Leverett on Countdown: Time for Obama to Speak Out on Gaza Violence

Hillary Mann Leverett, former State Department and National Security Council official and Middle East expert, appeared on Countdown to discuss the continuing war in Gaza.

She’s been a harsh critic of the Bush Administration’s giving Israel a "green light" on Gaza and its double talk on a "cease fire," but she had some pointed comments about President-elect Obama’s refusal to say anything on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza other than repeating "we have only one President at a time." [Update: Obama expressed "concern" for casualties today, but said little else of substance. (h/t commenter kyeo)]

Yes, we only have one President, but so what? That’s always true, and it hasn’t stopped Obama and his team from issuing numerous statements about what it intends to do differently about Iraq, Afghanistan, the economy, energy, health care, taxes and everything else of public interest.

It’s also true that when you’re the leader of your party, and the next leader of the "free world," you’re expected to speak up when doing so might make a difference. And when the current Administration is not only condoning but assisting in a lopsided, barbaric act of war against a trapped and mostly defenseless population, with hundreds of innocent people being blown to bits, it’s your duty to speak out. We didn’t elect you to be silent in the face of such horrors, nor to implicitly endorse current policies.

Leverett adds that Obama’s calculated silence, whatever its value in domestic politics, is rapidly obliterating any credibility he might have had in the Muslim world . . . or, I might add, with folks like me, for what it’s worth.

I understand that speaking out might impact Obama’s popularity with some, and perhaps affect the potential success of his domestic agenda. Welcome to the Presidency, Mr. Obama.

If an incoming President doesn’t have the political courage to even acknowledge, let alone condemn, the killing of dozens of children and hundreds of other civilians in a brutal war condoned by our own government, then his Presidency is not likely to succeed in furthering international peace and justice.

You were elected to change this, Mr. Obama. [And you promised to change the mentality that leads to these horrors.] We only have one President-Elect to hope for, and it’s time for you to speak out.

Update: The President-elect’s CIA and Justice picks Monday are winning well-deserved praise (e.g., see Greenwald) for what they signal about Obama’s commitment to the rule of law and the rejection of torture. Those selections also reveal the kind of moral and political courage that is now needed in addressing the Gaza situation.

Update 2: Via Juan Cole, a roundup of reports on the humanitarian crisis. Selise (comment #3 below) points to more here.

Update 3: Via Siun, UN reports Israeli tanks kill 30 or more in UN school.