Saturday Learning Series: Geography (The difference between Arab countries)

As an aside from the regular geography reviews of individual countries, this episode looks at the differences between Arabic countries.

Obama keeping enemies closer. Way closer.

Sign.

President Obama is once again planning on throwing Israel under the bus. From Turtle Bay:

The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body "does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.

But the Palestinians rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesday of Arab representatives and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution Friday, according officials familiar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospects that the Obama administration may cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council.

Still, the U.S. offer signaled a renewed willingness to seek a way out of the current impasse, even if it requires breaking with its key ally and joining others in the council in sending a strong message to Israel to stop its construction of new settlements. The Palestinian delegation, along with the council's Arab member Lebanon, have asked the council's president this evening to schedule a meeting on Friday. But it remained unclear whether the Palestinian move today is simply a negotiating tactic aimed at extracting a better deal from the United States.

Nothing I can add by way of adjectives would sufficiently describe how scummy this move is, so I'll leave it at that. Let me point out however, for those who don't get it, this goes beyond a matter of convenience in trying to appease Israel's enemies. This is not a Neville Chamberlain moment. This is nothing short of a betrayal of an ally. As a comparison, think of the U.S. condemning France during World War II to appease Germany. The only real difference is that Israelis aren't quite so weak-kneed as the French.