Kerry Runs Interference for Obama's Pivot from Middle East to Asia

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), who is planning a trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories next month, is trying to contest rumors that Barack Obama wants to “pivot” on foreign policy from the Middle East to Asia.  

Kerry said at his Thursday confirmation hearing for Secretary of State:

I want to take on the word “pivot.” I think “pivot” implies that we’re turning away from somewhere else. I want to emphasize we are not turning away from anywhere else. Whatever we do in [Asia] should not come, and I hope will not come, at the expense of relationships in Europe or the in the Mid-East or elsewhere. It can’t.

Obama’s desire to shift focus from the Middle East to Asia makes perfect sense, given how his policies have enabled radical Islamists to triumph throughout the Middle East.