Barack Obama’s Middle East Fiasco

The U.S. president cannot keep his promise to bring peace to the Middle East any time soon. That puts him in pretty good company.

It was one of Obama’s ambitious foreign policy goals. It was a goal that would have reconciled the U.S. with the Arab world. It appears, at least temporarily, to have failed. With that failure, Obama has lost considerable credibility since his promise to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians can’t be kept. The supposed superman in the White House has let down hopes by again simply reaching too high.

With this failure to achieve Middle East peace, Obama finds himself in good company. Bill Clinton came very close to achieving a breakthrough only to fail when he ran up against the stubbornness of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Since then, no one has managed to come any closer to success. Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, didn’t even bother trying.

Now it’s Obama’s turn, and the especially stubborn behavior of the current Israeli leadership is making it difficult for him. But Israel’s stubborn behavior has been well rewarded. Obama’s losses in the midterm elections have weakened the president’s position. He will need considerable time to recuperate as well.