This is true, but the president-elect did not abide by it. He has gathered his economic team to advance a basket of incentives intended to stimulate the economy after the stifling financial crisis; he has even "lobbied" congressmen to approve his bailout plans.
Obama was quick to nominate Timothy Geithner, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as Secretary of Treasury, Larry Summers, former Treasury Secretary under Clinton, as Director of National Economic Council, and Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, to chair the (new) Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Is an Arab commentator allowed to state his opinion in this team? Geithner is the apprentice of Summers, who is the ally of Robert Robin, former Secretary of Treasury in the Clinton administration, which destroyed Citibank in its following term. The administration assisted the bank with $45 billion, but it may need many fold this figure to avoid bankruptcy. What is common among these people is that they were behind the attempts to deregulate money markets, thus unleashing greed, abuse and speculations that led to the financial disaster. Now Obama is tasking those responsible for the crisis with the mission of resolving it.
The infection of the U.S. economy spilled over to the global economy. This issue affects us as does U.S. foreign policy.
Foreign politics, particularly in the Middle East, may live up to expectations. What we know so far is encouraging: the new president prefers dialogue. He promised to deal with the issue of the Middle East as of his first day in office. His choices, whether in the State Department, National Security Council or advisors, are all good, with the exception of Rahm Emanuel appointed as White House Chief of Staff. Emanuel is an Israeli extremist, who claimed to have renounced his Israeli citizenship when he turned 18 though he did join the Israeli Army in the first Gulf War (1990-1991) at the age of 31. Emanuel's position in the White House puts him in daily contact with the president and gives him the ability to influence his decisions.
Another negative point is my fear that the black president may try to prove he is "whiter" than white people. His speech at the Jewish Lobby (AIPAC) was worse than that of John McCain and Hillary Clinton. He described Jerusalem as the unified capital of Israel. But I considered that an electoral stand. Then on his visit to Israel last summer, he gave Israel the right to retaliate against the rockets of the resistance. In Sderot, he said that had the family house been shelled with rockets with his two daughters inside, he would have followed Israel's retaliatory suit. Yet he won the presidency and kept his electoral position. Last week, when asked in a TV show about his opinion about the Israeli attack on Gaza, he did not change his position. After that, he met with the extreme US-Israeli right-wings trying to sway them after they had accused him of being a secret Muslim, not an American, attacking him in Likudi insolence.
In spite of all this, I open a new page with the new president today. I will only judge what he will say while in office. I will also limit myself to the Middle East and the Palestinian cause in particular. Arabs are, like me, worn out and, after what happened, do not have the luxury to care about the environment or Tibetan rights.
I wish President Obama success on every level so the U.S. can restore its reputation as leading nation in democracy and human rights. Perhaps the surprise would be pleasant this time.
*Published in the London-based AL-HAYAT on Jan. 20. |
