American Presidential Elections

During the last two or three months, the world has been observing the American presidential election race between President Obama and his counterpart Mitt Romney. Their speeches and policies have also been analyzed. There was hype in political activities as Election Day came closer. Both candidates visited parts of the country to convince people to give them their votes. In the meantime, Hurricane Sandy hit America. However, there were few casualties; the economic damage is estimated at about $50 billion. A timely warning and precaution reduced the number of deaths. If Pakistan would have to face a similar situation in its coastal areas, the death rate would be in the millions, as was common in Bangladesh when it used to be part of Pakistan and known as East Pakistan. Government negligence was a major cause of those deaths. Still, the federal government of Pakistan does not take any practical steps, other than expressing regret and sympathy for the victims. The presidential debates in America convinced the public as well as the country’s analysts of Romney’s victory in the elections. Mitt Romney was in the lead throughout the election campaign. Later on, the situation changed and Obama (with significant votes) won the election. The TV anchors of Pakistan made the most of it; many of them went to America to update the people about elections. The election topic will remain hot until President Obama announces his new Cabinet team. The impression regarding Secretary of State Hillary Clinton no longer serving in Obama’s Cabinet is quite clear.

After Obama’s re-election as president, the predictions have begun. Many people (as in the past) again have similar unfulfilled expectations. During his previous tenure, Obama made addresses at Al-Azhar University in Egypt and at Ankara, and the gist of both speeches was that he would take action on Muslim complaints, provide justice to Palestinians and make efforts to provide for an independent Palestinian state, withdraw all the American forces from Iraq, end the war in Afghanistan and, most importantly, close Guantanamo Bay where innocent people get tortured. Muslims felt that an African-American (a son of a Muslim) would implement an unbiased policy and address genuine complaints of Muslims. Obama nominated a special envoy to Pakistan, Afghanistan and India but on Indian protest, the country was taken off the list. After four years it is clear that all the promises were not fulfilled. Guantanamo Bay is still in its place, there are still American forces in Iraq, there is still war in Afghanistan, there are drone attacks in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen and millions of innocent Muslims are killed, there is still the Israeli blockade of Gaza. Forty percent of the West Bank area is still controlled by Israel, and in a few years the whole West Bank will come under Israeli control. The control of Israel on East Jerusalem is continuous. These are all the result of aggressive American policies and its favoring of Israel. America has made Israel a nuclear power, equipped it with new fatal weapons and encouraged it to the extent that it is re-enacting Hitler’s Holocaust in Palestine. Whenever someone tries to raise their voice in the United Nations, America immediately vetoes that resolution. The reason for making Tony Blair a representative to Palestine is to make the whole West Bank and East Jerusalem part of Israel and to ensure that the Palestinians will never be able to make an independent territory. I predicted all the facts in my article, published on June 24, 2009 in the Daily Jang newspaper with the title “Sweet Pills — Bitter Lemons.” As far as foreign policy is concerned, Romney did not oppose any of Obama’s policies in his debates; the difference was on the process to resolve internal matters. The voters realized that a weak president would easily agree with the right-wing establishment and a strong Israel lobby that also helped by considering them to be strong allies. If Republicans fail to provide a strong candidate who gives a different policy in the next election, then Democrats will again win. I suggest to my fellow Pakistanis, who are very good friends of America, not to expect Obama to provide any policy that will favor Pakistan in the next four years. The current policies will carry on and you will not be able to get rid of the gift of slavery, which [former president] Musharraf has given to you. The Western world and America will try their best so that the current puppets who obey their orders, sacrifice their self-esteem and play a role of colonizer will rule Pakistan. It would be foolish to expect something nice from America.

It does not matter for Pakistan who becomes president in America. There are several articles, commentaries and analyses published all over the world on American elections and the re-election of President Obama, and every analyst offered his views and conclusions. I also read many articles in Time magazine, the International Herald Tribune and Newsweek, but the article I like is “Interpreting Obama’s Victory” by Richard Falk. The article is available at www.aljazeera.com (SEE HERE). He said that people are not happy about Obama’s victory, but they are happy about Romney’s defeat. He further mentioned that in the last four years of his presidency, Obama did not do any good work to be proud of; instead, the increased number of forces in Afghanistan has turned into a bad experience. Mr. Falk is worried that under the leadership of Obama, extremist or right-wing people who are working in large numbers in the Pentagon soon will start an army invasion in some non-Western country and that instead of talks they will follow aggressive policies.

Richard Falk also took notice of the controversial, illegal and unethical terrorism of drone attacks. He clearly mentioned that the Pentagon made a policy of using power instead of table talks, neglecting international laws and increasing the intensity and number of drone attacks to kill innocent people. He rightly criticized Obama that he neither investigates any serious crimes nor has he caught any person who was involved in those crimes during the Bush administration. The serious crimes perpetrated in Afghanistan and Iraq (which were against international laws) were completely ignored, and instead of punishing the right people, those who disclosed the issue were punished. In conclusion, Richard Falk said that a country where government secrets are strictly kept hidden and crimes against humanity are free from any accountability is at the verge of moral destruction.

Just like Obama’s previous slogan “Change we can believe in,” the president’s new promises would also be empty and Obama this time would not be too different than a “puppet on a string.”