NYT: Clinton, Familiar With Pitfalls of Mideast Politics, May Face Early Test in Gaza

[Poll_Blind]

Photo:Rina Castelnuovo for The New York Times

New York Times:

WASHINGTON — When Hillary Rodham Clinton ran for a New York Senate seat nine years ago, she labored to persuade skeptical Jewish voters of her support for Israel, after an incident in which she stood by as the wife of Yasir Arafat delivered an inflammatory attack on Israeli policies.

Now, having secured her standing as a friend of Israel, Mrs. Clinton must show a new audience that she can also be a mediator in her next expected role as secretary of state, when her first challenge may well be the renewed violence in Gaza. Given Mrs. Clinton’s once troubled history with Arab-Israeli issues, that could be a tricky task.

Mrs. Clinton brings several strengths, according to current and former aides and Middle East experts, including her knowledge of the region and experience in navigating it, as well as lingering good will among Arabs and Israelis won by her husband, Bill Clinton, for his efforts to broker a peace deal in the waning days of his presidency.

--snip--

“She’s going to have to demonstrate her independence from Israel,” said Aaron David Miller, a public policy analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. “Our interests are inevitably going to diverge from their interests. We cannot be an ‘amen corner’ for them.”

  It will be very interesting to see how Clinton and Obama work together (or don't) during the first year, if not six months, in regards not just to the Middle East but all foreign policy interactions.

PB

[Captain Hilts]

1. Well, first off, this administration actually gives a damn. That's a big improvement over Bush Admi

[alsame]

2. I agree. I believe both Obama and Hillary genuinely want the

killing to stop and to have peace in the region.

[SoCalDem]

3. The problem that ANY politician has is that once they "appear" to have taken sides,

they cannot achieve their stated goal of "peace"..

Finland might be an unbiased broker..but not the US..we crossed the line too many times and our weapons are killing one side of the battle, and are denied to them .

If Mom holds one kid down and lets the bigger one beat the shit out of the smaller one..and gives the big one a baseball bat to use, can she then tell them to kiss & make up..and that she loves them equally?

[Captain Hilts]

4. Yes, I think they do too. nt

[madrchsod]

5. he picked her because he knows that she will be effective

this will be their first test on the most difficult question of all..will there be peace in the land of the three great religions.

[jazzjunkysue]

6. Wasn't it Bill who almost brokered a 2 state solution a few years back?

If I've got my details right, he had arafat in his hand and offered him statehood and a nice chunk of real estate and Arafat refused.

Now, Hamas is calling the shots.

I wonder if the poor people who want to live in the area really think their leaders represent them every time they choose killing over peace.

Let's hope Hillary can get someone in Hamas to listen to reason. I'm not expecting it to happen in my lifetime.

These men won't be comfortable with a woman at the table. They'll keep asking her "Where's Bill?" You can't undo the conditioning when men have been told that woman are lower life forms all their lives.

[Captain Hilts]

7. The Israeli elections came up and Barak got ousted for participating in the process.

And they might not like a woman. They may not like a black president.

Tuff! They've got to learn to suck on it and like it.