A New Beginning: If Only

[davidswanson]

President Barack Obama's speech in Cairo probably did a world of good. It was packed with truth telling and noble sentiments. But imagine how much more good would be done if all the best parts of it corresponded to reality.

If we treated people around the world with "respect," would we continue occupying their nations against their adamant desires? If we truly "seek no military bases" in Afghanistan, why are we building them on such massive scale? And why are we locking up hundreds of people there whom Obama hopes to keep outside the rule of law and never bring to trial (or at least he's fighting for that power in court and recently declared that he possessed it), people who will not all die any time soon?

If we respect the Iraqi people, why must our president tell them they are better off now. Why not ask them whether they think they are better off? If we have a "dual reponsibility" to help Iraq and to leave Iraq, is it relevant that the people of Iraq reject that idea, and that we would reject it if imposed on our own nation by another? If we "pursue no bases" in Iraq and will remove "combat brigades by next August" and will "remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by July" and "remove all our troops from Iraq by 2012," why are we renaming troops "non-combat troops", why are we redrawing city boundaries to avoid withdrawing, why are we in fact creating exceptions in order to remain in cities? And why do the Commander in Chief's immediate subordinates keep telling reporters that the United States will never leave Iraq?

If we were "respectful of the sovereignty of nations and the rule of law" would we occupy other nations, would we use preventive detention, would we decline to prosecute torturers, assassins, and war criminals, would we object to Iran's possible future nuclear power while refusing to acknowledge that of Israel? If we do not "accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," why do we fund them, and why do we accept every existing one? If we respected the people of Gaza, wouldn't our president accept an invitation to visit there and acknowledge the responsibility of having paid for the weapons that caused the destruction?

Imagine if we truly supported "governments that reflect the will of the people". Does the king of Saudi Arabia reflect the will of his people better than Hamas reflects the will of their people? And what about here at home? If the will of the American people were at all relevant, we'd end the wars, end the super-militarism, close bases, fund schools and green energy, throw corporations out of government, create single-payer healthcare, pass the Employee Free Choice Act, and so forth. I'm not blaming Obama for the Senate, but the idea that our own government reflects the basic will of its people is absurd.

The speech, of course, was better than I've made it sound. It's good for Obama to have said we don't want bases and that we'll leave. That's better than had he not said those things. It's tremendous for him to have acknowledged our overthrow of Iran's democratically elected president. It's important that he acknowledged the good and the admirable in Muslim culture. But I do wish his interfaith closing had not kicked sand in the teeth of those of us who are not religious, and I wish the best of what he said were being acted on rather than spoken about.

[annabanana]

1. It is a good launching point.

I hope that we shall see steps going in the same direction as the words are pointing.

[Greyhound]

2. Typical American behavior. Things get really bad (we allow an illiterate moran to carry out a coup)

Then we elect a man that speaks in complete sentences but continues the trend away from liberty and toward the corporate state, and we compliment ourselves on how much better it is now.

It's not better, it only sucks a little less.

[magellan]

4. Less sucky, more appetizing...same heartburn

I agree with you, Greyhound. The words are great, but actions count more than words. For example, this article is in LBN right now:

US objects to UN report on military killings
By FRANK JORDANS, Associated Press Writer Frank Jordans, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jun 3, 1:56 pm ET

GENEVA – The Obama administration charged Wednesday that a U.N. investigator violated his mandate by accusing the U.S. of failing to properly investigate allegations of unlawful killings by American forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Philip Alston, the U.N. Human Rights Council's investigator on extrajudicial executions, claimed that while some killings are investigated and lead to prosecutions, others aren't or result in lenient sentences.

Alston, a New York University law professor, is the U.N. Human Rights Council's so-called special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions. The post, which is unpaid except for expenses, gives him broad scope to investigate alleged abuses. Alston has probed the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Other U.N. investigators have examined the extraordinary rendition of terror suspects around the world.

~snip~
In his report made public last week, Alston cited the case of Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer, convicted of negligent homicide in the death of Abed Hamed Mowhoush, an Iraqi general who had turned himself in to military authorities. Mowhoush suffocated after his head was covered with a sleeping bag and an electrical cord wrapped around his neck. Welshofer was fined and ordered reprimanded, without jail time.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3907157

[LWolf]

25. "Less bad" is still BAD.

I don't know why that's such a hard concept to grasp. :(

[Uzybone]

3. If his speech corresponded with reality there would be no speech

if all the problems he mentioned were already solved, you'd have nothing to complain about.

[davidswanson]

5. please don't pretend to miss the point

he didn't say we have a policy of building massive permanent bases in your countries but i hope to change that in some future decade

he said we don't want any bases

he didn't say i wish we could treat you respectfully but unfortunately you've got lots of oil and good spots for bases

he said it's our responsibility to stay and "help" because we do respect them

my point is how different it would be if we really did respect them and really didn't want bases

[Uzybone]

7. Its a start, we've been exploiting them for almost a century

They are just words at this point but we have to start somewhere. Great changes in human history often began with just words.

[bigtree]

6. redrawing city boundaries . . .

I completely missed that, David. Can you point me to the report, please?

