Rosen falsely claimed that Obama "says he will meet with Hamas without conditions"

Summary: Arguing with a caller about Sen. Barack Obama's foreign policy proposals, Mike Rosen of Newsradio 850 KOA inaccurately asserted that Obama has said "he will meet with Hamas without conditions." In fact, according to a statement from his campaign, Obama "does not support negotiations with Hamas until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements."

Newsradio 850 KOA's Mike Rosen on May 16 told a caller that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has said that as president "he will meet with Hamas without conditions." In fact, as Media Matters for America repeatedly has noted, Reuters reported on March 3 that Obama "has said he would break with President George W. Bush's stance of declining to talk to some other international adversaries but that stance does not apply to Hamas." Reuters further reported that Obama "said his willingness to meet with foes 'does not include Hamas' " and that he explained, "You can't negotiate with somebody who does not recognize the right of a country to exist so I understand why Israel doesn't meet with Hamas."

Earlier in the broadcast, after reading from a May 16 Investor's Business Daily editorial critical of Obama, Rosen stated, "Barack Obama has said that he will talk to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and perhaps Hamas and who knows who else," adding, "I understand that there are Americans are out there who desperately want to believe that all this can be hashed out if we only sit down and talk; this is the Rodney King view of the world -- why can't we all get along? Jimmy Carter tried this as president. The policy massively failed. And it's like déjà vu all over again ... This is the same kind of stuff, this promise of joy, that Barack Obama is spouting in several other areas, and he's doing it in foreign policy as well." Arguing with a caller about Obama's foreign policy proposals later in the broadcast, Rosen stated, "When Barack Obama says he will meet with Hamas without conditions, that's a pathway to appeasement, in my view."

Contrary to Rosen's assertion that Obama said he will "meet with Hamas without conditions," the Obama campaign on April 10 released a statement criticizing Carter for what was then an upcoming meeting with Hamas and stating that Obama "does not support negotiations with Hamas until they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist, and abide by past agreements." Similarly, an April 16 Reuters article reported that Obama "disagreed with former President Jimmy Carter's overtures toward Hamas, saying he would not talk to the Islamist group until it recognized Israel and renounced terrorism." The article further reported:

The Illinois senator, campaigning in Pennsylvania which holds the next presidential voting contest on Tuesday, told a group of Jewish leaders he has an "unshakable commitment" to help protect Israel from its "bitter enemies."

"That's why I have a fundamental difference with President Carter and disagree with his decision to meet with Hamas," Obama said. "We must not negotiate with a terrorist group intent on Israel's destruction. We should only sit down with Hamas if they renounce terrorism, recognize Israel's right to exist and abide by past agreements."

"Hamas is not a state. Hamas is a terrorist organization," he said. [emphasis added]

From the May 16 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Mike Rosen Show:

This is all about appeasement, and it is relevant, and President Bush could've been referring to several other Democrats, including existing members of the House and Senate, the kind who trekked to Iraq and sought to mollify Saddam Hussein. He could have been talking -- President Bush -- about Jimmy Carter, who just returned from one of his feckless visits to the Middle East. Barack Obama has said that he will talk to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and perhaps Hamas and who knows who else. I understand that there are Americans are out there who desperately want to believe that all this can be hashed out if we only sit down and talk; this is the Rodney King view of the world -- why can't we all get along? Jimmy Carter tried this as president. The policy massively failed. And it's like déjà vu all over again, to use Yogi Berra's famous phrase. This is the same kind of stuff, this promise of joy, that Barack Obama is spouting in several other areas, and he's doing it in foreign policy as well.

[...]

CALLER: Yeah, is Obama an appeaser when he says that he would talk to Ahmadinejad?

ROSEN: Yes, he is.

CALLER: OK, two days ago when [Secretary of Defense Robert] Gates said that we should talk to Iran, was he an appeaser?

ROSEN: I guess you have to talk about the conditions under which those talks would take place and what kind of preconditions would exist. There are times when you talk to your adversaries, as I indicated, but this notion of talking to Hamas, for example, without preconditions --

CALLER: I'm talking about Iran.

ROSEN: Well, I'm also talking about Hamas.

[...]

ROSEN: You doubt that we have backchannel conversations with Iran. What do you base that doubt on?

CALLER: I'm relying upon statements by Gates. You're not.

ROSEN: You're talking about public statements. [Caller], listen carefully. I know you're dense. By definition, a backchannel conversation is a backchannel conversation. It's a private, it's a surreptitious conversation. You can't expect people to disclose in public that they've had backchannel conversations. Did you understand what I just said?

CALLER: Isn't that appeasement?

ROSEN: You just answered a question with a question. Did you understand what I said?

[crosstalk]

CALLER: I'm asking you if that's appeasement.

ROSEN: No, that's not appeasement! No! You can have conditional discussions. When Barack Obama says he will meet with Hamas without conditions, that's a pathway to appeasement, in my view. It may not be in your view. But [caller], I suspect that you would sign up for appeasement any day of the week, given our past conversations.

—E.B. & J.F.B.