Dia 1

Bons sinais chegam do outro lado do Atlântico, no primeiro dia de Barack Obama como 44º Presidente dos EUA:

The president spent part of the afternoon in a meeting with top military commanders running the war in Iraq. In a statement released afterward, Obama said he asked them to "engage in additional planning necessary to execute a responsible military drawdown from Iraq."
[...]
During the transition, Obama steadfastly refused to offer an opinion on the Israeli conflict in Gaza, noting there was only "one president at a time." On his first day, Gaza was very much on his mind. He placed calls to the leaders of Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority to discuss Gaza and ways of making the cease-fire endure. He told them he wanted to stop weapons from being smuggled to Hamas as a step toward a permanent end to the fighting, the White House said.
[...]
Obama also used Day One to signal his commitment to a central campaign promise: Upending the way Washington does business. He announced tough new restrictions on lobbying activity while pledging to make government more transparent.
[...]
n a move cheered by human rights activists, the administration also began circulating a draft executive order on Wednesday calling for a review of all cases at Guantanamo and the closure of the detention center within a year.

(destaques meus)

Ainda sobre o conflito na Palestina

Um excelente texto do maradona, aqui.

Sorry boss, ok boss

Se isto for verdade, é bastante embaraçoso para o governo americano. Só o facto de que um governo extrangeiro se pode dar ao luxo de ditar a política externa americana é muito embaraçoso. Que o seu primeiro-ministro se sinta à vontade para o gabar numa entrevista apenas torna os factos mais graves.
O mínimo que se exigia é um esclarecimento da secretaria de Estado americana e do gabinete da Casa Branca sobre esta afirmação de Olmert, para além de um pedido de desculpas formal pela embaixada norte-americana em Israel.

Leituras Recomendadas

Jeffrey Goldberg, The World's Pornographic Interest in Jewish Moral Failure:

Okay, yesterday I was depressed. Today, I'm just pissed off. It's absolutely astonishing to me how interested the world is in Israel's failings. This is the source of a bitter but hilarious observation I once heard a Kurdish leader make: He was complaining to me that his people were cursed, and I asked him what he meant: Cursed by geography, cursed by their proximity to Kurd-hating Arabs, what? He said the Kurds were cursed because they didn't have Jewish enemies. Only with Jewish enemies would the world pay attention to their plight.

Os maus da fita

Acerca do conflito israelo-palestiniano, diz Vital Moreira, no blogue Causa Nossa:

Como a história mostra, só os Estados Unidos podem forçar Israel a trocar os territórios ocupados pela paz e pela segurança, porque só eles podem garantir uma e outra. Mas a Europa pode ajudar muito, o que aliás não tem feito.

Acho engraçado esta afirmação. Faz parecer que quem se tem constantemente recusado a aceitar qualquer acordo de paz e quem afirma, repetidamente, que o outro país não pode existir é Israel...
O conflito israelo-palestiniano é muito complicado de resolver. Mas certamente quem tem que se forçar a portar bem não é Israel...