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The Syrian Flag

Friday, July 25, 2008

“ICH BIN EIN OBAMA”

“ICH BIN EIN OBAMA”



This was the title that MSNBC’s Countdown used for its segment on Obama’s visit to Germany reminding us of the famous phrase “Ich bin ein Berliner” (“I am a Berliner”) from the famous U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s speech in Berlin in 1963, in which he stated the support of the United States for West Germany shortly after the Soviet-supported Communist state of East Germany erected the Berlin Wall as a barrier between the two states.


This title really describes the spirit and the energy of Obama’s visit during which he spoke in front of more than 200,000 people in Berlin. During that speech he looked more than a presidential candidate, he looked, well, presidential. Or even more than presidential.


The last time a U.S president spoke in Berlin – President Reagan - he was greeted with 25,000 protesters smashing windows and fighting police in a protest against Reagan's international policies. Obama’s Germans, on the other hand, were cheering for him.


Every time a US president appeared somewhere in the world outside the US, he was followed by protesters and demonstrations. But there is something about Obama. He merely a presidential candidate, and yet people listened to him as a president. A loved US president, which is something that we rarely see.


The world has casted their votes. They want Obama. I have never seen something like it before. Is Obama going to be the first Global president?


In his speech, Obama said:


“…. The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes, natives and immigrants, Christians and Muslims and Jews, cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.”


Obama is aiming towards tearing down the walls that separated America from the rest of the world. He acknowledged that America has made so many mistakes, and he’s asking the world through the people of Germany for a new beginning. And the world seems to agree.


This has turned out to be a very interesting election. All the Us elections before were US elections when nobody cared about them except maybe some of the American people and some of the foreign governments abroad. But this year’s election is truly a global one. Not only are all the American people interested in it, but also the whole world.


Is it going to be really a change that we can believe in?









Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Obama and Change

I have always been amazed by the American presidential elections. And
since this year’s election is the first one that I witness while I’m in the US,
I was watching it very closely.

I was so fortunate that this year’s election was so exciting and mind
blowing. I started this election supporting Hillary Clinton. Well, supporting
her only in my mind since I’m not an American citizen and my support isn’t worth
a dime. I supported Hillary because I have always preferred the Democratic party
over its Republican counterpart even though I am positively sure that they are
only two faces of the same coin, but the Republican way of showing the love to
Israel makes think twice of their candidates.

I supported Hillary because I thought that if Obama won the nomination the
presidency would go automatically to McCain since Americans will never vote to a
black guy to be their president - or so I was told. But in the last few months
many things made me change my mind.

Obama seemed very different. He seemed to inspire people who have
never before cared about politics. He inspired songs and themes. Change now
seemed more likely to come. Yes We Can, was the song that made me change my mind
and think that a "black" guy could actually have a very good chance to get to
the White House.

I started reading about Obama's history and background. I thought to myself
that this man is the one who would give politics a different taste.
and since he spent a lot of years living abroad I thought he might have a real
idea of what the world is really made of "and by world I mean the world
and not only the United States as most Americans understand when they say the
word world". I thought that he may actually understand the Middle East issue and
know how to solve it. He is not going to be all pro-Israel, or so I
thought.


"Couric: ... Was it appropriate, in your view, for Israel to take out that
suspected Syrian nuclear site last year?


Obama: Yes. I think
that there was sufficient evidence that they were
developing– a site using a
nuclear– or using a– a blueprint that was similar to
the North Korean model.
There was some concern as to what the rationale for that
site would be. And,
again, ultimately, I think these are decisions that the
Israelis have to
make. But– you know, the Israelis live in a very tough
neighborhood where– a
lot of folks– publicly– proclaim Israel as an enemy and
then act on those
proclamations. And– I think that– you know, it– it's important
for– for me
not to– you know, engage in speculation on what steps they need to
take.
What I can do is to provide leadership– so that the United States
government
hopefully doesn't get us into a position where– those decisions are
so
difficult. That's why applying tough diplomacy, direct diplomacy, and tough
sanctions– where necessary is so important"

I read this interview on Syria Comment the other day and it really made me wonder if Obama was really
who I thought he was.

First of all, saying that Israel has the right to penetrate another country's
airspace and throw bombs on buildings inside that country to defend
itself is very stupid. If we are going to follow this logic, Syria then has the
right too to fly its aircrafts into Israel and bomb their nuclear reactor. After
all, Israel's nuclear facility actually exists and fully operates, and not an
empty deserted building as the Syrian one was. I'm not going
to go into discussing if that Syrian building was indeed going to
be a nuclear reactor or not because that doesn't make any difference.

There are international institutions to deal with these
matters. Syria and Israel are members of the United Nations and whatever
concerns Israel had about that building they should have asked the UN to
investigate and deal with it.

Obama's campaign was all about the mistakes of going to Iraq and
fighting wars that are not necessary to the safety of the American people. but
after reading his response to that answer I think that he has lost his
credibility because you can't be anti prevention war and then make excuses
for actions that could start a war.

I don't know what Obama has to say about that. But as for me I still think
that a Democratic president in the White House is going to be a lesser burden on
the Arabs than a Republican one.

I hope that I am right

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