MIDDLE EAST/ The different attitude of Bush and Obama

The flotilla incident or, more precisely, the boarding of the Mavi Marmara by Israeli commandos that occurred off the Israeli coast on 31 May continues to be a source of much geo-political stridency on both sides. As far as the incident itself the Israeli blockade is moral, legal, and necessary for their security. It is old news that many, if not most, on the Mavi Marmara were not peace activists and that those who were actually interested in peace were duped. Without doubt or question the flotilla was organized by an organization that supports terrorism, especially the terrorism of Hamas, which, along with Hezbollah, is an Iranian proxy.

However, I have to admit I am surprised by the uncharacteristic incompetence with which the Israeli commandos conducted the boarding. It was their unpreparedness, in my view, that led to the unnecessary violence and loss of life. Israel was right to halt the ship, to board it in order to insure that it was not ferrying arms to be used against Israel.

The reason the events of 31 May 2010 continue to resonate is that they force us to consider matters that are infinitely greater than what happened on that day. So, when it comes to U.S. foreign policy, moral clarity is badly needed. Providing that is a solemn duty of any leader. Providing moral clarity requires humility, not smugness. The requisite humility is not achieved by soft-peddling the truth, but by recognizing that we do not decide for ourselves what is right and what is wrong because by doing so we recapitulate the original sin.

I think the speech given by President George W. Bush on 15 May 2008, one day after the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the State of Israel, to the Knesset, is a model of moral clarity. In his address he names the all-pervasive lie, when he says, “We must confront the moral relativism that views all forms of government as equally acceptable and thereby consigns whole societies to slavery. Above all, we must have faith in our values and ourselves and confidently pursue the expansion of liberty as the path to a peaceful future.”

In this he is not insisting that faith in God is not necessary, in the context of the speech, he is asserting that we can only really be convinced of the truth that gives rise to our values if we have faith in God and see that “[t]hese values are the self-evident right of all people, of all religions, in all of the world because they are a gift from Almighty God.” Not content to leave this grandiose statement abstract, President Bush goes on to say that “[n]o one who prays to the God of Abraham could strap a suicide vest to an innocent child, or blow up guiltless guests at a Passover Seder, or fly planes into office buildings filled with unsuspecting workers. In truth, the men who carry out these savage acts serve no higher goal than their own desire for power. They accept no God before themselves. And they reserve a special hatred for the most ardent defenders of liberty, including Americans and Israelis.”

NEXT PAGE - CLICK BELOW >>