Does it matter that Rahm Emanuel has a strong allegiance Israeli?

[Anonymous]

This is the kind of stuff that makes me stay up at night. The Chief of Staff . . . one of three or four closest political advisors to the POTUS . . . served with the Israeli army. There has got to be something ticking inside the guy that still gives him some kind of loyalty to another country. If Israel suddenly attacked Iran, which it probably will, I'm sure his subjective advice will be "Mr. President, let's bomb the heck out of Iran also." Don't get me wrong, I'm not a lover of Iran, but I think the President would need advice from someone other than a person who is compromised. I'm also not against Israel, and this post is not about Israel. What would people say if the guy giving the POTUS advice was from Iraq? or from Iran? In my opinion, Rham needs to recuse himself any time the word Israel is mentioned in the oval office.

[Anonymous]

I think Obama sees Isreal in a realistic way, and would be extremely cautious about any rash US involvement in the senario you bring up. At least I'm hoping that would be the case....

[jsteele]

I am not a supporter of Emanuel and I am generally a critic of US middle east policies. However, I don't have any concern about Emanuel being too close to Israel. There are a number of other policymakers, past and present, about whom I've had much greater concerns.

But, there is no argument on your second point. If Rahm were Muslim rather than Jewish and his ties were to an Arab country rather than Israel, he simply would not get his current position in the first place. Case in point, Obama was once fairly close with Palestinian-American professor Rashid Khalidi. Those ties were used against Obama during the campaign, frequently to support charges of Obama's ties to terrorism. Far from being a terrorist, Khalidi has been a leader in the peace process. Not only could Khalidi never serve in a high-level position in the Obama administration, Obama can barely admit to knowing the guy.

I don't have a problem with Rahm being able to serve, but with others not being able to.

[Anonymous]

Emanuel's ties to Israel are is clear to Obama as to us. Any advice Obama gets from Emanuel will be seen as coming from someone with a special viewpoint, and presumably evaluated in that light.

I see no reason to believe that Obama himself has any special bias toward Israel, or that he is incapable of taking Emanuel's biases into his calculations. On the other hand, Israel has suspicions about Obama (given the "Hussein" thing), and Emanuel's presence may give him a bit more clout in trying to influence Netanyahu to act reasonably.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:I am not a supporter of Emanuel and I am generally a critic of US middle east policies. However, I don't have any concern about Emanuel being too close to Israel. There are a number of other policymakers, past and present, about whom I've had much greater concerns.

But, there is no argument on your second point. If Rahm were Muslim rather than Jewish and his ties were to an Arab country rather than Israel, he simply would not get his current position in the first place. Case in point, Obama was once fairly close with Palestinian-American professor Rashid Khalidi. Those ties were used against Obama during the campaign, frequently to support charges of Obama's ties to terrorism. Far from being a terrorist, Khalidi has been a leader in the peace process. Not only could Khalidi never serve in a high-level position in the Obama administration, Obama can barely admit to knowing the guy.

I don't have a problem with Rahm being able to serve, but with others not being able to.

Presumably Obama can admit, as a person of free will, but is choosing not to. That's on him

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:I am not a supporter of Emanuel and I am generally a critic of US middle east policies. However, I don't have any concern about Emanuel being too close to Israel. There are a number of other policymakers, past and present, about whom I've had much greater concerns.

But, there is no argument on your second point. If Rahm were Muslim rather than Jewish and his ties were to an Arab country rather than Israel, he simply would not get his current position in the first place. Case in point, Obama was once fairly close with Palestinian-American professor Rashid Khalidi. Those ties were used against Obama during the campaign, frequently to support charges of Obama's ties to terrorism. Far from being a terrorist, Khalidi has been a leader in the peace process. Not only could Khalidi never serve in a high-level position in the Obama administration, Obama can barely admit to knowing the guy.

I don't have a problem with Rahm being able to serve, but with others not being able to.

Presumably Obama can admit, as a person of free will, but is choosing not to. That's on him

OR..... he's not a total idiot. Presumably.

I'm pretty sure there is no rule that a President must do every stupid thing he can to draw hoots and hollers from conservatives. Especially if it has nothing to do with running the country.

BTW what do you have against Khalidi?

[Anonymous]

My sense is that Obama is sort of using Emmanuel as a prop to satisfy the Jewish community. It is a symbolic post, no more.
But OP, I get your point. If it were someone who served in the Egyptian army, we would all be shouting foul.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot of people are forced to do what they can to satisfy whatever 'community' to get those positions and be where they are
Whether this means they will always be there for the 'community' that bullied them, I do not know

I really do not think Obama will let himself be influenced by someone elses opinions

And if he served in the Israeli army, to me this means he is playing the political game. How can someone serve in that army and come out with a rosy view of life

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
And if he served in the Israeli army, to me this means he is playing the political game. How can someone serve in that army and come out with a rosy view of life

Just to correct one misconception, Emanuel did not serve in the Israeli Army. During the Gulf War, he participated as a civilian volunteer repairing military trucks. Perhaps it's a minor distinction. However, serving in the army is normally something that last years and involves training to kill people (if not actually killing them). What Rahm did only lasted a few weeks and was probably mostly a threat to whoever had to drive vehicles that he allegedly fixed

[Anonymous]

penguinsix wrote:I'm finding this whole Rahm thing that is going on just amazing. Vicious rumors, fluff stories planted in the press. There is a real hardcore battle going on behind the scenes and occasionally in the media. The rumors mills are buzzing too on the cocktail party circuit.

Is there a battle in the WH, or are enemies of the WH engineering the appearance of a battle to embarrass the WH?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
And if he served in the Israeli army, to me this means he is playing the political game. How can someone serve in that army and come out with a rosy view of life

Just to correct one misconception, Emanuel did not serve in the Israeli Army. During the Gulf War, he participated as a civilian volunteer repairing military trucks. Perhaps it's a minor distinction. However, serving in the army is normally something that last years and involves training to kill people (if not actually killing them). What Rahm did only lasted a few weeks and was probably mostly a threat to whoever had to drive vehicles that he allegedly fixed

Well if he worked as an auto mechanic, that would explain his colorful language.