Obama's speech in Turkey and hope for a better world

Published in The Daily Star, May 9, 2009

PRESIDENT Barak Obama is truly a breath of fresh air in every sense of the term. That his presence means Bush is no longer around is in itself great news. It is for good reasons that the story about God telling the guy who came to White House looking for Bush made such rounds on the internet. When the guy came the first day to White House and asked God about Bush, he was told he lived there no longer. The guy came a second day; asked the question again and received the same answer. When he came a third day and asked the same question, an irate God asked him why he was asking the same question knowing what the answer would be. The guy's answer, with a broad smile was, to hear from God over and over again that Bush is history.

Thus the warm welcome that President Obama received during his just-concluded first overseas trip to Europe and ME was because of the relief in these countries that he had replaced Bush in the position of the most powerful individual on earth. But this partly explains the rousing welcome he was given by the leaders and the people in these countries. The man is also to a large measure responsible for the reception he received. When he had started his campaign for the White House, he was given a long shot because of his colour. But the more his people saw him, the more they liked him for in what he spoke, there was both a moral and intellectual depth that made him comparable to the great presidents of US history, like Lincoln and Kennedy, for example. President Obama is now on the centre stage to prove that he is as good as these great US Presidents; in fact he may even have to be better to undo the harm that eight years of Bush presidency has done to US and the world.

The Bush presidency was at its worst in the way it divided the US and the Islamic world. In giving his first reaction to 9/11 on TV, President Bush had blurted out the word “crusade.” His actions in Afghanistan in pursuit of Al Qaeda that he held responsible for 9/11 was supported by many countries. However, when he entered Iraq where there was no Al Qaeda or Islamic militants, the Muslim world felt that his intentions were anti-Muslim and that his reference to the crusade was by no means accidental. In fairness though it must be admitted that long afterwards, Bush did say that US is not at war with Islam but by then very few in the Islamic world believed that his war was anything but against Islam; a clash of the Western and the Islamic civilizations. President Obama's speech before the Turkish parliament during this trip where he said that “US never is or will be at war with the Islamic world” has gone a long way in assuring Muslims that the US is not their enemy. The Islamic world's excitement has been based on other carefully crafted words in his speech such as: “many Americans have Muslims in their families; I know because I am one of them” in direct reference to his own Muslim heritage. He was introduced as Barak Hussein Obama by the Turkish speaker, the emphasis clearly on his middle name Hussein that he himself had emphasized while taking oath.

Muslim hearts worldwide have been gladdened by the speech. In his speech, President Obama extended a genuine hand of friendship to the Muslims. He acknowledged the importance of resolving the Palestinian problem that Bush had considered secondary in his foreign policy goals in ME, having taken eight months after assuming office to send his Secretary of State there who had then said that Iraq and not Palestine was the major concern of US in the region. He asserted US's commitment to the two-state policy for ending the Palestinian problem. He again reasserted that Iran is not “an axis of evil” but an Islamic Republic with which US wants dialogue for friendly relations; a statement that was so dramatic as to be unbelievable when it was made by the US President in a TV address that he gave before embarking on this overseas trip. These commitments are like waking up to a bright, sunny morning after a nightmare in hell under President Bush. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, whose country is crucial to the resolution of the Israeli-Arab conflict, has articulated the reaction of the Muslim world aptly by referring to it as the “first and significant“ step for mitigating the tension between US and the Muslim world.

Despite his best intentions that few doubt; the odds on President Obama bridging the wide gap between the US and the Islamic world will not be easy. Newly emerging realities also add to make his task difficult. The emergence of the hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel's Prime Minister is not good news although his initial reaction to Obama's resolve for peace in ME and the Palestinian state has been positive. A statement from his office said: "The government of Israel is committed to both of these goals and will formulate its policies in the near future so as to work closely with the United States." The way Pakistan is sliding toward political uncertainty and Taleban gaining ascendancy there and in Afghanistan are worrying factors. Without a stable and dependable Pakistan and an Afghanistan where Afghans are in control, US's efforts to tackle terror and militancy will falter as the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan becomes stronger everyday as a safe haven for Al Qaeda.

On Israel-Palestine conflict, positive result will depend primarily on how forcefully President Obama can handle Israel. Netanyahu's name is enough to freeze any thought of a forward movement on the Israel-Palestine conflict, his positive reaction to Obama's speech notwithstanding. In the past, US moves in resolving the conflict faltered because the fundamental fact that the plight of the Palestinians who have been made refugees in the land that has been theirs for centuries, has not entered into the equation. Instead, the victims have been asked to make the concessions and blamed for the consequences. Recent events in Gaza have opened the eyes of even those who have so long been blind towards Israel about the mindlessness and cruelty of their behaviour towards Palestinians. It has made the Palestinian Doctor Ezzeldeen Abu Al-Aish, whose three daughters were recently killed by Israelis in Gaza, a top contender for this year's Noble Peace Prize. The US alone has the power and influence, as Israel's main ally and benefactor, to settle the Palestinian problem by convincing the latter that leaving this problem unresolved has been the main reason for rise of Islamic militancy. Resolving the Palestinian problem can still take a lot of the wind out of the sail of Islamic militancy and bring US and Muslims closer. Stabilizing politics in Pakistan and Afghanistan and ending Talebans' ascendency there will need great efforts. Getting Iran off the list of the “axis of evil” may not be enough and engaging Iran in constructive discussion could be a long drawn process. All said, President Obama has undoubtedly set US priorities in the right perspective.

The world is yearning for peace and there are hopeful signs. The worst seems to be over in Iraq, although it was achieved through the lives of thousands of US troops and hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children who were “collateral “victims. The scepter of a war with Iran has dissipated. Obama's presence at this moment in history is too good to be true; a black US President with Muslim heritage. Even the best of the story tellers could not have imagined, when Bush was taking the world apart, fighting his war on terror in Muslim countries that there would be a black US President, with Muslim linkage and a Muslim middle name. Only the future can tell whether Obama would bring peace to the world. For the moment, his speech in Turkey has given us the courage to hope for a peaceful world.