Why won’t Obama say anything about Gaza? It seems that foreign commentators have been left cold by the president-elect’s explanation that, ‘There is only one president at a time.’
Today we present a rare addition to the growing body of foreign reaction to Obama’s near silence on the subject. This article, an editorial from France’s Le Figaro, provides some understanding and support for the delicate position that President-elect Obama finds himself in.
For Le Figaro, Pierre Rousselin writes in part:
In just ten days, there will still only be one president of the United States, but it will no longer be George W. Bush. In constraining himself with an almost absolute silence on the war in Gaza and the unfolding tragedy there, Barack Obama is sending a very clear and simple message. … He refuses to allow events to impose themselves on him and insists on preserving maximum flexibility, which he will need from January 20th on.
EDITORIAL By Pierre Rousselin
Translated By Sandrine Ageorges
January 9, 2009
France – Le Figaro – Original Article (French)
In just ten days, there will still only be one president of the United States, but it will no longer be George W. Bush.
In constraining himself with an almost absolute silence on the war in Gaza and the unfolding tragedy there, Barack Obama is sending a very clear and simple message.
From January 20th, Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian authority, Arab countries and the all partners of the United States will have a new interlocutor at the White House – and he is not unknown. The American political system is designed so that, after a campaign that lasted twenty-two months, everyone has a pretty good idea of who Barack Obama is. The ideas that people hold of the man cannot be separated from calculations regarding his fast-approaching inauguration.
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