The op was on the spot, as usual. (5th rec) I wonder, sometimes, why I bother to relate all of that you described with kid gloves here.

[davidswanson]

19. here

http://votersforpeace.us/press/index.php?itemid=1784

[bigtree]

22. much thanks

. . . and thank you very much for your activism and efforts.

The death of the referendum is something I'd heard whispered, but there it is . . . predictable betrayal and lies from the autocrat - predictable duplicity from members of the Iraqi parliament.

___"We promise a lot of things we don't deliver," says one Iraqi member of parliament when asked about the poll.

'We've never known how to be guests'

[Political Tiger]

8. Yes, things were so much better under Bush......

Damn that Obama! Four months and he hasn't fixed everything yet! What the hell is he waiting for?

[bigtree]

9. Is that strawman you've built giving you trouble again?

All he needs is a brain.

[Greyhound]

10. First instance. Thanks for making the point. n/t

[frog92969]

12. It's not the things he hasn't done,

it's the things he has done that work against the things he needs to do.
He's planted obstacles to his own professed agenda.
The patience argument is BS

[Individualist]

11. K&R

[balantz]

13. Everything said by this administration is a farce to me until it can be admitted that the U.S.

is engaged in corporate imperialism and cares not for the suffering people of the world and instead hides its twisted agenda behind such noble sounding memes as "Fostering Democracy".

How many more will be murdered?

What about getting food to Gaza? NOW!!!

And who really believes that al Qaeda got past our airforce on 9/11? So much horror continues because of that lie.

[MasonJar]

14. david, I hope that you forward these communiques to the White House.

[latebloomer]

15. K&R

So far his actions have contradicted these words.

[KoKo]

16. I can understand what he is doing... He's certainly a Poweful Speaker with a Message

that seems far different from Bush/Cheney. I guess it remains to be seen how it will be viewed over there. Over here it's a news cycle to feed the Repugs and get ratings for the Cables for a week over what he said and what it has to do with Israel.


I think with America's demise (due to our Debts and fallen Status because of de-regulation and these wars) Obama is the best "Brand Man for Marketing" we could have found to reassure the world about America's fallen status and to hope the ME Powehouse Investors and the Chinese and others will still buy our "Bonds and hope for Peace." The cynical amongst us are starting to have grave worries...

We shall see if Branding and Marketing can still keep us strong with this Magnificent Orator...who sadly seems to be run by Goldman-Sachs. It might be a masterful move by Center for American Progress/Brookings/DLC...but I wonder if they aren't all just living in the 90's and not seeing how bad the situtation is that Bush/Cheney/NeoCons/Fundamentalists/Norquist and the rest have put us in.

It's a real power struggle to the death...who knows how it can turn out. Are figureheads with PR enough to turn the tide..when our "fundamentals" are so terrible.

We need to cut the WAR/DEFENSE BUDGET...but I'm betting that SS/Medicare/Medicaid will take those cuts long before we see anything from the Defense (Military Industrial Complex) take the necessary hits to get our country back in the green on the balance books and in the eyes of the world as having credibility and not seen as a street beggar with the hat held out and a vending machine in the background.

[bertman]

17. Television. Charismatic President of the Empire. Roman circus circa 2009.

Next, the gladiators will perform. Followed by lions feasting on the homeless.

Excellent, David. As usual.

Recommend

[ProgressIn2008]

26. Bravo, +100 -- exactly so. The politics of bread and circuses. Maybe without the bread part. nt

[Time for change]

18. Whereas I agree with what you say here

his speech gives me hope that it will be followed by the actions you speak of.

[davidswanson]

20. pandora

shoulda kept her box shut

[blindpig]

24. Bingo.

:thumbsup:

[Larry Ogg]

21. Try striping away the ideology in his speech and see what you come up with.

I personally found it too be “spellbinding” in the extreme.

[Time for change]

27. I think there was a lot there, even after stripping away the ideology

First he shows a lot of respect for Muslims. That's very important IMO, given that they are a hated minority among some segments of our population, and that hatred helps to fuel our perpetual war. Speaking of them in the terms that Obama did can help to alleviate that problem:

I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect...

As a student of history, I also know civilization's debt to Islam. It was Islam -- at places like Al-Azhar University -- that carried the light of learning through so many centuries

He gave some semblance of equal legitimacy to the Palestinians, in an effort, I believe, to take a step towards peace in the Middle East:

Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.

And he acknowledged our CIA sponsored coup of Iran's democratically elected government in 1953. That is something that no U.S. president has ever done. I believe that admission of wrongs is the first step towards atoning for them, and I think that this was a big step.

So I think it was an excellent speech in many ways. But in order for it to have a lasting beneficial effect, the words will have to be matched with actions. Showing respect for Muslims with words, while continue to occupy their countries and killing their civilians will not help. I am hopeful that the speech will be an early step towards beginning to match his words with actions.

[BeFree]

23. A kinder, gentler...Empire?

Gonna be some hard promises to keep.

There are elements in this country who hate that Obama tells any truths at all. He would be asking for it were he to tell many more.

What concerns me is that there are some of his enemies claiming they liked his speech. In all honesty they should be pissed and frothing at the mouth. What are the hiding? What do they know that we don't?