Echoing past media defenses of Jimmy Carter, Good Morning America's Martha Raddatz on Monday indicated that there are simply too many international flare-ups for John Kerry and the Obama administration to effectively focus on just one. Referring to the ongoing violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Raddatz lamented, "But diplomats really only so much bandwidth when they're dealing with things. They have to prioritize." [See video below. MP3 audio here.]
The journalist sympathized, adding that such prioritization is "very, very difficult right now with what's going on in the world." Explaining why it's so hard for the administration to handle these problems, Raddatz reminded, "But there really are so many crises that he's dealing with right now. You've got Afghanistan. You've got Iraq."
A few seconds later, talking to co-host George Stephanopoulos, Raddatz empathized, "You really can't prioritize. There's so much going on. There's so much potential for terrorists building up save havens in various areas of the world."
On May 9, 2012, Raddatz fawned over Hillary Clinton and her handling of foreign policy: "Let's face it, Hillary is cool. Trending."
A transcript of the July 14 segment is below:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Let's get more from ABC's chief global affairs correspondent, Martha Raddatz. She is in Jerusalem. And Martha, international pressure building for a cease-fire. And Secretary of state John Kerry has stepped up contact with both sides.
MARTHA RADDATZ: He has. Secretary Kerry has spent so much time here, George, as you know, over the last couple of years, trying to broker a peace agreement. There's really nothing to show for that this morning. But there really are so many crises that he's dealing with right now. You've got Afghanistan. You've got Iraq. It's hard to believe, I was just there two weeks ago in Baghdad, covering that conflict there and it's only getting worse there and now we're here today. But diplomats really only so much bandwidth when they're dealing with things. They have to prioritize. But it's very, very difficult right now with what's going on in the world.
RADDATZ: And I think that's right. It's exactly what I was talking about. You really can't prioritize. There's so much going on. There's so much potential for terrorists building up save havens in various areas of the world. They really have to keep their eyes on these things.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It is a serious threat. Martha Raddatz, thanks very much.
