The Israel - Gaza Obama Doctrine

Since President Elect Barack Obama is not saying much at this moment about the Gaza situation, let's recall that on January 22, 2008 Senator Barack Obama sent a letter to US UN Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad expressing his strong condemnation of the rocket attacks of Hamas which he called a terrorist organization.

Let's just call this the Obama Doctrine on Terrorism.

Above is a photocopy of the letter (click to view larger) and below is the text.

Dear Ambassador Khalilzad,

I understand that today the UN Security Council met regarding the situation in Gaza, and that a resolution or statement could be forthcoming from the Council in short order.

I urge you to ensure that the Security Council issue no statement and pass no resolution on this matter that does not fully condenm the rocket assault Hamas has been conducting on civilians in southern Israel for over two years.

All of us are concerned about the impact of closed border crossings on Palestinian families. However, we have to understand why Israel is forced to do this. Gaza is governed by Hamas, which is a terrorist organization sworn to Israel's destruction, and Israeli civilians are being bombarded by rockets on an almost daily basis. That is unacceptable and Israel has the right to respond while seeking to minimize any impact on civilians.

The Security Council should clearly and unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks against Israel, and should make clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against such actions. If it cannot bring itself to make these common sense points, I urge you to ensure that it does not speak at all.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama
United States Senator