Obama and the People of Rhetoric
Published in Madina
(Saudi Arabia) on 3 June 2009
by Dr. Hamoud Abu Taleb (link to original)
Today, President Barack Obama’s first visit to the Arab region begins to discuss the future of the region in detail, tempting us with possibilities. These enticements help calm the region down for a while but tensions will soon escalate again, reaching the peak of crisis that will lead to an explosion.
In all cases and circumstances, we should regard America as the remedy to a certain ailment that is expected but never arrives, or comes in calculated doses that do not cure, but only act as a pain-killer or a repeated provisional anesthesia, which have led to what might be called an "addiction" to waiting for the American solution.
Long experience has proven that the persistence of tension and conflict and the lack of resolution are the basis of the American strategy for the region; this situation is the only guarantee for the survival of U.S. interests. To take control of the scene, the U.S. will achieve other goals in more than one location related to the American policy in the long run. These experiments have proven that there is no difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, or between one President and another, if we are looking at the scene holistically and realistically. Therefore, what should the optimists expect from Obama and his visit?
He is a good speaker, and the words he will deliver in Cairo will be adorned with beatifying language and fancy rhetoric. In the end, though, it will be a speech by a U.S. president during his first visit to the region of polarization, and won’t be prepared to touch on the real points of impact. The Arab mind will exult and delight in the eloquence of the speech more than in the interpretation of its meaning, purpose and objectives.
We remember well the offers of good faith that President Obama has repeatedly extended toward Arabs and Muslims, but we must remember in the end that good policy is not directed by emotions and feelings of goodwill, but by strategic interests. The interests of America should not be hidden to anyone after all this time, as the days after Obama’s speech will show.
In all cases and circumstances, we should regard America as the remedy to a certain ailment that is expected but never arrives, or comes in calculated doses that do not cure, but only act as a pain-killer or a repeated provisional anesthesia, which have led to what might be called an "addiction" to waiting for the American solution.
Long experience has proven that the persistence of tension and conflict and the lack of resolution are the basis of the American strategy for the region; this situation is the only guarantee for the survival of U.S. interests. To take control of the scene, the U.S. will achieve other goals in more than one location related to the American policy in the long run. These experiments have proven that there is no difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, or between one President and another, if we are looking at the scene holistically and realistically. Therefore, what should the optimists expect from Obama and his visit?
He is a good speaker, and the words he will deliver in Cairo will be adorned with beatifying language and fancy rhetoric. In the end, though, it will be a speech by a U.S. president during his first visit to the region of polarization, and won’t be prepared to touch on the real points of impact. The Arab mind will exult and delight in the eloquence of the speech more than in the interpretation of its meaning, purpose and objectives.
We remember well the offers of good faith that President Obama has repeatedly extended toward Arabs and Muslims, but we must remember in the end that good policy is not directed by emotions and feelings of goodwill, but by strategic interests. The interests of America should not be hidden to anyone after all this time, as the days after Obama’s speech will show.
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