The Cost of insincerity: Why the Muslim world should not expect much from the

Obama administration.

By: Justice Dirie

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The election of Mr. Barack Obama on November 2008 as US president has been widely
welcomed by a world tired of and disillusioned with a super power that was not only
unjust but increasingly intrusive of other nations’ domestic affairs in a way that
massively incorporated dictatorial, selfishness, double standard and pre-emptive
aggressions. In the Muslim world where this state of bitterness about US foreign policy
was felt most the outcome of the election was seen as the dawn of a new era that would
see the normalization of relations between the West and Islam and the birth of a world
order that was just and respectful towards other civilizations. On his part President
Obama had on various occasions in his maiden speeches hinted to this effect, however,
that remained mere political rhetoric and soon the president charted a course that seemed
an ardent fulfillment of old-aged political strategies crafted to subjugate the wills and
aspirations of Muslim countries and secure some selfish strategic interests in those
regions.

True, Obama chose the Muslim world in his first ever foreign trip as US president in a
move largely seen as an effort to thaw the frozen relations between the West and the
Muslim world. Eloquence and elegance aside, the letter and intent of Obama’s message
on these trips was clear to all and sundry. His choice of countries in his mission was
unfortunately reactionary and stung the stale of double standard and hypocrisy highly
characteristic of former US administrations. His choice of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two
autocratic regimes whose human rights records are pathetic was a slap on the face of
Muslims. Negation of the principles of fairness, justice and democracy has been a
constant feature of both countries’ governance dynamics in the past as well as in the
present. Gross violations of human rights, repression of dissent and abuse of power
characterize the two countries to a grand extent. His visit therefore seemed to be a mere
token of appreciation for long time stooges and political sycophants. On the whole it
communicated plainly the hypocrisy of the United States and its disdain for the very
ideals it champions when they didn’t suit its interests best.
Watching the speeches of Obama from the podiums of Saudi Arabia and Egypt one could
not help laughing at the folly of belated egos of an imperialist and the blind nods of
sycophants. Over emphasis on US-Israel friendship cut across the highly pompous speech
that seemed squarely hinged on the premises of Israel’s current security wellbeing and
the fallacy that was the holocaust. To audiences hugely comprising of Muslim dignitaries
and royalties, Obama reiterated on the unique position Israel occupied in the heart of the
United States. He blatantly warned the gathering and viewers that the US could not and
will not at any time forsake the interest of Israel. These remarks could not have come at a
more inappropriate time. Israel had by this time concluded its orgy on Gaza and with
fingers dripping of blood threatened Iran with military attack. The entire Islamic world
was in a somber mood and sick about Israel’s unabated aggression. Therefore by creating
so much fuss about Israel’s threatened security and playing the good-old dad vis-à-vis
Israel’s existence and its “unique” situation in surviving in a “hostile” environment,
Obama had merely added insult to injury and communicated his intention that the
Muslim world was in for a rude shock if they thought he would deviate so much as to
effect real change of policies regarding the US relations with the Muslim world.

Genocide every one knows is a phenomenon not at all welcomed in our world and that
only a mad man should entertain, however, the fact that Obama dwelled so much on the
issue with specific reference to the holocaust vis-à-vis the current geopolitical paradigms
surrounding the illegitimate state of Israel was a clear signal to the Muslim world that the
US was pre-empting a perceived, potential genocidal threat against Israel that it would
not tolerate, the latter’s behavior in the region not withstanding. This was where the irony
lied since it was Israel that practiced systematic genocide in the region at least at the time
of Obama’s visit. Further, there were barely any justified fears of genocide from the
Muslim world since there was not only any historical backing to it but had also lacked the
powers to effect any genocide against Israel.

