. She gets approximately 6-7 billion dollars a year, which is a huge amount of money, and whatever she gets on a yearly basis, she gets it even before the government of America gets it, she gets hers of the top.”Farrakhan says instead of the US using such leverage to get its national interest served, it is Israel which is blocking the American foreign policy from achieving its objectives.He attributes such tremendous Israeli influence to the fact that “the American-Israel Public Affairs Committeehe (AIPAC) has so much leverage in the House of Representatives and the Senate and, therefore, whatever Israel wants, Israel gets, because most of the Congressmen and Senators are absolutely afraid to do anything that would upset Israel, or the Zionists for fear that they would lose their positions in the Congress.”Minister Farrakhan sounds rather worried about the very essence of America’s greatness and its independent decision which seems to be imminently threatened by the influence of the Israeli lobby in his country. “If the Congress of the United States is afraid to back the words that came out from president Obama’s mouth, if the Congress is afraid to use the tremendous leverage that they have with Israel, to force Israel to do something that may be Israel doesn’t really want to do, …then whatever [President] Barack says the Israelis will counter him with their strength in the Senate and the House of Representatives,” Farrakhan explains.“I believe that the Congress will side with Israel before they side with the president of the United States. And therefore, his [President Obama’s] words, though good and reflect his sincere desire, may never come to fruition,” he added.Mr. Farrakhan told The Tripoli Post “If America threatens to take some of that leverage and of that money and refuse to give it to Israel, and if America is as strong to sanction Israel as she is to sanction Korea or Cuba or Libya or other nations, then you might see a change in Israel’s behavior.”But he also sounded rather skeptical in the interview. He said: “to put foot to the paddle, I learned the other day that Netanyahu has ordered fourteen hundred and fifty new homes to be built in the West Bank. That was defiance of what Barack Obama stated as American Policy. The question is, what will president Obama do? How will the Democrats who now control both Houses act in backing the president and forcing Israel to take a different course…”“I’m sorry, I believe that the Congress will side with Israel before they side with the president of the United States. And therefore, his words, though good, though they reflect his sincere desire, may never come to fruition. Thus the condition of the Palestinians might improve slightly, but they may never have a state that they can be proud of and secure as long as that shock on American Congress remains as it is,” Farrakhan concluded. In the remaining of the interview which will be published soon, Minister Farrakhan spoke about the state of African-Americans and other minorities in America after the arrival of Barack Obama to the White House. He also dealt with the death of Michael Jackson and the role of black leadership from now on, and why he won’t organize another Million-man March. He said since the success of the first Million-man March, Christian leaders in America have had taken the airwaves calling him ‘anti-Christ’. He also spoke of his relationship with the Jews and of the role that black Americans can play in the development of the African continent and the African Union. Farrakhan says America has no future if it insists to stay in the state and with the mind set it is in. “She is going down like the ancient Rome,” he said.

http://tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=3379

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