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.. "Not only the short-term situation but building a process whereby we can achieve a more lasting peace in the region."
Asked if he was concerned about criticism that he had been too quiet Obama replied: "I can't control how people interpret what I'm saying, other than to repeat what I said. Hopefully, they hear my message. This silence is not as a consequence of a lack of concern. In fact, it's not silence. I've explained very clearly exactly what institutional constraints I'm under when it comes to this issue."
Earlier he had said, "We can't have two administrations running foreign policy at the same time. We simply can't do it," he told reporters. But he also said his relative silence is not a result of "a lack of concern" about the fighting there.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/blog/2009/jan/07/gaza-middleeast
