US Officials: "Hamas WILL benefit from either failure or an inconclusive result..."

'Bugger off! That's MY HOUSE!'

SWOOP:

"As President Obama passes his summer vacation, he will have time to reflect on the darkening political landscape he faces. As we anticipated last week, Obama’s intervention into the controversy over the building of an Islamic center close to Ground Zero in New York provided an opening for his political opponents. The acrimonious exchange contained one serious danger for Obama: a perception of a gap between him and the political and cultural norms of “ordinary” Americans.

Unless he is able to address this issue, his own prospects will weaken further. The most recent unemployment figures demonstrate the magnitude of the task he faces. Despite substantial fiscal stimulus and new actions from the Federal Reserve, the US economy remains soft. The difficulty for the White House is that, with Congress unlikely to pass further stimulus measures and interest rates at historical lows, there is little scope for additional measures. As a Treasury official put it to us: “We have pushed the buttons available to us; we must now hope for the best.”

Whether foreign policy can provide a boost for the Administration remains doubtful. With this week’s withdrawal of conventional US combat forces from Iraq, Obama has fulfilled a campaign pledge, but US confidence in Iraq’s future stability remains low. Once again, State Department officials privately conceded that they too are “hoping for the best.” Something similar might be said for the Pakistan Relief Fund now established by the State Department. Here, concern is deepening over Islamabad’s faltering response to the floods. Finally, on the Middle East peace process, Secretary of State Clinton is emphasizing the positive news that Israeli and Palestinian leaders will meet in Washington on September 2^nd, but expectations of a breakthrough are modest. One well-informed observer has pointed out that the two sides have very different – and sometimes conflicting – understandings of the meeting’s terms of reference. There are unresolved dynamics between Fatah and Hamas, with some US officials worried that Hamas will benefit from either failure or an inconclusive result. It remains to be seen whether Obama’s preoccupation with the economy will allow him to commit sufficient time and energy to overcome the many obvious constraints to success."