Whenever the issue of the settlements arises I remember the statement made by Menachem Begin "Don't let the killers of Redskins moralize to us!!" Few Americans seem to connect the 9-11 attacks to be the unintended consequences of our Mideast foreign policies though there were several comments made in our media such as "We are all Israelis now!!" In other words if you accept that statement as being valid then you must realize we Americans get blamed by Muslims for our unquestioning support of Israel's policies against the Palestinians. Nothing will change even with the alleged policy changes made by Obama because Israel's lobby, AIPAC, still controls our national government whcih kow tows to this power. Steve, WW2

Obama did break new ground by mentioning the U.S. role in overthrowing the legally elected democratic government in Iran in 1953. This was done at the behest of Britain on behalf of British Petroleum which had lost its lucrative five decade monopy on Iran's major economic asset, its petrol industry. Though this is now well hidden in America's collective memory it will never be forgotten, or forgiven by the Iranian people. Also mentioning another crime against Iran is the downing of Iran's Airbus by the USS Vincennes. Though Washington claimed this was an accident the crew were awarded medals for their participation in this "accident." I believe the downing of the PanAm flight over Lockerbie, Scotland was Iran's retaliation for this. A later attack in California Iranian agents on the vehicle of the ship's, Capt. Will Rogers failed to killed him but reports our navy now refuses to disclose his present assignment. George Santayana's comment "He who does not remember the past is doomed to repeat it." Let us hope that someday our leaders will understand there is a price of unintended consequences to paid for our misguided foreign policies. Steve, WW2