What Obama said when he was interviewed for Foreign Affairs last year.
"A strong military is, more than anything, necessary to sustain peace."
"We should expand our ground forces by adding 65,000 soldiers to the army and 27,000 marines."
"I will not hesitate to use force, unilaterally if necessary, to protect the American people or our vital interests whenever we are attacked or imminently threatened."
"We must also consider using military force in circumstances beyond self-defense in order to provide for the common security that underpins global stability -- to support friends, participate in stability and reconstruction operations, or confront mass atrocities. But when we do use force in situations other than self-defense, we should make every effort to garner the clear support and participation of others -- as President George H. W. Bush did when we led the effort to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in 1991."
Reviewing the a recent speech by Obama at Chicago University, Ha'aretz Washington correspondent Shmuel Rosner concluded that Obama "sounded as strong as Clinton, as supportive as Bush, as friendly as Giuliani. At least rhetorically, Obama passed any test anyone might have wanted him to pass. So, he is pro-Israel. Period."Israel is "our strongest ally in the region and its only established democracy," Obama said, assuring his audience that "we must preserve our total commitment to our unique defense relationship with Israel by fully funding military assistance and continuing work on the Arrow and related missile defense programs." Such advanced multi-billion dollar systems he asserted, would help Israel "deter missile attacks from as far as Tehran and as close as Gaza." As if the starved, besieged and traumatized population of Gaza are about to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Obama offered not a single word of criticism of Israel, of its relentless settlement and wall construction, of the closures that make life unlivable for millions of Palestinians.
There was absolutely nothing in Obama's speech that deviated from the hardline consensus underpinning US policy in the region. Echoing the sort of exaggeration and alarmism that got the United States into the Iraq war, he called Iran "one of the greatest threats to the United States, to Israel, and world peace." While advocating "tough" diplomacy with Iran he confirmed that "we should take no option, including military action, off the table."
Lenin's Tomb recently commented: "The gangly African American who insists he was never a Muslim. Obama-mania has apparently taken hold of some slightly loopy American voters after his surprisingly strong finish in Iowa. The commentariat is effusive - Obama doesn't inspire, they say, he elevates. What does Obama offer? Not a great deal, but he does it with aplomb. His foreign policies include gradual withdrawal from Iraq, redeployment to Afghanistan and Pakistan, discussions with Iran, and strongly pro-Israel policies. (Among his foreign policy advisors is Zbigniew Brzezinski, whose ideas look like they have made some impact.) Despite his position on Iraq, neocon Bob Kagan likes him a great deal. Domestically, he offers a few meliorative reforms in healthcare, neoliberal fiscal policies which potentially contradict his package of tax cuts for the poor and pay increases for teachers - if he sticks to PAYGO, any drop in the income of the Treasury due to recession will have to be made up for with spending cuts. He appears to have acquired a progressive aura simply by exuding some nebulous quality of hope and optimism and - the buzzword of the election - 'change'. He looks elegant and dignified, sounds like he knows what he's talking about, and he has performed that Clinton routine of triangulation and glittering generalities much more convincingly than Hillary. Obama's main charm for white conservatives is that he assures them that race doesn't matter in America - classy guy, they say, not like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. No hysterics. Kind of guy you could have round for dinner and he wouldn't embarrass anyone."
Cornell West discusses Obama's relationship with black America.
Don't forget that Obama also "thinks we should explore nuclear power as part of the energy mix".
This blogger reminds readers that the US is a one-party state with two wings, Democrat and Republican and both are way to the right of the majority of Americans on many crucial issues. Corporations dominate the power structure and hence US politics. In the US this is even more so the case than in other countries because of the much more brutal suppression of labour. In the absence of economic democracy, “politics is the shadow cast on society by big business.”
Since the state, having become so thoroughly co-opted by corporate interests, is part of the problem, it is difficult to significantly change it from within through elections or public policy reforms. While short-term, pragmatic change remains possible and desirable, systemic change would require a transformation of power relations within society through a democratisation of economic decision-making.
2 comments:
Hi *Leftpost*, just to let you know, I was trawling through the web, as you do, and was bemused by the picture here of Obama, by "Mr Fish".
So I " borrowed" it, and posted it, as you do. Thankyou.
Sort of a left-wing-thing I guess, the Abbie Hoffman, steal this book/every moment is art.
Obama is many things, eh, and must be one heck of an optimist!
Obama is simply saying and doing what he must because a huge portion of the electorate is, to be perfectly honest, too stupid, uneducated, ill-informed and uninformed to vote for a presidential candidate mouthing purely progressive ideals and ideas. Most US voters need to hear the kind of cowboy crap the blogger worries about in order for them to feel comfortable enough to vote for him, particularly when he's half black and relatively young and inexperienced. And those American Jews in a constant state of denial over Israel's treatment of Palestinians obviously need the kind of reassurances Obama has given them before they will vote for him. But if anyone has genuine fears that the "real Obama" might be "another cowboy in the White House," I suggest he or she simply read his memoir "Dreams of My Father." I submit that this book provides the best and most reliable indicator or picture of Obama's "real" persona and soul, and that it reveals anything but a "cowboy". In fact, it strongly suggests that Obama is a genuine progressive, is current campaign rhetoric notwithstanding. The real question is not whether the "real Obama" is a cowboy, but whether once he's elected he will have the political courage to advocate, defend and otherwise express is progressive instincts and values.
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