Obama team launches regime change project on pages of Haaretz

HT:IMRA.Obama team launches regime change project on pages of Haaretz? U.S. furious at Barak for exaggerating his role in peace process.The U.S. administration is furious with Defense Minister Ehud Barak over the stalled peace talks, sources have told Haaretz. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama's senior advisers say that for more than a year and a half Barak misled them about his persuasive powers with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding the peace process.The Americans will continue working with Barak on security issues, but he will no longer receive special treatment.A senior Israeli official, who requested anonymity, told Haaretz about his recent hour-long meeting with a senior U.S. official who detailed the reasons Clinton and the White House are so disappointed with Barak.The accusations were confirmed over the past few days by four other sources close to the situation, all of whom requested anonymity.The Israeli official said his U.S. interlocutor stressed that the infuriation with Barak reached as high as Obama and Clinton.This came after Barak reached an understanding with Washington over extending the settlement construction freeze by three months in exchange for a written pledge of diplomatic and military guarantees in September.Barak promised that Netanyahu would approve the deal, but did not deliver the goods."We put all our money on him a year and a half ago," the Israeli official quoted his U.S. colleague as saying. "The entire administration bet on Barak because he said he could nudge Netanyahu toward an agreement with the Palestinians, but he deceived us and led us down the garden path."According to the U.S. official, as soon as Netanyahu formed his government, the White House decided to open all its doors to Barak, and Obama took the unusual step of meeting with him there."He charmed us with his intelligent analyses; the president listened to Barak like a student with his teacher and trusted him, but he didn't meet any of his promises over the peace process and the building freeze," the official told the Israeli.The latter said he left the meeting "in shock .... I almost burst into tears." Barak's last visit to Washington, two weeks ago, was depicted as the watershed in Barak-Washington ties. The brevity of Clinton's meeting with him at the Saban Forum last month - 15 minutes - was intended to signal Barak's loss in status.The U.S. official said Barak's disappointing behavior evoked a sense of deja vu in Washington, especially at the State Department, recalling his failures as prime minister in the peace talks at Shepherdstown and Camp David.Barak's office said in a statement on Saturday that he maintains continuous ties at the top of the U.S. administration, detailing Barak's meetings with Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Robert Gates."We lost our hope in this coalition," the U.S. official told the Israeli. "We simply have no more expectations."Hmmmm......On the other hand a lot of Americans have lost faith in this administration.Read the full story here.