Executive Order on Torture

President Obama went to the State Department in the afternoon. Att the State Department Secretary of State Hilary Clinton announced two special envoys: George Mitchell, Envoy to the Middle East and Richard Holbrooke, Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

When Clinton announced the appointment of Mitchell, she stated the United States was committed to the two state solution. Mitchell himself stated he believes, after solving the problem of Ireland, there is not a problem that cannot be solved. He did after all solve an 800 year conflict. If only Israel's problems were as simple as those of Ireland.

Obama then spoke. He started out stating that United States is a friend of Israel and will always stand beside her. He went on to state that no country could allow itself to be subject to the thousands of missiles like those fired at Israel, and that Israel had every right to self defense. He then went on to say he was pained by the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the residents of southern Israel. He stated that people should not have to live without hope. Obama further stated the border crossings should be opened, but with done so under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority. He offered America's help in coordinating a donor conference to raise money to help Gaza rebuild, but only if it was done through the Palestinian Authority. Finally, he said there were helpful elements of the Arab peace plan and now is the time for them [the moderate Arab countries] to help it along, by working against extremism and improving relations with Israel.