Posted by
Cary Wesberry on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 7:53:13 PM
Sen. Barack Obama has harshly criticized Sen. John McCain for making an issue of an endorsement by Hamas, but the Democratic candidate said in a new interview he understands why the terrorist group supports his presidential bid.
"It's conceivable that there are those in the Arab world who say to themselves, 'This is a guy who spent some time in the Muslim world, has a middle name of Hussein and appears more worldly and has called for talks with people, and so he's not going to be engaging in the same sort of cowboy diplomacy as George Bush,'" Obama told the Atlantic magazine.
"That's a perfectly legitimate perception as long as they're not confused about my unyielding support for Israel's security," the Illinois senator said.
The controversy unfolded last month when Hamas political adviser Ahmed Yousef told WND's Aaron Klein, author of "Schmoozing with Terrorists," and WABC radio his group hopes Obama will win the presidential election and change America's foreign policy.
McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, responded, prompting sharp exchanges between the two candidates and their campaigns.
"If Sen. Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly," McCain said.
The U.S. State Department regards Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Jimmy Carter supports Obama, I don't see why it should be a surprise that Hamas does as well. On the bright side, it's nice to know we now have John McCain's permission to "make judgements accordingly" concerning Hamas' love for Obama. That's nice. I'm not quite understanding however why it is that the Obama campaign is so defensive over the Hamas endorsement. Obama feels talking with our enemies instead of killing them is the correct way to deal with the War; now he has the perfect opportunity to do so. Maybe Hamas could throw him a concert like Elton John did for Hillary.