the pursuit of the world as it should be

Submitted by myth (Germany), May 20, 2011 at 17:43

But after decades of accepting the world as it is in the region, we have a chance to pursue the world as it should be.

the drive for a lasting peace that ends the conflict

These are two excerpts from the transcript of the speech. I find "the world as it should be" quite irritating, it should rather read "a world as it should be" for Obama is talking about his personal vision. Or does he even see his vision as inevitable, declaring it "the world as it should be " ? In any case this is an utopian mindset regardless of what the vision may be.

In the second quote, at least to my mind, Obama gets the causality wrong. A conflict ended is a necessary condition to peace. It is this way around, not the other way. Obama repeats his pattern, that is peace-ends-conflict, many times in the speech using the words "peaceful" and "transition".

The international community is tired of an endless process that never produces an outcome.

The above should make Obama think why he used the word endless .Is the word-as-it-should-be obviously in an ultimately unreachable future ? Or maybe the the "international community" is not a suitable group to succeed. Maybe there is no transitional process and a one-step defeat is the only way to go. This line, taken as a fact ,makes Obama's conclusions appear foolish.

Israelis should know that their basic security concerns will be met.

Another quote and again things are turned on their head. Obama makes it the job of the Palestinians to ensure Israel's security. The use of a passive verb construction makes this all very clear. I find this line indicates appeasement mentality, receiving one's security from the opponent. It is common sense and experience that Israel's defence forces ensure the security of Israel. That is why they exist and military elsewhere on the planet.

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