America Before and After Obama

Obama’s administration wants to change the roots of American foreign and domestic policy, and I’ve felt a lot of indications that it will actually be possible.

I recently returned from a trip to the United States where I participated in a conference in Arab and Islamic Studies at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. My last visit to America before that was in 2005, when I spent three months completing a round of intensive training at Virginia Tech University. Of course, the previous visit was in the Bush era, and just four years after the events of 9/11; while this recent visit was in the Obama era, eight years after those events.

I wrote for this paper in 2005 about encountering mistreatment and persecution while there with my family. I was forcibly evicted from the apartment I had rented, for making noise, and was not compensated for the rent that I had already paid. One of my sons was detained against his will merely because we are Saudi or Arab Muslims. This experience was essentially a sign of the times.

As for the Obama era, despite spending only a few months in the States this time, I felt a lot of beneficial changes. From the first moment I planted my feet on American soil until I left it, I did not feel anything oppressive or discriminatory or offensive, other than some minor scrutiny and what appeared to be verification at customs. Once inside, all this abated immediately and the proceedings were occupied only with small details, without any of the agitation or complications there had been a few months before during the Bush era.

I mentioned the conference on Arabic and Islamic studies that I participated in, and I should point out that many of the lectures and discussions revolved around the issue of Iraq, and American crimes there. At the top of the issues, discussed with a high level of transparency and much credibility, was the issue of Iraqi refugees worldwide and the duty of the American government and the American people towards them.

I attended a symposium with representatives from American government and non-government, discussing the situation of Iraqi refugees as a dire consequence of the American invasion of Iraq. They explained that this situation would not have existed without this invasion, for Iraq is a country with many natural and human resources. Many of its displaced and emigrating citizens have a high level of education and culture – some of them are doctors and engineers – yet despite this they experience great hardship in their countries of asylum. Many are forced to work in jobs not befitting their qualifications or education, in order to make a living.

The speakers listed astronomical figures for the amount of Iraqi refugees in the world. Syria is hosting the largest number of them, over a million and a half; followed by some neighboring countries like Jordan and Lebanon, and some hundreds of thousands are scattered throughout Europe. As for America, the initial cause of the displacement and poor conditions: up until 2009 it had only taken a few thousand. The target figure for the number of refugees who will be allowed to stay in America is 40,000. However, this figure is difficult, if not impossible to achieve, under the auspices of exceedingly complicated regulations imposed by the American government upon the refugees. The increasing gravity of the financial crisis in America is exacerbating the already bad situation by tightening the screws on residents before opportunities can be made for refugees and newcomers.

The speakers were characterized by their extraordinary candor when they stressed all together that the American government had previously shouldered some of its responsibility, when it provided the opportunity for a million Vietnamese refugees to come and settle there following its unjust war in Vietnam. However, the government thought to consider only 40,000 Iraqi refugees following a fiercely destructive war in Iraq, and now only a few thousand have actually arrived. The speakers agreed upon the obvious American neglect for the condition of this group of humanity who became victims of the American occupation of Iraq. Many participants went on to discuss the imperative of prosecuting those responsible for this large-scale humanitarian disaster, thinking this to be an immoral violation of human rights, and they felt this step was more important than merely considering how to assist the refugees in their naturalization.

It appears that this call will find reverberations during Obama’s administration, which seeks to change the roots of America’s foreign and domestic policy. Indeed, in this last visit I felt a lot of indications that it will be possible.