In an exclusive interview with TIME’s Fareed Zakaria, President Obama opens up on Iran, Afghanistan, China and the challenges the U.S. faces in navigating a rapidly changing world. A full transcript of their conversation follows
Mideast
Obama on Assad
I’m sorry, but I just don’t get this. I thought it was a bad idea when Obama said that Qaddafi “must go.” (You may have noticed: Qaddafi hasn’t.) And I don’t suspect that the Assads–Syria’s version of the Corleones–are going anywhere soon. To “call” for Assad to go enables Obama’s opponents to say, “Why didn’t he do that a long time …
Some Sanity From Israel
Given the lingering hangover effects of Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrogant visit upon his American supporters–bitterness (toward Obama), smugness, delusion–the recent testimony of just-retired Mossad Chief Meir Dagan has provided a needed corrective. Like most recent Mossad chiefs, Dagan is a realist. He sees the big, long-term picture. And …
Koch and Israel
Greg Sargent has an interesting post about Jewish Democratic money sticking with Obama, despite the concerted efforts of Bibi Netanyahu and the Republican party to distort his position on the Israel-Palestine peace negotiations. Obama is not in favor of a simple return to the 1967 borders; he is in favor of new, defensible–an important …
Borderline Personalities
There are continuing ruffles and trifles about whether President Obama said anything at all different about the borders of a Palestinian state. Much of it is either meta-talmudic picky (Glenn Kessler in the Washington Post) or poisonously disingenuous (the ever-bilious Charles Krauthammer). Kessler’s gripe is that Obama is the first …
Mitchell Steps Down, Peace Process in Tatters
President Obama’s Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, is stepping down.
His departure comes at an awkward moment. The peace process in free fall.
Hamas and Fatah: The Wedding That Mattered
The most important marriage of the week was in Palestine, not London. True, the odds of a lasting relationship between the internationally recognized leaders of the Palestinians, Fatah, and the internationally designated terrorist group, Hamas, aren’t great—it’s not clear whether the union will actually be consummated. But even a …
Hamas and Fatah Together Again
The news that the two main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, appear to have reconciled may be a very big deal. Or perhaps not. Hamas and Fatah have been at each other’s throats since the 2006 elections. Blood has been shed on both sides. And a full reconciliation won’t really have taken place until there are new elections–and no …
Obama’s Syria Bind
Since Joe is lamenting the latest, terrible violence in Syria, I thought I’d update readers on what the White House is saying about any potential American action to support protesters in that corner of the revolting Arab world. …
Corleone Country
A few years ago, when I was about to interview Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, I asked a US intelligence expert what he most wanted to know about Syria’s President. “We’d most like to know if he’s Michael or Fredo,” he said, referring to the Alpha and Omega brothers of the Corleone crime family. I came away from my interview with Assad …
Burton vs. Rice on Israel
At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee today Indiana Republican Dan Burton got steamed at UN Amb. Susan Rice for language in her Feb. 19 statement accompanying a US veto of a resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity. Burton called Rice’s statement a “slap in the face” of Israel. After vetoing the resolution Rice …
Latest Column
Cairo two months after Mubarak.
Now, back home and the bizarre doings in Washington.
Watch Out for Yemen
The New York Times is reporting this morning that the chaos in Yemen has forced the Yemeni military to stand down in its counterterrorism efforts against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula–and that AQAP has stepped up its planning for another major attack. Two of the most recent Al Qaeda efforts–Undiebomber and the explosive-packed …