Israeli-Palestinian conflicts on agenda
JORDAN | Arab reporters try to pin him down on issue
AMMAN, Jordan --Standing behind a lectern planted in an ancient ruin, Barack Obama waded -- not by choice -- into the seemingly intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Tuesday.
Fresh from Iraq and Afghanistan, Obama was flanked by his travel companions, Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), under a broiling sun against a picturesque backdrop of the Amman Citadel as the wind whipped the sand.
(AP)
The photo op -- the height of Obama campaign stagecraft -- was designed to make the Democratic contender look presidential.
The soaring columns of the Roman Temple of Hercules were just a swing of a camera away.
Later in the day, when Obama met with Jordan's King Abdullah II at his residence -- after the king flew all night from Denver -- his royal majesty instructed Obama to re-enact their handshake for the photographers.
"Let's make a photo opportunity," said the king, who is 46, the same age as Obama.
As Obama held his first campaign news conference on foreign soil as a presidential contender, his top strategists, Robert Gibbs and David Axelrod, insisted that this nine-day, seven-country swing was not political.
During a briefing Tuesday morning, there were testy exchanges between disbelieving reporters and senior advisers -- the campaign would not allow their names to be used. The advisers said that a major speech planned for Thursday in Berlin -- at an outdoor park with the public invited -- barely was connected with getting Obama elected president.
Maybe when the U.S. president gives a speech it is not political, but when Obama does, in the midst of his race with Sen. John McCain, of course it is political.
When Obama finally took a question from an Arab television reporter -- he spent most of his time talking to U.S. media -- it was instructive. The reporter cut him no slack because of who he was and certainly was not starstruck. Obama argues that because of his unique background, the world will look more kindly on the United States if he is president.
On the matter of "the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land," the reporter asked bluntly, just what was Obama going to promise? This was just hours before Obama was to fly to Israel -- and at a time when his campaign is trying to solidify support with Jewish voters at home.
Obama gave a version of his "tough love" doctrine, telling the reporter that the Palestinians divided between Fatah and Hamas need to get their house in order.
An attack Tuesday in which a Palestinian driving a bulldozer mowed down people near the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, injuring at least five, did not help, Obama said.
"And so I think it's unrealistic to expect that a U.S. president alone can suddenly snap his fingers and bring about peace in this region," Obama said. "What a U.S. president can do is apply sustained energy and focus on the issues of the Israelis and the Palestinians."
Obama told another Arab reporter that no matter if he or McCain were president, Israel's security would be a priority for the U.S.
"Now, the other thing I have to make a point, though, is -- is that everybody's going to have responsibilities and obligations in this process. And it's -- sometimes I think there's a tendency for each side to focus on the faults of the other instead of looking in the mirror and seeing what can be done to improve the situation," Obama said.
POSTSCRIPT: Flying from Jordan to Israel on Tuesday night aboard Obama's campaign plane, reporters collectively balked when Obama staffers wanted to brief them a second time in one day without allowing their names to be used. The reporters refused, so there was no briefing. The upshot of sticking together: When foreign policy adviser Susan Rice briefs this morning, she will be on the record.