11.18.12: Not Enough Time

David Gregory summed it up accurately today at the end of the program that they needed a second hour to cover everything that is going on with General Petraeus, Libya, the fiscal cliff, the future of the GOP, and not least of all the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians that is exponentially getting worse as we write this column.

In cutting to the quick of foreign policy matters, there are few sources better that Meet The Press can tap as New York Times columnist Tom Friedman who quickly outlined that this conflict is very beneficial for Iran, of course, and Syria who is now escaping world scrutiny.  The President has said that the United States fully supports Israel's right to defend itself (and they do), but what we're about to see is a ground campaign against against the Palestinians.  It's assured because the Netanyahu government will not negotiate with Hamas especially since they are lobbing Iranian rockets into Tel Aviv.  Because of all this, analysts are saying that the peace process will be set back years and years.  If a ground campaign does in fact happen, the peace process will come in the form of a cease fire with the Palestinians calling for mercy.  The reason is that the proxy players in the region will be loath to become directly involved.  If Egypt lead by the Muslim Brotherhood becomes directly involved, they're aid from the U.S. will be immediately cut as Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) warned.  This would decimate their economy and send them into a tailspin.  The result, however, will incentivize the Muslim Brotherhood to instill a more Islamic fundamentalist approach to government.

Unlike Americans, citizens of the Middle East region have a more long range view of history and the 1967 6-Day war is not a distant memory.  Israel will exercise its strength as a message/reminder to the others in the region, putting Iran on notice.  The prospects are ugly for certain.

What's also ugly is this politicization, as Senator Feinstein (D-CA) described it, of the tragedy in Benghazi, and we agree with Tom Friedman that it is NOT a scandal but a tragedy.  Congressman Mike Rogers (R-MI) raised some very provocative questions about who knew what when, but as fmr. White House Chief of Staff for President Clinton John Podesta pointed out, there is zero evidence to support the assertion that the White House was misleading the American public about what happened in Benghazi.

Look at it this way, do we believe that Condoleezza Rice purposely mislead the American people about WMD in Iraq?  No, she was communicating the information that was given to her (VP Dick Cheney? Well, that's a different story.).  We do not believe that UN Ambassador Susan Rice purposely mislead people about what happened in Libya - no more than we believe that Condoleezza Rice was misleading.  However, we understand why the White House put Susan Rice in the position of spokesperson on the issue.  They wanted to give her the opportunity, given the pending departure of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, to be out front on a diplomatic issue.  The fact is it didn't go well and now people understandably don't feel confident in her ability to be the head diplomat for the United States.  The Obama administration is going to have to move on and nominate some one else for the post.


If there was a change in the language on how to address this tragedy as Representative Rogers stated then that has to be flushed out but our sense is that there are politicians, such as Lindsay Graham and specifically John McCain who have misdirected their ire (don't even get us started on continuing grudge that Mr. McCain still holds from 2008).  For example, Senator Graham was putting blame on the President for saying that Al Qaeda has been dismantled.  The President has never said that Al Qaeda has been eliminated, but it is a fact that they are at its weakest point since September 11, 2001.  Mr. Graham would say that we shouldn't re-litigate the past, but let's face it, the Bush Administration's strategy, tactics, and instincts were all wrong after that day.  And how do we know?  Because everything they asserted to be true came out to be incorrect.  Republican strategist Mike Murphy had it right when he said that we need to shutdown this partisan witch hunt and fix the intelligence gaps. The finger pointing needs to stop because it is impossible for the United States to adequately cover every danger zone where we have diplomats, and the suggestion from the South Carolina Senator that the President delayed information for political reasons to win reelection is appalling, especially coming from someone who is open-minded and willing to work with the other side of the political aisle.

And speaking of the other side of the political aisle, Mr. Romney's comments about the President giving 'gifts' to the electorate to obtain their votes, in our opinion, has disqualified him altogether from the political discourse.  Mr. Romney can no longer be considered a helpful part of the process.  As Mr. Graham said, the GOP is in a hole and Mr. Romney keeps digging and needs to stop. Not only does he need to stop but he needs to get out of the way altogether because he has shown that he can not be a positively constructive part of the wheel to move the country forward.


Round Table: Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID); NY Times columnist Tom Friedman; fmr. White House Chief of Staff for President Clinton, John Podesta; GOP strategist Mike Murphy; and NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell.