I did not like the inauguration of the new U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama (this is how he pronounced his name while taking the oath). And I did not like the speech that he delivered, in which he pledged to completely change virtually everything. This to us means a coup, as we in the Third World got used to seeing everything changed whenever there was some military coup. But since the U.S. knows no military coups, Barak Hussein Obama would do his coup to his country's policies. And since we live in countries that do not know such trite change like Obama's, I do not find myself willing to accept his speech. For what we here are used to, is that whenever a minister comes to power, he stays there for good, not for four years. We here are proud to have ministers that have been around for 20 and 25 years. Some of them date back to the socialist era. This is what gives continuity to our politics and our politicians that do not change unless by an act of God. Obama said he would change the situation in Iraq and give the country back to its people. He would not keep the occupation there to spread democracy, which was the great policy of his predecessor.
And as to Afghanistan, Obama did not say that he will win a landslide victory over Al-Qaeda, but rather that he would work to achieve peace there. And when he talked about Islam, it sounded like he was talking about another religion, not that of violence and terrorism that the previous U.S. administration was talking about. He talked about mutual respect, and expressed his desire to extend his hand in peace to everyone.
Yet the main point of Obama's trite coup - in my opinion - was the philosophy of his rule, whereby his foreign policy would emanate from the desire to defend freedom throughout the world, including the smallest remote village in Africa or Asia, and not from a military invasion under the pretext of imposing democracy. He said the United States should exercise its leadership by providing the example of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights. And the first thing he did was to stop the Guantanamo Bay trials in preparation for closing down that prison within a year at the most. I admired his language. He spoke with a style reminiscent of the speeches of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, as opposed to the linguistic and intellectual spoonerism that we used to hear from the previous administration.
And what made his speech more eloquent was that he was improvising, not reading. This confirms that speeches are still an important element of political leadership in the world, not only in the Arab world.
Some may not know that the man who writes Obama's speeches is only 24 years old. When he was asked if this was a major task for him, he said it was very easy because Obama elaborates for him what he wants to say, as opposed to just briefing him on points. How can the leader of the largest country in the world choose such a young man to write his speeches? These things we cannot fathom here. To us, that new U.S. coup would create chaos. The American people that I fail to understand why they are happy proved able to do coups that are not military. They have something called fair elections (God forbid). We hope they do not export to us this thing and shake our stability.
