Spring Break
Unlike Bush's, Obama's foreign policy choices sensible
Ben Tarr
Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: Commentary
President Barack Obama's first 100 days in office will be busy and perhaps tumultuous. He is taking on a tanking economy and the American military is involved in two wars that require precise planning if we are to emerge victorious. In addition, our nation's unemployment rate is, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, currently 7.2 percent. Yet, President Obama is working in earnest to repair America's image abroad, and it is greatly needed.
In order to create a lasting security arrangement in the Middle East, America must win over not just Israel, but the surrounding Arab states as well. Obama is putting his best foot forward so far, by reaching out to the Arab world, and by giving his first full interview as President to Arab television network al-Arabiya. If the United States is to be trusted as an "honest broker" in solving the Middle East conflicts, it must remain strong behind Israel while working to grant the Palestinians a state and promising a withdrawal from Iraq as soon as possible. Obama said, in his interview that, "My job in the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy." This is essential in gaining the trust of the Arab world.
Obama's tone brings a welcome change from the saber-rattling of the Bush Administration. While it is of the utmost importance to be firm and resolute and to use all America's resources against America's enemies, we must clearly define who our enemies are. In Bush's 2002 State of the Union address, he listed off a variety of states that are sponsors of terrorism or who harbor those individuals and said, "States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil." It is correct to label terrorist organizations as "evil," yet generalizing this label to apply to states isolates the moderates within those lands.
It is likely true that when Bush labeled Iran as a member of the "axis of evil," he was not referring to all of the people of Iran, but he should have communicated the difference. When one person labels another as "evil," the prospects for peace dwindle.
In order to create a lasting security arrangement in the Middle East, America must win over not just Israel, but the surrounding Arab states as well. Obama is putting his best foot forward so far, by reaching out to the Arab world, and by giving his first full interview as President to Arab television network al-Arabiya. If the United States is to be trusted as an "honest broker" in solving the Middle East conflicts, it must remain strong behind Israel while working to grant the Palestinians a state and promising a withdrawal from Iraq as soon as possible. Obama said, in his interview that, "My job in the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy." This is essential in gaining the trust of the Arab world.
Obama's tone brings a welcome change from the saber-rattling of the Bush Administration. While it is of the utmost importance to be firm and resolute and to use all America's resources against America's enemies, we must clearly define who our enemies are. In Bush's 2002 State of the Union address, he listed off a variety of states that are sponsors of terrorism or who harbor those individuals and said, "States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil." It is correct to label terrorist organizations as "evil," yet generalizing this label to apply to states isolates the moderates within those lands.
It is likely true that when Bush labeled Iran as a member of the "axis of evil," he was not referring to all of the people of Iran, but he should have communicated the difference. When one person labels another as "evil," the prospects for peace dwindle.
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