2NC Extensions: A/t – #5 “Peace Talks Will Fail” [2/3] 265
3) The new plan for Middle East peace will succeed because all opposed countries are distracted and will not participate in negotiations.
SUN-SENTINEL, 13
[Trudy Rubin, “Trudy Rubin: Olmert's peace plan shows deal in Israel is possible,” 6/01, http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-06-10/news/fl-trcol-israel-oped0610-20130610_1_olmert-peace-plan-former-israeli-leader]
For skeptics who doubt a peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians is still possible, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert argued passionately last week that now is the moment — and his plan is the answer. Olmert's plan, which is the most far-reaching offer ever made by an Israeli leader, isn't new. It was presented to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in September 2008, when Olmert was in office. Abbas famously never rejected it, but never said "yes." Yet, at a moment when Secretary of State John Kerry is struggling to revive peace talks, Olmert's plan remains the most realistic, one that Kerry should be promoting. Olmert made a compelling case for why, despite the current Mideast chaos, Israel urgently needs a peace deal, now. The former Israeli leader provides a fascinating study in contrasts: a longtime conservative mayor of Jerusalem who came to believe the city must be shared between Israelis and Palestinians; a member of the hawkish Likud Party who became convinced as prime minister, from 2006 to 2009, that a two-state solution was essential for maintaining a democratic Jewish state. I'll get to Olmert's plan in a moment, but what's equally interesting is his case for why the need for a deal is so urgent, and the security risks so manageable. Speaking at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington last week, he rebuffed the claim that today's Middle East is too unstable for Israel to give back territory. "There never was a time in which Israel was (in) better security shape than we are now," he insisted. Neither Syria's Bashar al-Assad, nor anyone who follows him, will have the power or resources to fight with Israel for the foreseeable future, he said. Egypt's elected Muslim Brotherhood leaders, facing "the responsibilities of feeding 80 million people," can't indulge in military adventures. Hezbollah has been cowed from sending rockets into Israel since its war with Israel in 2006. As for the risk that a Palestinian state would become a base for rocket fire on Israel — as happened when Israel withdrew from Gaza — Olmert admitted terrorism would remain a danger but said "Israel can deal with it." But why did Olmert see such an urgent need for a treaty? Olmert fears that, absent a peace treaty, future Palestinian leaders may not be as moderate as Abbas. He also fears that continued occupation will lead to the international isolation of Israel. In such circumstances, Palestinians may give up on two states and demand one state with equal voting rights for Palestinians. To grant this demand would mean the end of the Jewish state. To refuse it would mean an end to Israeli democracy, with Palestinians deprived of rights.
2NC Extensions: A/t – #5 “Peace Talks Will Fail” [3/3] 266
4) Obama can bring all sides to the table and garner Middle East peace, but it will require all of his diplomatic capital.
BEN-MUIR, 13
[Alon, Senior Fellow at NYU's Center for Global Affairs; “Kerry's Last Ditch Effort,” 6/12, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alon-benmeir/kerrys-last-ditch-effort_b_3428100.html]
In his upcoming visit to Israel and Palestine, Secretary of State John Kerry will attempt a last-ditch effort to persuade Israel's Prime Minster Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority's President Abbas to resume peace negotiations. If there is, however, the slightest chance of getting the two sides to start talking it would require substantial American pressure and commitment to see the peace process through. Given the regional turmoil, especially in Syria, the question is will the U.S. be prepared to invest that much time and political capital on an uncertain venture when it must now focus on the far more urgent conflict that has the potential to spark regional conflagration.
2NC Extensions: A/t – #6 “Foreign Aid is Declining” 267
1) This argument has a long timeframe. Even if foreign aid is eventually cut to the Middle East, this will occur after Obama’s negotiations for the peace process have concluded. There is no impact to a future negotiation failing because our internal link evidence is specific to these talks.
2) This proves the uniqueness for our disadvantage: Obama is able to focus on the Middle East because there are no other foreign policy issues distracting his team. The plan undermines that focus by forcing Obama to dedicate diplomatic capital to Latin America.
2) Recent appointments prove Obama is pressing forward with a more aggressive foreign policy.
LOS ANGELES TIMES, 13
[Doyle McManus, “McManus: Obama's foreign policy reset,” 6/09, http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/09/opinion/la-oe-mcmanus-column-obama-foreign-policy-20130609]
The appointment of Susan Rice as national security advisor sends an important signal about the kind of foreign policy President Obama wants to pursue for the remainder of his second term: activist, assertive, occasionally even pugnacious. With three years to shape a legacy in world affairs, Obama wants to play offense, not defense.
2NC Extensions: A/t – #7 “No Trade-off” 268
1) This evidence does not apply to our Link because it says that Obama can push for additional issues when dealing with a single country, not that he can push for multiple issues involving multiple countries. In addition to foreign policy focus, our Link is about staff and resource trade-offs, which do not occur when only a single country is involved. Secretary of State Kerry can talk to Russia about security and rights, but he cannot nearly as easily talk to Russia about security AND Mexico about rights.
2) Funding is finite and cannot be created. The plan will have to trade-off with decreases in other programs.
NEW YORK TIMES, 11
[Stephen Lee Myers, staff writer; “Foreign Aid Set to Take a Hit in U.S. Budget Crisis,” 10/03, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/us/politics/foreign-aid-set-to-take-hit-in-united-states-budget-crisis.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&]
America’s budget crisis at home is forcing the first significant cuts in overseas aid in nearly two decades, a retrenchment that officials and advocates say reflects the country’s diminishing ability to influence the world. As lawmakers scramble to trim the swelling national debt, both the Republican-controlled House and the Democrat-controlled Senate have proposed slashing financing for the State Department and its related aid agencies at a time of desperate humanitarian crises and uncertain political developments. The proposals have raised the specter of deep cuts in food and medicine for Africa, in relief for disaster-affected places like Pakistan and Japan, in political and economic assistance for the new democracies of the Middle East, and even for the Peace Corps. The financial crunch threatens to undermine a foreign policy described as “smart power” by President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, one that emphasizes diplomacy and development as a complement to American military power. It also would begin to reverse the increase in foreign aid that President George W. Bush supported after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, as part of an effort to combat the roots of extremism and anti-American sentiment, especially in the most troubled countries. Given the relatively small foreign aid budget — it accounts for 1 percent of federal spending over all — the effect of the cuts could be disproportional.
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