In the wake of the flinging of shoes at President Bush, the Arab and Muslim worlds see more need than ever for a fresh US strategic vision, writes Gamal Nkrumah The paradox about the awkward position of outgoing United States President George W Bush is that he is both a giant and a midget. When compared to US President-elect Barack Obama in the international arena, he stands as a political dwarf. It would have taken a heart of stone not to smile at the sight of Bush ducking a pair of shoes flung at him. Yet just because Bush has stumbled badly for the duration of his presidency does not mean that his assailant was on the right track. Washington must walk a tightrope. The stars-in-their-eyes neocons, reeling from the blow delivered to them by the Democrats, received a mortifying knockout with the shoes- in-their-face shock by the Baghdad journalist who hurled what he and many of his compatriots conceived as combat boots at the very personification of American puissance. Bush might have ducked the now notorious shoes, but the stink they kicked up will linger as the most comic episode of the Bush legacy of folly. The rising tide of insecurity in American hearts and minds is inextricably intertwined with the abrasive foreign policies of the Bush administration. Americans now understand that they do not live in a bubble of security, thanks largely to President Bush. Pure common sense would suggest that Bush should never have set foot in the Muslim heartlands after his farcical debacles in Iraq and Afghanistan. The real irony, and tragedy, is that the invasion and occupation of Iraq was totally irrelevant to the US-led international war against terror. As President-elect Obama has reiterated on several occasions, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the cores of militant Islam. The Bush adventure in Iraq was a disaster for the Iraqi people, an affront to their national dignity and sovereignty. The cost to America of the occupation of Iraq is taking a toll. Obama is doing much more to enhance long-term American security than Bush ever did. Iraq was the Bush administration's tinderbox. With Obama at the helm, America can go back to being a giant once again. However, the Obama administration would have to undo everything Bush has done. The Bush administration poured huge financial and bureaucratic resources into the Iraq adventure. The Bush invasion of Iraq was based on a mischievous rumour that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, vigorously denied by the administration of late Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein. Now, frazzled American diplomats are at a loss to describe the import of the hurling of shoes at their outgoing president. The wacky fling was, to put mix metaphors, the last nail in Bush's coffin. Hours of back- to-back meetings cannot redeem the humbled US leader. The world is watching to see Obama correct Bush's blunders. America's interests are the world's interests too. That much is understood by Obama, it is presumed. Clear-sighted American politicians are speaking out in favour of a more tender and affectionate foreign policy. And that should not necessarily be mistaken for being soft and ignoring any vile regime. There has to be a quid pro quo. What end will it ultimately serve? It must prompt a better, more just and more humane world and a prosperous, more peaceful and secure Iraq. Diplomatic niceties can be substitute for tough political action. Indeed, it is time to toughen up the rules against America's neocons and their rabid imperialist adventurism. The world's problems often have a single root cause. Many boil down to America throwing its weight about. Though stepping unconditionally into the limelight, the shoe- thrower of Baghdad does not constitute a threat to the symptoms of the crises created by Bush. Simply hurling shoes at the outgoing US president will not make the Bush legacy vanish. Vital as it may be to stem the suffering of the people of Iraq, it must not be at the expense of the nascent Iraqi democratic process. Iraqi democracy, nonetheless, must not blindly mimic America's. As tens of thousands of Iraqis fell victim to the outrages unleashed by the American occupation of Iraq, the courageous Iraqi journalist was capable by a single act of sheer spleen to convey the true feelings of millions of Iraqis, Arabs and peace-loving peoples around the world. It is time for the wider world, and not just Arab and Muslim nations, to state clearly the consequences of the arrogance and folly of both Bush and those allies giving him succour.
