Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
We understand Barack Obama's reluctance to conduct himself like a second president while he's awaiting inauguration.
"One president at a time" is his mantra.
Agreed.
But that does not mean he needs to avoid the world until Jan. 20.
And he certainly hasn't kept mute up to now. When Russia invaded Georgia this past year, candidate Obama spoke out immediately -- without regard to the need to present a united foreign policy front behind the current president.
Now, though, he has been oddly silent about Hamas' rocket assaults on Israel and Israel's air and ground response.
Why?
He may be reluctant to speak out due to his having mishandled the Georgian invasion: His first public statement on the blatant Russian aggression was to call for restraint on both sides. That was miles off the mark. To imply a moral or military equivalence to the aggressor (Russia) and the victim (Georgia) was inartful and naive, at best.
So maybe that's why he's kept his powder dry.
It may also be because he either agrees or disagrees with the Bush administration's tacit support of Israel's response.
If he agrees with President Bush, he should say so immediately.
If he disagrees -- and thinks Israel is somehow to blame for defending itself from constant rocket attacks and the terror they inspire -- then perhaps he ought to explain how that is. Perhaps we'll have to wait until he's sworn in to find out how Israel is the problem?
If Israel is not the problem in his mind, then Obama could bring some desperately needed clarity to the world stage by speaking up in defense of our lone democratic ally in the Mideast.
We eagerly await word on what he thinks.
