Ayoon Wa Azan (Failure Begets More Failure)

Barack Obama failed to achieve many of the promises he gave to the American people during his first year in the White House. However, he is still pledging to continue trying, and he is saying that he has learned from his mistakes. Hence, we will wait and see whether his second year will end with real achievements for the Americans in what regards domestic affairs, as well as in terms of the U.S foreign policy.

Meanwhile, Obama is insisting that the best approach to confront the financial crisis is to reform the financial system and create jobs in a country, where unemployment has now reached ten percent, something that I consider the main reason behind the Democrats’ loss of their hitherto electoral stronghold in the state of Massachusetts. While Obama did indeed inherit the present financial crisis, as well as the high rates of unemployment, the voter nevertheless holds the present administration accountable for this, and not the actual perpetrator, which is the previous administration.

But at least, Obama is not George W. Bush, and the setbacks of his first year in the White House did not thwart him from his persistence on going ahead with his healthcare plan for millions of Americans who are not covered by any health insurance, in the richest and most powerful country in the world.

I began this article with Obama’s domestic concerns, because only his success in these issues will enable him to implement his declared foreign policy. He had pledged to withdraw from Iraq and he seems to be keeping this promise, albeit slowly, while increasing the number of U.S troops in Afghanistan, where the war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda has been justified as a result of the terrorist attacks of 11/9/2001.

However, this war is not going according to the administration’s wishes. The Taliban fighters are fierce warriors and the recent shift towards engaging them in negotiations is but a euphemized declaration of America’s (second) defeat. The Bush administration had lost the war, and now the Obama administration has also lost it after it lasted twice as long as America’s involvement in the Second World War.

If the Obama administration succeeds in ending the war in Afghanistan without escaping from the roof of the U.S embassy in Kabul, as we have seen in Saigon, and manages to capture or kill the leadership of al-Qaeda, and then withdraw, then perhaps we would be able to hope that progress can be indeed made in the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, as success begets more success, and failure begets more failure.

The Obama administration failed to make any progress in terms of the Two-State Solution during the first year of its tenure. But I want to reiterate my confidence in the intentions of the President and the members of his inner circle who are involved in this issue, including the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S Envoy George Mitchell. My confidence in the intentions however, is only equalled by my doubt in their abilities to accomplish matters; if the U.S President lost many rounds against the health insurance companies, then what can be said of his ability to confront the Israel lobby and the remainder of the gang of evil in the Likudnik think tanks and the media?

The American far right, as infamously represented by the Bush administration, is responsible for all the woes affecting Americans domestically, and the woes affecting the world by virtue of its foreign policy. Yet, anyone who reads what is being said and written by the figures of the American far right will find that they in fact hold the Obama administration responsible for what they committed themselves over eight years. However, they have a real leverage in the media and in the advertisements industry to convince many of this, as we have seen in the state of Massachusetts, which is a very progressive state; and yet, the voters there chose a former model who was famous for his nude shots, and whose political experience is very limited.

Hence, I read many Likudnik articles accusing Obama of lies, fiscal folly, or going down a destructive course, which are accusations that can be fully applied to George W. Bush and his administration; however, they also reflect a known ‘Israel-ism’ in terms of shifting the blame onto others, such as when the fascistic government of Israel is represented as a legitimate regime, while the Palestinian resistance is deemed to be a group of ‘terrorists’.

But the American far right is not Obama’s only domestic foe. In fact, the liberal or leftist wing that brought him to the White House has in turn started criticizing him, and their honeymoon with the president seems to have ended rather quickly. Obama’s allies are thus complaining that he has made concessions and chose compromises that contradict his commitments, and that he is attempting to appease all parties instead of remaining faithful to his declared principles and confronting the other side.

While the stances of the American far right represent their combined arrogance, impertinence, and blatant lying, the liberal stance is not without some validity. President Obama will not make any progress in the Middle East peace process unless he confronts the Netanyahu government boldly and decisively, because it seems that the latter will not voluntarily engage in the peace process. In fact, I heard all the leaders of the Palestinian National Authority say that there can be no peace with the current government in Israel; however, they will continue to take part in the negotiations, so that they would not be accused of thwarting the establishment of the Palestinian state.

I shall continue tomorrow

khazen@alhayat.com [1]