American Opportunism

From among the crushing news that shakes us, we find ourselves powerless as we watch the news with curious eyes and eager ears. First: the mood of Dr. ‘Aziz, president of the Palestinian Legislative Council, as he announced for the sixth time his agreement to restore the 27 members of the Council to their specific responsibilities.

As usual, we do not differentiate between America and Israel in position and temperament. Second: the speech that (Democratic) American President Barack Obama delivered on Jan. 25, 2012, in which he declared himself to have saved America and the rest of the world from Osama bin Laden, who the CIA ambushed in Pakistan and threw into the sea on May 5, 2011. The mere mention of bin Laden or the organization known as al-Qaeda in America is similar to mentioning the devil. Their hearts tremble with fear and their eyes quiver with alarm as those voices in America who bring up that he was killed without trial do so not to prove his innocence or mitigate his sentence, but to enjoy seeing him torn apart with their own eyes, easing their alarm and calming their hearts.

It prolonged the war that America waged for 45 years against the people of Southeast Asia with a stupid war waged by (Democratic) President Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969) based on the decision of Congress, followed by (Republican) President Richard Nixon (1969-1974) and the war on Vietnam. Despite everything, America brutally used aircrafts to bombard schools, hospitals, and fuel stations, and to spray gas on forests to denude them and on rice fields in order to pacify the people for 24 hours. In response to those methods, the Viet Kong also used to dig tunnels under the earth and conceal the entrance with thatch and grass, while they looked out for and hunted American soldiers. When they discovered them, the Americans were unable to enter the tunnels because of the small stature of the Vietnamese, meaning that the smallest American soldiers were typically chosen. Despite this, America inflicted serious losses in money and soldiers during this war, until the nation reached a dead end as demonstrators took to the street demanding an end to the war. So America was forced to enter into the Paris Peace Accords on Jan. 27, 1973 to end it.

At the turn of the third millennium, America found herself in a morass of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, in a judicial argument about terrorism, and having been defeated by the brutality of the worst victories. Meanwhile, the nation bore losses in money and souls, and the increasing numbers of soldiers with psychological and physical problems who became isolated from society. So America withdrew from Iraq, defeated.

America’s might seems to have been damaged from what the country bore throughout her wars in losses and what she suffered from the financial crisis. The nation has finally changed her strategy and reconsidered her relationship with Islamic forces after they won parliamentary majorities in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt with the goal to liberate themselves from unrest and the possibility of future struggles that would have been more troublesome to pursue. Perhaps the implicit strategy change indicates the achievement of America’s goals and that the country is trying to continue imposing control on the Arab region and its economic prospects, extending her hand to the Muslim Brotherhood and entering agreements with the Taliban, making it known that America is studying the possibility of resolving the Iranian problem through diplomatic channels.