If politics could have been graded, I would have given President Barack Obama ninety over hundred for good intentions and the desire for fair solutions, and ten over hundred for his ability to deliver. Skepticism is a second nature for me, and I have added to my long-standing skepticism a sense of immediate doubt by virtue of my profession in journalism and my pursuit of political news. Today, I look at the U.S President and at what he is trying to achieve in spite of the opposition of both houses of Congress and despite the Democratic majority in them both as well. Then I look at the evil cabal made up of American Likudniks, the extremist lobby, the neoconservatives and the arrogant right-wing media and sometimes feel that what we are witnessing is a third term for George W. Bush (despite the enormous difference in intelligence, ability and political savvy between him and Obama.) I read a review of a book written by Justin Vaisse, entitled ‘Neoconservatism: The Biography of a Movement,” (I did not read the book), in which he mentioned that “on the Afghan issue, neoconservatives are not only the biggest supporters of Obama, but they are also defending the president from other Republican attacks.” This war came to be called the Obama War, after it used to be known as the Bush War. President Obama increased the number of U.S forces in Afghanistan, and described the war there to be a war of necessity, not a war of choice, and to be a ‘good war'. However, he is on his way to lose it, just like George W. Bush did before him. The second thing I noticed is that President Obama put pressure on Netanyahu's government, and insulted the Israeli Prime Minister in two meetings, before surrendering to him in the last meeting, which coincided with the World Cup, and hence was judged to be “Netanyahu 1 – Obama Nil”. I had followed what happened between both men after Obama stopped putting pressure on Netanyahu. However, I owe it to Muhammad Sahimi from the Frontline website for coming up with a smart observation: the U.S President said while commenting on the meeting: “Finally, we discussed issues that arose out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Conference. And I reiterated to the Prime Minister that there is no change in U.S. policy when it comes to these issues. We strongly believe that, given its size, its history, the region that it's in, and the threats that are leveled against us -- against it, that Israel has unique security requirements.” Thus, the U.S president spoke about his country and Israel using the word ‘us', before correcting himself by saying “it.” Hypothetically speaking, the possibility of an Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear installations that might also drag in the United States has declined, after the Obama administration managed to persuade Israel that Iran is facing difficulties in its nuclear program, and that it has enough uranium to produce two nuclear bombs only, at least a year from now; arguably, this gives the two countries time to work on dealing with the situation using other methods. Last week, the New York Times quoted Gary Samore, the U.S President's adviser on nuclear issues as the source of this information on Iran's program, and that Israel had been convinced of the U.S stance. However, this news arouse my suspicions. Should I accept it at face value, or should I deal with it as being an attempt to convince Iran that the risk of a strike has faded so that it reduces its level of readiness, before being surprised by a strike? Since I still believe in the good intentions of President Obama, I find it very unlikely that he might collude with Israel. Nevertheless, I do not rule out the strike itself. This is because Israel has been lying so much in the Iranian issue, that it has come to believe its own lies. Consequently, the strike [for Israel] is important for its own sake, and is also important to divert attentions away from a solution between the Palestinians and Israel, away into a situation that might lead to a full scale war in the Middle East. I can tell the readers about the activities of hundreds of centers, institutions and organizations that call for a war against Iran, led by the United States on behalf of Israel, and I can present what hundreds of Likudniks, neoconservatives and extremists of all castes write, and even what some of the traditional press writes, to promote such a war. President Obama encourages these extremists, and perhaps he will notice what happened and correct his stances at some point. When he was sworn into office and said that “we look forward, not backwards”, he left the war cabal and its supporters free to continue their extremism, and to take us back to the atmosphere that preceded the war on Iraq, including all the fabrications, suppression of intelligence information and the media that is complicit to the extent of participating in the crime. Tomorrow, I shall continue with the history that is repeating itself. [email protected]
