Obama: Israel Has Every Right to Defend Itself

But warns that escalating the offensive on the ground could undermine any peace process

President Barack Obama said Sunday that Israel has "every right" to defend itself against missile attacks by militants inside Gaza but warned that escalating the offensive with Israeli ground troops could undermine any hope of a peace process with the Palestinians.

"Let's understand what the precipitating event here that's causing the current crisis and that was an ever-escalating number of missiles that were landing not just in Israeli territory but in areas that are populated, and there's no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders," Obama said at press conference in Thailand at the start of a three-nation tour in Asia.

Comments

[JimDee]

Obama is either a liar or he's quote stupid.

[UnionBuiltOhioRoads]

"Peace process"??? Tell that to the Hamas goat-phuckers.

[JimDee]

As long as we're engaging in identity smears, the matzoh-munchers are no better.

[wareagle]

they are far better on key front - when hostilities erupt there, the Israelis are the ones retaliating. Otherwise no, no difference at all; two peaceful cultures that just want to live in harmony.

[Lyle]

Ah, they are way better. You need to get your moral compass checked.

[trig]

"..there's no country on Earth that would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders."

Ironic much?

[?J?? de ?guila]

Sounds like something George W Bush would spew out, doesn't it?

[CBear]

No kidding! What a mess. If you're going to be Machiavellian, be Machiavellian, don't march around talking in conciliatory tones about imperialist sins. But here's the thing O is screwed and so is the U.S.A. if a real war erupts in the region, because we simply cannot sustain a shock in oil prices, on top of tax increases, on top of Obamacare and the jobs it's costing, on top of our rush towards a bond market completely bought up by the Fed. He'll do the back-Israel posture for now, but he may let Iran get the bomb - and then all the Jews will die. But if you believe Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, Al Qaeda , now Egypt, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon...Israel is just the beginning; the great Satan is next.

Passed the tipping point on this one too.

[Sanjuro Tsubaki]

...and the band plays on. The "peace process" is bullshit, and everyone knows it. There will be no peace until Israel and the arabs get sick of throwing rocks at each other or one side collapses. Many may think that time is not on Israel's side, but that depends on whether the rest of the middle east has anything that unites them aside from their hatred of Israel and crumbling authoritarian regimes.