Obama Overture to Hamas Suggests Inevitability of Terror Group's Dominance Among Palestinians

In an apparent policy shift, President Obama on Thursday invited Hamas -- a designated terror organization -- to "play a role" in the future of the Palestinian people.

During his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo on Thursday, the U.S. president bluntly recognized the group, which has called for the destruction of Israel, in a two-sentence passage that was part of a broader discussion about the terms for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. 

"Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have to recognize they have responsibilities. To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist," Obama said.

Give me a break.  Policy shift invites Terrorist?

Is that what President Nixon did when he became the first president of U.S. to visit China in 1972, ending 20 years of frosty relations between the two countries?  President Nixon said, "There is no reason for us to be enemies," he said. "Neither of us seeks the territory of the other; neither of us seeks domination over the other; neither of us seeks to stretch out our hands and rule the world."

Didn't President George W Bush end up visiting China even after they kept our downed airplane and crew hostage for 12 days in the beginning of his term?  24 American crewmen, including three women and eight code-breakers were taken into custody by the Chinese; how was this different than what Iran did during Carter's term?  The incident was called the Bush administration's first real foreign-policy crisis.  Yet even after all that, Bush pays an official visit to China?  Imagine if Carter had gone to visit Iran?

Is that what Ronald Reagan did when he sent Donald Rumsfeld to shake hands with Saddam Hussein the brutal dictator and man that used WMD against innocent citizens.  That happened at a time when Saddam was first alleged to have used chemical weapons. The meeting in late December 1983 paved the way for an official restoration of relations between Iraq and the US, which had been severed since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Publicly describing the Soviet Union as an "evil empire", Reagan supported anti-Communist movements worldwide and spent his first term forgoing the strategy of détente by ordering a massive military buildup in an arms race with the USSR. Reagan negotiated with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, culminating in the INF Treaty and the decrease of both countries' nuclear arsenals.

It is only by showing a bit of strength and the willingness to compromise do we improve relationships with our enemies that's been proven over history.

We've tried the 'show of strength' way over the past 8 years.  All that did was get our men and women stuck in a bee hive in the Middle East in which we can never really pull out of now - unless there is peace.  President Obama's desire to 'talk' is just another option to try and create that peace. 

War didn't solve anything.

Sometimes it takes a little charm and understanding to get what you ultimately want.