Obama and His Sought-After Hope

The talk of the hour now is about the new American president, Barack Obama, for the world is watching and awaiting a future to happen at the hands of this president, one that no doubt encompasses the aspirations of the world and the hopes of unimaginably more, i.e., all mankind. In this sick time in which we live, we feel in our insides that we are more similar to savages: The strong eat the weak, both in terms of societies and individuals.

This decline, which plagues the world, is not born of the moment but is rather an onerous inheritance bequeathed by the predecessors to the successors, and the latter cannot wave a magic wand to repair this damage overnight. So the world then is in urgent need of an awakening to shift its conscience toward goodness and fairness. The whole world is shackled by anxieties that sap those who bear them and awaits the anticipated future, which sees the end of oppression, want, and aggression.

And inasmuch as America, as a superpower, has the tools to extend the policy of peace throughout the land, the world looks forward to the accomplishment of this goal at the hand of that black man whom America elected with total conviction, completely forgetting ethnic bias or the reprehensible practice of racism which was once upon a time a jarring thread in the fabric of American society.

Indeed Barack Obama, by virtue of his constitution, wasn’t limited to being a model of the change the American people want, but was also headed to be an embodiment of all the desires and aspirations of people everywhere.

George W. Bush always prided himself on the strength of his country and his dealing with an iron fist. He is credited with the saying that dominated the world in the days of the American invasion of Iraq: “Those who are not with us are against us.” A policy exhibiting double-standards like this must be imposed by force on all humanity because such a policy is not in keeping with the hope and aspirations of the people. However this age cannot continue, for Bush the younger sealed its tragic end when the Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi expressed this dissatisfaction by launching his shoe into the face of the worst president to govern the United States.

And after Bush’s talk of the crusade against Arabs and Muslims, Obama showed up to redress the aggrieved people and call for equality in every nation of the world. For he who sips the bitterness of oppression at any point in his life cannot ever himself oppress.

In his inauguration speech, he said that American society is composed of Christians, Muslims, and Jews. By mentioning Muslims before Jews, he put paid to any doubt that his view of the Islamic world will be very much removed from the fanaticism that has been the major feature of all previous American presidents.

After Bush spoke with arrogance and might, especially to the Arab and Islamic nations, Obama came to strengthen the concept of inclusion and cooperation between his country and various nations of the world, assuring that he will work to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor, and to give equal opportunities for all.

The Guantanamo detention camp was a means of intimidation and torture for those who veered from the American path. When Obama came, the highest priority on his political agenda was the closure of this camp, which witnessed in its murkiness the most extreme kinds of torture. For a large number of victims the hope that we sustain in the black American president is more than can be quantified and we are certain that this leader will exert the utmost of his efforts to anchor the principles of justice for all people of the world. So let us wait as this future is close at hand.