Obama made his long-awaited address to the “Muslim World” [last week]. He made a similar address to the Turkish parliament back in April, but this was THE speech that Obama promised to give even before he got elected. It was supposed to be the speech that launched “the new beginning,” the new relationship between the US and the over 1.5 billion Muslims of the world.
Reactions to the speech so far have been mixed, although many have praised the gesture. One could argue that any gesture made after the Bush administration's bluster and belligerent” with us or against us” approach would have been welcome.
So, let’s dissect some of the speech's points and weigh them against the reality on the ground.
Obama warned Palestinians against the use of violence to fight the occupation and scolded the Israelis about the continuous building of settlements. While both points are valid on their faces, they are merely words in the face of the daily tribulations of both camps in this conflict. After all, what are the Palestinians to do in the face of the daily humiliations of the occupation administered in great part with US-supplied weaponry? Should they simply offer the other cheek and hope that their oppressors will see the light? History shows us that although violence in itself has never allowed a liberation movement to succeed, it has always been a component of the struggle from colonial Africa to India to the US to Cuba to South Africa. Ignoring that fact is simply choosing to float in a Hope cloud.
As for the settlements, just this week, Netanyahu reiterated that his government will continue building settlements after US Secretary of State Clinton and Obama himself indicated the US government’s disapproval of such acts. Would the Israeli government be sanctioned by having its aid withheld? If not, what will be the actual repercussions of continuing to build on occupied land and thereby establishing what Ariel Sharon used to call “facts on the ground” that will stand in the way of any future peace deal?
Obama spoke of the US leaving Iraq and not wanting “bases or claim on their territory or resources.” So why is the US building what looks very much like permanent bases all over the country (see map) and the most fortified embassy in the region? Will Obama request a repeal of all the oil laws that the Bush administration pushed Iraqi leaders to adopt? Surely, economically, given its dependence on Mid-East oil, the US could not afford such a move. So does that not indicate that any exit from Iraq would merely be a departure of troops but a preservation of some form of control that would guarantee that the Iraqi pumps remain open to US tankers? Would that be “leaving Iraq to the Iraqis?”
On the issue of Iran and nuclear weapons, Obama said that “no nation should pick and choose which nations have nuclear weapons,” and he reiterated the standard US position demanding that Iran “comply with its responsibilities under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).” The unspoken part of this argument, of course, is that Israel has nuclear weapons but is not a signatory to the NPT. Neither is Pakistan, which also has nuclear weapons and is a US ally. So, the sin of Iran seems to be that it chose to sign a treaty under which it can now be scolded for doing what other nations do and get rewarded with US military aid.
On women’s rights, religious tolerance and human rights, Obama merely repeated platitudes that cannot be taken seriously given the continuous US support for the regimes of the Middle East that deny those very rights to their citizens. What’s the value of hopeful words about freedom spoken by a US president in a place like Egypt, where Hosni Mubarak has been waging war against hopeful freedom advocates for almost 30 years with US support? What’s the value of hopeful words when the Saudi monarchs have been stifling the hopes of women in their kingdom for generations with the complete acquiescence of US presidents? Why talk when the US president has so many levers he can pull to force action?
Obama can be praised for making the trip, appearing conciliatory and, more importantly, acknowledging some facts that, although known for years by all, were never publicly accepted by a sitting US president, namely, the US involvement in the overthrow of the democratically elected former president of Iran Mohammed Mossadegh. But to use that very American expression, “Where’s the beef?”
Obama spoke eloquently and forcefully in Cairo, as Obama almost always does. However, Obama, the presidential candidate, has to quickly morph into Obama, the leader of the so-called “Free World” and resist the use of speeches as substitutes for tangible policy changes.
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