The Obama Doctrine...by Jamil Shawwa

President Obama’s speech yesterday  at the opening session of the UN General Assembly in New York City was in my opinion his strongest since he became president. And the timing and the events prior to the speech could not have served him to make the talking points in the speech better. Six weeks before 11/06/2012, the US presidential elections day, and couple of weeks or so after the US ambassador to Libya was killed in a terror attack on the consulate in Benghazi. Obama  laid out to the US and the World a new doctrine in international and US relations moving forward- the slogan of his campaign, Forward. In the US, he could be very well getting over or in his way to get over  a perception by some as being an accidental president that in 2008 came to power when the economy was near collapse and when the international community did not  buy-in into George W. Bush doctrine" either with us or against us. Obama yesterday was out there, no limitations, and no moments of awkwardness, hesitations or discomfort and timidity. As if he was where he likes to be and belong, among people from all over the world and from all backgrounds. He at the podium felt as a plant in its natural habitat. Obama yesterday, as well,  started a new era for America's relations with the world, a relation that throughout recent history, in the past one hundred years, proved vital and detrimental to world peace. In both historic and decisive occaisons in world and human history, America went to war on behalf of and for the free world and against tyranny. It happened in 1914 during the first World War and it happened again in 1942 during the Second World War. and since then, America never disengaged itself from the world that surrounds it or America surrounds. On 09/11/2001, America proved vulnerable to world events, and the thought that no matter what, America will continue to be out of reach of those that can harm it or try to change its way of life, has collapsed. The terror attack on America was the moment that the Bush Doctrine was born, and frankly speaking at the time, probably, there was no other choice" Either with Us or Against Us". That was what Bush said at the opening session of the UN General Assembly on the same day as Obama but  in 2001. 09/11 shocked the world, Afghanistan turned to be a terrorist backward country run by Osama Bin Laden, a spoiled rich family man from Saudi Arabia who was so bored with richness and the empty life in the oppressed Saudi society, that he decided to turn into a terrorist, and of course a gang called Taliban that was created by some intelligence services, some claim the ISI, the Pakistani Services to fight the Soviets and then to create a safe haven , a buffer zone and stands against the powerful tribes in Pakistan. So Bush did not have a choice, the message was strong, America was injured, a lion that roared from pain, a lion that needed to collect its dignity and again has his head high and be ready for a new morning.We went to Iraq and we went to Afghanistan, and arguably, we won in both places. Not a perfect victory yet, of course, in the eyes of many but we won. Last year, in May, Obama gave the orders after the intelligence said that Bin Laden was there, and Bin Laden was killed, US Navy seals took action, went to Pakistan and completed the mission. Obama takes credit, he is the president, as Bush takes credit for getting rid of Saddam in Iraq and Taliban in Afghanistan. Yesterday Obama took the Baton from George W. Bush, and ended the Bush doctrine, which lives now in military and history books, and started what I’m calling the Obama Doctrine, which is You and Us Together....The United States and the world together in fighting terrorism and in creating an environment where people in suppressed societies can get rid of their dictators and then build infrastructure for what could become prosperous societies. America realized the hard way after 2001 that prosperity cannot be one sided, and prosperity cannot live long with dictators and America cannot  unless there is no choice and people accept, cannot accept tyranny that will eventually breed terrorism and will reach the US. In the Middle East where these doctrines have been tested and will be tested, all the 09/11/2001 terrorists and murderers came from oppressed dark societies like Saudi Arabia- oppressed and dark- for the most, and then Egypt and Lebanon- oppressed more than dark. They were all Sunni Muslims, the traditional allies of the United States and the heart of Islam. And then the Movie came, an Egyptian copt, created few minutes mocking and showing hatred to the Prophet Muhammad, and a new mini earthquake started in Arab and Muslim countries. Embassies were attacked, US flags burned in the Streets and people chanting slogans against America. In Libya, gangsters, will known to the libyan government and probably to US intelligence services, went and killed the popular ambassador. And America has nothing to do with movies made. But the Movie raised the discussion on free speech, and as president Obama said during the speech “The future does not belong to those that slander the prophet of Islam, but also the future does not belong to those that deny the Holocaust, or burn churches or slander other prophets..The president also did not ignore Iran and its rhetoric in regard to Israel and its potential nuclear power, he made it clear, not very forcefull though, that he will not allow a nuclear power or weapons Iran. Obama highlighted very eloquently, I thought, The US long standing position for a Two state solution for the State of Israel and the the State of Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza and said that the US stands behind A Jewish State of Israel and an independent prosperous Palestine. In formulating his ideas and his points, Obama did not say that its an American duty but said its a world duty to put the efforts and do something. It is also and more importantly its the people duties in respective countries in the Middle East in particular to own their countries and change things. The thrust again, the US will not do it for you but the US will do it with you.

Oslo! .....by Jamil Shawwa

The first thing that comes to mind to many when mentioning Oslo, is the Oslo agreement between the State of Israel and the PLO, followed by the White House lawn signing ceremony between Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak  Rabin and Shimon Peres in 1993 that to many again mean the first steps to establish a Palestinian State in Gaza and the West Bank. 

