Israel and the Middle East

The United States needs to reevaluate its support of the tyrannical and dictatorial regimes of the Middle East.  The United States supports dictatorships in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Afghanistan, Jordan, UAE, Dubai, Yemen, Morocco, and Libya.  All of this mainly in the name of oil.  One of Osama Bin Laden's main issues with the government of the United States, not the people, is that our government supports financially and militarily these dictatorships which suppress the freedom of their own people.

Israel and the Palestinians

Military aid to Israel has been utilized to murder innocent women and children in the Palestinian territories, it has been utilized to implement the apartheid policies towards the Palestinian people, and it has been utilized against its own citizens who dare to oppose the policies of the State of Israel.

I am greatly disturbed by the actions of the President and Congress to keep the flow of weapons and money into the State of Israel, while the Israeli government continues to murder innocent people. Until Israel becomes a true nation of peace, until Israel ends its apartheid policies and stops murdering innocent people, and until Israel negotiates real peace with the Palestinians, all aid should be cut off. The actions of the President and Congress speak volumes of the control of the pro-Israeli lobby in Washington.

It is in the essential interest of the United States, Israel, Palestine and the world that we have a "two-state" solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Support must be given to initiatives for mid-east peace that include the "two-state" solution.

Palestinians must renounce violence, and accept Israel’s existence. Israel must stop settlement activity, and end the humiliation of the Palestinian people that comes with their occupation. The broader Arab world must step up to a more constructive role as well. We must have a call for an end to violence and settlements.We must work publicly and aggressively work to end conflicts that have plagued the Middle East for far too long.

It is time for Israel’s government to accept the principle of a Palestinian state and to live up to its prior commitments to end settlement construction. It is time for the Palestinian people to rebuild a functioning political system and to renounce violence.

Finger-pointing and the blame game have characterized this conflict for far too long. This must stop. A resolution of the conflict that results in two states for two people will bring real peace and security to both. Only compromise and negotiation can staunch the flow of blood and tears that have plagued them for too long. This will not happen without the bold, assertive leadership.

The overwhelming majority of Americans support active diplomacy, as a friend of Israel, Robert Dobbs supports all such initiatives to bring peace to this trouble region and protect the security of Israel as well as promote human rights throughout the region.

Iran

The United States must lead the way to end sanctions against Iran and further diplomacy in order to achieve the goals of stopping Iran's nuclear weapons program.  Sanctions only further bolster the governments position against the United States with the Iranian people because they are the ones to suffer the results of the sanctions.  If we want regime change, we must support the Iranian people and utilize diplomatic pressure on the current government of Iran.

Afghanistan

We cannot impose our form of government upon a nation that is not founded upon the same principle of government.  In Afghanistan, the people believe in the use of Islamic law in society and that must be supported.  

A report by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (www.areu.org.af) showed that in Afghanistan the people have a different belief in democracy. Their belief is one that is based upon culture and founded on Islam.  The Afghani's do not belief in a strong centralized government but in groups or councils locally that resolve problems and make decisions.