The forthcoming visit to Ireland by President Barack Obama will surely garner media attention around the world. When he arrives he will no doubt be treated with the pomp and ceremony usually afforded to royalty. But there may also be some opposition to his visit, perhaps protests from organisations such as the Irish Anti-War Movement over the use of Shannon Airport for rendition flights.
In August 2010 President Obama declared the end of the US combat mission in Iraq, which is a welcome start. However according to records of military traffic released by Shannonwatch, it was business as usual for the US military at Shannon: over a thousand military troop and cargo flights allegedly landed at the airport in 2010.
The Middle East is undergoing enormous changes, most significantly in Egypt, where the people refused to budge until they got rid of their dictator Mubarak. Unlike the western fear of an uprising lead by bearded Islamists, the ordinary Egyptian Christians and Muslims stood in solidarity until they achieved their goal.
Some dictators are easier to depose than others, of course. This is especially true of those rulers propped up for decades by western governments who armed them to the teeth while turning a blind eye to the slaughter of their own people.
Expedient actions
The UN Security Council voted to intervene on behalf of the Libyan rebels against Colonel Gaddafi. But when the Libyan rebels requested a no-fly zone to prevent Gaddafi and his murdering minions from wiping them out, they may have got more than they bargained for.
And that’s where we come back to President Obama, whose actions can at best be described as ‘expedient’. The United States led the first attack on Gaddafi’s forces, before Obama decided to take a back seat and allow the British and the French to continue bombing. In the meantime, the idea of a peace settlement was explored. But negotiating a peace settlement with the likes of Mustafa Abd Al Jalil, Gaddafi’s former Minister of Justice and leader of the rebels’ provisional government, is at best dubious. Is one of Gaddafi’s henchmen really a better alternative?
But Obama has prompted similar questions before. During his election campaign he promised to shut down the controversial Guantanamo Bay detention camp; I think we all know by now this isn’t going to happen. And as regards US-Arab relations, it may be the rock on which he perishes.
Be more decisive
The sickening photos of the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib did nothing to endear the US to the Arab world, and neither does holding suspected terrorists in Guantanamo without access to lawyers or a fair trial. In fact, it has the opposite effect of increasing support for terrorists.
Simply put, Obama needs to be more decisive and live up to his title of ‘Commander in Chief’. It’s not much use having governments of certain countries as allies if their populations are anti-American. The US can help this but stopping its bombing of Yemen, ending drone attacks on Pakistan, withdrawing its support for dictators in the Middle East, ending support for repression in Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, ending the occupation of Afghanistan, and withdrawing military support for Israel which is used against the Palestinians.
The whole of the Middle East is on a knife-edge. Former western allies are now enemies. In this precarious situation, Obama needs to show that he is a leader not only in the United States but also on the international front. Whatever the criticisms of Obama’s policies, the history books will record more than the fact that he’s America’s first African American president. He should set an example as head of the west’s foremost democracy.
Barbara Filah is an intern with Metro Éireann.
