MUCH has been written about President Barack Obama’s first year in office; the disappointments, the frustrations and the unfulfilled promises. The first African-American to be elected to the highest office in the strongest country on earth promised change — and many believed. Obama promised to tame the monster that is Washington, but with his job approval ratings dipping fast, it appears that the ghoul had survived the first round and was not flummoxed by the young challenger. America has changed little, many would sadly conclude.
President Obama has recognized his shortcomings and as he prepares for his first State of the Union address, he is looking for ways to reinvigorate the public and rally the believers. It is vital that he succeeds in his efforts. After eight years of Bush policies and the world’s worst financial crisis in decades — still not over — few believed that Obama can turn things around in few months, even a year. Those who did were naive and a bit audacious!
After all, Washington is the nerve center of a complex system of government that sometimes appears to be evolving on its own. To change its course or priorities is a mammoth task of herculean nature; Obama can certainly try and may even set off a spark or two, but to reform the system, one may have to bring it down first! Obama is no revolutionary. He is a product of that system and his intentions, good as they may be, will not suffice. This is probably the bitter lesson that the young president has learned on his first year in the Oval Office.
To be fair to the man, he inherited a heap of problems. That is one reason for his historic arrival to the White House in the first place. By the time he checked in, America was fighting two wars, three if you count the open-ended war on terror. The economy was limping and millions of Americans had lost their jobs or homes, or both. A bevy of other challenges was also hanging heavy over his head; relations with Russia, China and the Muslim world, a whopping trade and budget deficits, energy, global warming, health reform, the Middle East and many others.
And he could not get a reprieve. He was expected to deal with all on day one. Charm and charisma had to be sidelined. The American people, and the rest of the world, had had their fill of promises and illusory happy endings. To deal with any of these tenacious issues, Obama had to play hard ball; tough, compromising, sometimes accommodating and sometimes plain dirty politics.
HE must have been disappointed with the early feedback. None of the immediate challenges he faced was easy. To put the economy back on track he had to face head-on the banks, the politicians on their payroll, a skeptical media, the public and the consequences of his new policies. The Republicans were not helping either. Every move he made was immediately scrutinized by his political foes.
Obama was supposed to make a choice few months back, which apparently he did not. He had to show that he was a tough customer, a fighter who was determined to carry out his vision, and promise, even if it meant that he was risking getting his mouth bloodied and hands soiled. He did not. He backed down and even worse he compromised and chose the middle, believing it was the safest, path to tread.
WE saw this in Afghanistan, the Middle East and now in Iraq. And when he did bow to pressure or faced up to a challenge, he chose wrongly, as it happened with the administration’s response to the attempted terrorist attempt on Christmas Day. Obama chose to appease the hard-liners and by doing so he tossed his goodwill message to the Muslim world out of the window.
Obama’s job is an unforgiving one. There is a risk of quickly losing sight of one’s objectives and becoming hostage to one’s aides, advisers and strategists. If this has happened to Obama then he will probably emerge as the weakest president in modern US history. His weakness will not stem from his indecisiveness, although that is a major factor, but from the fact that he will become entirely dependent on the advice and counsel of his closest aides. He will lose the guiding force that brought him to Washington in the first place.
By the same token he also risks becoming a pawn in the larger political chessboard. The specter of a military defeat in Afghanistan will only summon more misadventures, misdeeds and mishaps. An unexpected turn of events in Iraq, for the worse, will only delay America’s departure from a country it destroyed and mangled, but not without sustaining indelible scars itself.
And allowing distrust, hatred and suspicion to fester between the United States and the Muslim world, will be the biggest blunder of all, forcing generations of young people on both sides of the divide to undergo an unnecessary clash of civilizations and cultures that promises to poison the entire planet.
Obama is at the crossroads today. He can still hope to battle the dragon that is Washington and breach its indomitable stonewalls, or he can surrender to its demons and let it dictate the course of his remaining three years in office.
He has a choice, but no matter which one he takes he will suffer! The difference is that he can be loyal to his promises and beliefs, and the millions who believe in him, or he can sit back and let the “experts” lead. Eight years of Bush years should have taught him better. He can either lead or pretend to; it’s a big difference!
— Osama Al Sharif is a veteran journalist and political commentator based in Jordan.
