Obama Cringes at Carter Comparison

Iran tensions dominate talks

(NEWSER) - President Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu tried to project an image of unity today as the president welcomed his Israeli counterpart to the Oval Office. Speaking to reporters before their closed-door meeting, Obama said, "The United States will always have Israel's back," echoing his AIPAC speech. Netanyahu, meanwhile, thanked the president for recognizing that "Israel has the sovereign right to make its own decisions." According to the New York Times , Israeli officials interpreted Obama's remarks to mean that the US won't block an Israeli preemptive strike . More»

Obama anger not just about skin color: Rich

(NEWSER) - Jimmy Carter and other Obama defenders playing the race card must remember that it’s just one in a deck that’s driving the I’ve-had-it-up-to-here rhetoric of Joe Wilson and Glenn Beck, Frank Rich writes in the New York Times. “There is a national conversation we must have right now—the one about what, in addition to race, is driving this anger and what can be done about it,” Rich says, for this angry minority “can’t be so easily ghettoized and dismissed.” More»

It may anger neocons, but he should keep his hands clean: Stephens

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama and his team clearly want to support the Iranian opposition, writes Philip Stephens, and Republicans such as John McCain have hammered the president for not condemning an election viewed as a sham. But for the Financial Times columnist, Obama is striking a shrewd balance between idealism and real-world politics. Obama knows, he writes, that "overt US backing for Mousavi would hand a weapon to Ahmadinejad." More»

(AP) - Barack Obama and his French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, stood together today on thwarting Iran's nuclear ambitions and furthering a Mideast peace that provides for separate Israeli and Palestinian states. "We want peace. We want dialogue. We want to help them develop. But we do not want military nuclear weapons to spread," said Sarkozy of Iran, adding that he worries about "insane statements" from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. More»

In lengthy interview, Iranian Prez gives his opinions on Obama, Iraq, Europe

(NEWSER) - The diminutive leader of Iran has a big ego and is a big talker: in a lengthy interview with Der Spiegel, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talked a lot—about his feelings for President Obama, his beef with Iraq, and other international issues—but in the end, avoided answering many of the reporter's questions. He did manage to take some shots at the US and the UN and reiterate his resistance to iran's halting work with nuclear materials. Among the high points: More»