Will Obama Inherit Bush's Messed-Up Middle East?

Posted by Nicholas Joseph on 05.12.2008

Bush’s divinely appointed crusade of spreading democracy in the Middle East has backfired, and in the process further destabilized the region, and made the world a more dangerous place in which to live.

Senator Barack Obama edges closer to putting his beastly rival, Hillary Clinton's contentious and vicious nomination fight to its fitting end. When he takes over the reigns of the Democratic Party machinery, as its nominee, Bush's muddled international policy would have enveloped more territory in the Middle East.

Media Reports indicate that Hezbollah has taken over Western Beirut, including Sunni leader Harri's TV station and the area surrounding his headquarters. Some analysts predict that they could follow the path of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and try to take over the city. There have been at least 15 dead after three days of fighting and the Bush administration considers a response. "The United States is consulting with other governments in the region and with the UN Security Council about measures that must be taken to hold those responsible for the violence in Beirut accountable," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.

What all this means is that by January 2009, when the next US President takes the oath of office, be it Senator Obama or Senator McCain, the world will be a more dangerous place to live in. More importantly, it will reveal that Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive strikes, tough talk and no negotiations; "fight them over there so they won't fight us over here;" and his so called divinely appointed crusade of spreading democracy in the Middle East; has backfired, and in the process further destabilized the region, and made the world a more dangerous place in which to live.

Conversely, on the home front, Americans will be focused as in previous elections on electing a President that can tackle the dire economic calamities left in George W. Bush's wake. Skyrocketing fuel prices with their negative impact on food prices across the globe; plummeting jobs; a mortgage crisis in which thousands are losing their homes daily; mismanagement of resources that have left states scrambling for cash to deal with crumbling bridges and dilapidated infrastructure – while Bush was throwing away billions of dollars on a criminal war in Iraq – and an immigration crisis tailored more on fear of others than on finding real solutions to a broken and archaic system.

For all those Americans who do not quite understand the economics of war and fuel prices, let me digress here just a bit to inform you that the present crisis in oil prices is a direct derivative from the Iraq War, unleashed upon our world by George W. Bush, assisted by his little pet hound, Tony Blair, who by the way has received the boot of the British people squarely planted on his equally messy behind. Economists all agree that the volatility associated with the Iraq War is responsible for the fuel prices that we Americans are paying at the pump today. Economists had projected that even with the rising demand for oil, steel and other construction materials in China and India, that the pre-War price of 26 dollars per barrel of oil, would have remained quite stable near that figure for the next two decades. Bush's Iraq War put an end to that projection, and has unleashed suffering upon millions of people all around the globe.

The contrasts emerging from this pending election battle between Obama and McCain could not be clearer. Obama is offering change and a new direction in both the way business is done in Washington and the manner in which these new policies will impact business across the globe. McCain has promised to continue Bush's destructive Iraq War, for at least "a hundred more years" if necessary. His recent gaffs when dealing with the Middle East issues reveal that while he is a respected war hero and has visited the region on numerous occasions, he, unlike Obama, is aloof and uninformed about the intricate depths and the dynamics of the problems of the Middle East. He possesses a very pedestrian understanding of the related intricacies, given his sparse reading and limited intelligence quota. Obama will leave him light years behind in the domain of the comprehension of such issues and their intricacies, and their importance to American interests in the Region. On economic matters, McCain will be the first to admit that it is simply not his "cup of coffee." Some straight talk from a man who prides himself as a frank player, but whom Obama has fingered as perhaps having lost the campaign wheels of his ‘straight talk express.' In fact, according to Obama, McCain may even have "lost his bearings," when he attempted recently to link him to Hamas. I sense some serious signs of senility here.

In his defense, the McCain campaign in its opening salvo demonstrated its nervousness and edginess about its candidate's age and the impending image crisis, when pictures of the two candidates were posted side by side, and quickly went on the offensive by suggesting that Obama was making McCain's age, 71, a campaign issue. Obama of course responded, and correctly so, that while this was not his intention, the inescapable reality was that to people who cared about the future of the United States of America, Senator McCain's age was a relevant political issue. The fact that his campaign went on the defensive shows that they are fully aware that his advanced age is a liability and not an asset. Age is not always a number. In high stress jobs such as that of the presidency of the United States of America, one's age is unavoidably a major factor. It cannot be summarily dismissed as unimportant or irrelevant. We need a president with tremendous reserves of stamina, unquestionable mental fortitude and one who is quick on his feet. And these are just a few of the qualities that must characterize the person who will take the call on the White House's Red Phone at 3:00 a.m. in the morning. In this highly multitasking environment the President must be completely plugged in, more thoroughly energized than the Energizer Bunny, and absolutely must have the physical and mental capacities to awaken to the 3.00 a.m. Red Phone call with relative alacrity, youthfulness and combativeness.

What this primary election cycle has taught us, if nothing else, is that Obama can weather the storms of brutal, diabolical, destructive and sometimes very personal attacks, that could cause any seventy-one year old to simply lose it. He has demonstrated an amazing calmness; a reassuring ability to stay focused in difficult personal situations, even when the character assassination arsenal was unleashed and permeated his atmosphere. Barack has confronted such contrived tribulation head on, and has remained "presidential" to the end. More importantly, Obama, a shining example of America's Gigabytes generation, has exhibited his profound mastery of the issues facing our times and his unique ability and talent to make quick analyses. It is to Bill Clinton's great credit that he observed from Day One, the masterful and "brilliant organizational skills and talent" that Barack exudes, and made no bones about admitting it, which must secretly have been much to Hillary's petty chagrin.

Proper and intelligent reading and interpretation of the President's briefing papers is critical to proper and responsible decision making, an area in which President George W. Bush, McCain's younger mentor, failed miserably, unnecessarily costing America thousands of lives in Iraq, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives, and the further hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and American citizens who will languish in infirmity for life. Such is the Bush legacy that the ageing McCain has signaled that he would hope to perpetuate in America's corridors of power.

Yes, this is a campaign in which temperament matters. We will say no more on this issue for now, except to reiterate that our next President will have the daunting task of profoundly reshaping Middle-East policy.

To be continued!