The US President needs to be reminded that in all recent instances of genocidal activities
in the world there has never been one executed by a Muslim power and that as Obama
spoke in those trips there existed numerous acts of genocides in countries allied to the US
against minority Muslim populations while Western countries poured all sorts of
resources and by extension abating the genocide. A case in point is Ethiopia where
thousands of Somalis experienced torture and systematic annihilation on daily basis for
the simple reason of voicing their concerns against illegal occupation and persecution. It
was therefore clear that Obama had his own perceived misconception against Muslims
and had intended to use the trips to convey these. By turning a blind eye to Israel’s
activities and doing so much in lecturing Muslims against intolerance towards Israel, the
US president was simply playing the archetypal western mindset of favoritism and
political double-standards that a disillusioned humanity least expected from him.
Despite coming to power on the crest of changing the anachronistic and bullish US
foreign policies, the US president, has only managed to exacerbate the situation even
further by waging wars in Muslim lands to even greater scales resulting in unprecedented
level of human sufferings and displacements. Afghanistan today remains a country
reeling in the effect of long and bloody occupation of foreign troops largely comprising
of NATO forces committing all sorts of abominable activities and defiling the very fabric
of the Afghan society. Maiming, raping and indiscriminate killings are happening to a
level never seen since the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan and still thousands more orgies
committed under the vague concepts of “friendly fire” and “collateral damages”. It’s
highly regrettable too, that the Obama’s administration could only afford half of what
Bush’s achieved in Afghanistan not only by failing to win the minds and hearts of the
Afghans but also by allowing, through its dishonest and ineffective strategies and
policies, to siphon the wars to the border across and into Pakistan resulting into millions
more sufferings and deaths to an extent never witnessed before. The current form of
unrest and violence that happen in Pakistan today can only be explained by the existence
of an intense sense of hopelessness and disillusionment among a people so much pushed
to the walls by unjust and illegitimate occupation. What we are seeing in Pakistan today
is explosion of souls and minds that we are undoubtedly going to see in many parts of the
Muslim world in the near future.

Drawing closer to current happenings one does not need to be genius to spot where the
rot lies in the conundrum that is the Iranian nuclear plans. It’s within the acceptable tenets
of humanity for societies to advance themselves, Iranians like all components of the
human mass has the right to this as does the West. It is however very hypocritical as it is
selfish for the US and its allies to cry foul when they see anyone travelling down the
same path that led them to development and scientific progress. A safer and more
habitable world is in the best interest of everybody living under the sun and the West can
not cheat any longer that they care for an environment and humanity they continue to
defile and on whose welfare they are casual about. Nothing reveals this causality of the
US towards talks aimed at genuine solution to the Iranian nuclear plans as does the
behavior of the delegations from the US and allies to the on-going NPT talks in New
York. It was shameful and irresponsible of those delegations to walk out on President
Ahmedinejad as he tried in vein to deliver his message in their very soil as it was
complacent and irresponsible of President Obama to have undoubtedly given his nod to
such a malpractice. It has communicated to a great deal, the side that is not interested in
genuine talks on the issue. It further shows how prejudiced and opinionated President
Obama has become since assuming office. By commissioning this unfortunate step,
Obama has confirmed the worst fears that a man however great is never immune to the
prejudices prevalent in the community he lives in. By walking out on President
Ahmedinajad’s speech, the US and its allies have squandered an opportunity to make our
world a better place. It would not have killed them to listen as everybody was entitled to
their views, it would rather, might have gone a long way in reaching compromised
grounds…….but who cares?
Finally, it’s increasingly becoming clear that this world is going to the dogs; societies are
frequently going to costly wars on seemingly trivial reasons, civil debates on differing
dogmas are becoming rare and brute force to force down ideas other people’s skulls
appear the chosen method. World peace and stability has never been more precarious and
life on earth is at cross roads. The US is struggling in vein to hold up a rotten world
order; Western-style leadership is not helping and the UN’s impotence has gone beyond
reproach. There is deafening silence of powerful bombs everywhere and the centre can
simply not hold. Now amidst all these madness we require to sit back and reflect on what
ails our kind of world system. It is in this state of reflection that Obama needs to correct
the western’s views of world system with which the rot began. He needs to realize that
for him to become the kind of man he may aspires to be, that man who wants to change
the world, solve it’s problems genuinely and leave behind a shining legacy; he should
gather the strength and courage required to shed the bigotry that shaped the thinking of
his society and instead assume an open mindset on issues and embrace pragmatism by
willfully allowing the aspirations and hopes of others to come along. He should realize
that the long-aged mistrust between the west and Islam can only be resolved if the west
respects Islam as a civilization that has something to offer and with whom it share the
planet and not as unwelcomed gate-crusher. Then and only then can this world return to
normalcy.

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