From Israel . . . To Obama

BARRY RUBIN
Sends Advice in
A letter to the president-elect
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910076169&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[excerpt]

• In the Middle East, it is not so useful to think yourself popular and show yourself to be friendly. You have to inspire fear in your enemies and confidence in your friends. And if you don't inspire fear in your enemies - if you're too nice to them - then you will indeed foment fear among your friends.

• Not everyone thinks the same way. When you talk of "empathy," America's enemies hear the word "fear." When you speak of change, they, too, want change. Unfortunately the change they want means wiping other states off the map, creating radical Islamist dictatorships and kicking the United States out of the region.

This is no misunderstanding: it's a conflict.

***

Right now you don't understand why Bill Clinton and George Bush couldn't solve a little thing like the Arab-Israeli conflict, defuse the massive hatred of America in the Middle East, end terrorism or turn radical Islamism into an ideology of peace.

Don't worry. You will.


Read the whole thing at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910076169&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull