Obama for a third term

Nearly a century after Woodrow Wilson, Barack Hussain Obama follows his suit. The 55-year outgoing American leader has decided against leaving Washington, DC. As a norm, the former presidents neither stay in the capital nor comment on the incumbent administration’s policies. The dread of his legacy being wiped off is inhibiting the country’s first coloured president. Add to that the regret of being unable to deliver on his yes-we-can promise.

“After my election, there was talk of a post- racial America. And such a vision, however well intended, was never realistic,” Obama told a charged audience listening to his farewell speech in Chicago on Wednesday. The tone of his parting message was of grievance instead of pride. His once captive audience had now became reactive.

Remember his words uttered in California with testimonial fervour on February 4, 2008, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Like southern preachers, Obama went on to deliver his message with priestly power of oratory: “What began as a whisper has now swelled to a chorus that cannot be ignored, that will not be deterred, that will ring out across this land as a hymn that will heal this nation, repair this world, make this time different than all the rest. Yes we can!”

The self-styled political redeemer of yesteryear wasn’t truly candid about his performance. Now a grey-haired realist veteran, Obama is leaving America in the hands of his polar opposite, Donald J Trump. Debatable it is as to how much the 44^th US president can be blamed for the orange-coloured billionaire’s appeal and to what extent political decay within the Democratic Party is responsible. Did people react to his policies or burgeoning white racism? Ostensibly, Obama’s decision to stay back and reorganise the party and mobilise youth is an act of seeking clemency for exaggerated but sincere pledges.

Obama hit a chord with Muslims globally owing to his message of ‘change’ and the diversity his skin colour embodied. Numerous Muslims including Pakistanis found a symbol of hope and understanding. His promise of appointing a special envoy on Jammu and Kashmir touched stunned Kashmiris and Pakistanis while agitating Indians. He unambiguously vowed to shut Guantanamo Bay prison. He sought borders of Israel and Palestine be based on the 1967 lines but only once. The rhetoric proved too good to be realised, creating pervasive dismay. No doubt Obama became president of the world’s sole superpower, Muslims of the world conveniently ignored that each time, the American people gave him the mandate to rule the country. He was neither a caliph nor a redeemer of the world. His first and foremost duty was to safeguard and upturn his country’s interest. Thus, let’s be clear that the man must be judged against global challenges from prism of American interests.

To his credit, the 44^th president revived the economy after the worst recession in 80 years; and businesses created 15 million new jobs. Climate change became a rallying cry and clean energy production doubled in the US. Not only a larger number of American troops returned home but also Osama bin Laden was assassinated. The Obamaians proudly claim that no foreign terrorist outfit could execute an attack on the country’s soil. Besides normalising relations with neighbouring Cuba, Iran could be convinced through diplomacy to open its reactor for international inspections in adherence to nuclear non-proliferation commitments. Last but not the least, the Obamacare brought health insurance to the highest number of Americans in history.

Within the larger Middle East, Barack Obama is not remembered for the feats his team boasts of. The Nobel Peace Laureate’s critics say drone strikes killed hundreds of innocent people in violation of international law and norms of sovereignty. Guantanamo population might have shrunk but it will remain open. Though Washington didn’t veto the UNSC resolution against Jewish settlements, Israel continuously received military, political and diplomatic support in past eight years. The US made no serious effort to speed up the peace process. Reckless decision to pull out troops from Iraq and drawdown from Afghanistan led to irreversible surge in sectarian militias and extremism respectively. Obama let chemical Assad dared his red lines with impunity. Washington’s negligible support emboldened Iran and Hezbollah in support of the tyrant regime, eventually leading to full-fledged intervention of Russia. The peaceful political uprising transformed into a multifaceted civil war, with over 300,000 dead and many becoming refugees. The country is an exclave of Russia and Iran while the safest haven for Hezbollah. The administration tilted heavily in favour of India and never recalled its pledge for special envoy on Jammu and Kashmir.

As the White House attempted to ‘reset’ relations with Kremlin, it adopted unduly aggressive posture against Beijing. The Obama administration devised ‘Pivot to Asia’ policy to deter the rise of China as an economic superpower through military build-up. America stoked tensions in the East China Sea while launching full-blown efforts to deploy India as its counterweight. Given Beijing’s policy of non-interference, flexing of military muscle earlier by the Bush administration and later by Obama was an unwarranted stratagem. Militarisation of Asia-Pacific theatre benefits India to cover up its internal weaknesses while keeping the US arms industry afloat.

In sum total, Obama leaves behind an assertive Russia. Vladimir Putin is a Cold War-era KGB realist who is opting for a war of subversion rather than domination. Has there been any global conflict where Moscow did not frustrate Washington’s designs? It launched air strikes against anti-Assad forces in the guise of eliminating the IS. By annexing Crimea, Kremlin also prevented Ukraine from getting cosier with the EU. Moreover, Moscow has not denied working closely with the Taliban apparently against a surge of the IS but in fact to overwhelm the US troops and frustrate its designs. Putin has been emboldened enough to not only a temper with US electoral system but also France’s and Germany’s.

Obama, the activist politician, leaves behind a horrid legacy. Not only the world will have to deal with anarchic Putin but also his racist admirer, Trump. May be a decade later, his autobiography may elucidate as to how the rhetoric crafted with salvific themes evaporated in thin air, leaving behind an America anything but “generous, bighearted, hopeful.” Senator John McCain, who lost the presidential bid to the Chicago Senator in 2008, has reminded his people with words and actions — from Syria to Iran, and Ukraine to Afghanistan — that he is the statesman America deserved.

What makes the Democratic Party establishment so optimistic about Obama turning things around if he could not in eight years at the helm? To be honest, he pretty much has what it takes to do so. He is a veteran at the age of 55. His idealism has received a rude awakening but the man refuses to give up. He is an activist by default and Washington technocrat by training. Above all, his opponents severely lack matching commitment, experience and energy.

Paradoxically, America is right where it was at the time of Obama’s 2008 campaign: then the dejected nation yearned for psychological uplifting. Here is his parting message with a healing touch: “When trust in our institutions is low, we should reduce the corrosive influence of money in our politics, and insist on the principles of transparency and ethics in public service. When Congress is dysfunctional, we should draw our districts to encourage politicians to cater to common sense and not rigid extremes.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 14^th, 2017.

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