But also Oslo means other things, it talks of the psychology in the Middle East and how some Palestinians and Arabs and others think of international agreements and how easily and quickly they could get desperate if things do not work out fine, instantly.

Oslo speaks of those that instead of working to make things happen, they start babbling about what has not happened so far and accordingly, scrapping and canceling agreements or get rid of them and do something else, maybe, it depends on the mood, and how much Scotch they drank and how many Cuban cigars they smoke and burned and puffed, besides other illegal substances- for some in the Middle East.

Oslo also speaks of how some in the Middle East acquaint manhood with violating and eliminating and destroying International commitments and agreements.

Some in the Arab countries in the Middle East, including the West Bank and Gaza, still until this moment praise those that at some point in recent history closed the Suez Canal in the face of international maritime and the same those, in Arab countries, that caused an Arab Israeli war in 1967 that resulted in an unprecedented humiliation and an unprecedented loss of land in an unprecedented number of days in the history of the world, relative to the size and circumstances of these countries.

Those same groups that think that holding a microphone by a demagogue threatening this or that, like Iran now, mounts to real manhood, a real man performing or making ongoing love without interruption- no breaks and no refueling . And that those that call for peace are pussycats with no sense of manhood. 

So instead of building (in Oslo) and building into Oslo, and on top of it, some so called politicians-  many among the Palestinians- and writers and normal humans, are asking for the Palestinians to cancel Oslo, to destroy the foundation, and start something else, or why even bother, start nothing-nothing results in nothing. 

Leadership is tough and it is not for everybody- just ask Mitt Romney- but it is for those with patience and action and talent to inspire and motivate and move mountains, all at the same time.

It is not for those setting in Ivory towers in the Middle East and elsewhere, screaming and saying cancel Oslo. The people in the West Bank and Gaza must start living, not dying, must start a national dialogue among themselves first and then with the State of Israel.

Israel is taking care of its people, do not worry about Israel. The time is now for  the Palestinians to worry about themselves, to look after themselves, to drop claims and politics that will only keep delaying the dream state.

It is time for the Palestinians to brush the dust off the ballot boxes, and go to elections and elect people or force elections of people that can deliver for them. Which means to drop the demagoguery for realistic politics, it means to think and believe that Palestine is and only exists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

All other lands surrounding the West Bank and Gaza are called the following: the State of Israel, the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan, and the Arab Republic of Egypt; Period. Those countries that I have mentioned are not Palestinian lands, Palestine is only the West Bank and Gaza- redundancy is good sometimes. Start from there, and build on the foundation that is called Oslo.

Oslo is not just a piece of paper, it is a roadmap to a state called Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem as an open city and capital for both the State of Israel and the State of Palestine; supposedly.

Bibi Netanyahu: Israel's Chief Lobbyist by Jamil Shawwa

The job of the Prime Minister- the Executive in a parliamentary system- in the State of Israel has been since its independence to make the case and build the support for their country. 

Having said the above , that political functionality is also found with various and different styles and shapes in every truly democratic country, that is a country that places, politics aside, the interests of its citizens above anything external and a political system that its politicians are elected periodically, every four years or so. But that does not mean isolationism, on the contrary , it should mean and for Israel, it has always  meant, pragmatism as well. 

Israel since its independence in 1948,  contrary to some beliefs, has never had an ideologue fanatic prime minister, never. Israel has always had prime ministers who have been very aware of its geopolitics , and the potential and the path that at some point a Palestinian State next to the State  of Israel will be established- The West Bank and Gaza . 

Of course the styles, the maneuvers of the prime ministers from David Ben-Gurion until now with Bibi Netanyahu, differed but not the core politics. 

The prime minister in Israel is the chief executive of the government and Israel’s main and most important spokesperson abroad, but Israel though a normal and original country and has its place among the nations as any other country on earth, has always had the urge and the necessity, politically speaking, to make a case of being forced to apply a “special status” due to its geography in the Middle of Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East and the surrounding areas, that for the most part have not established diplomatic relations with it and have not recognized it formally or as very few, intentionally, create a continuous and dubious hostile propaganda against it. 

Case in point is the media aggression of the Iranian political system towards Israel and their demagoguery and completely politically motivated campaign to discredit the country and even speak of its legitimacy. 

A legitimacy that the Arab and Muslim countries including the Palestinian people have recognized, accepted as  a natural fact of life and geography and politics including the right of the Jewish people to have the state that they are in now. 

In the same token, the right of the Palestinian people to have their own legitimate State in the West Bank and Gaza. 

While attacking Israel daily, Iran is creating a nuclear program that no Israeli prime minister, politically speaking again, can ignore or not lobby against- as Bibi Netanyahu has been doing and did during a TV interview with NBC on Sunday’s Meet the Press when he as news reported, appealed directly to the American people and made the case against delaying a strong response to Iran’s nuclear program and probable nuclear weapons soon, six months, as he put it.

So Iran with its questionable media attacks is indeed providing two important things: first, cementing the role of the prime minister of Israel as the prime lobbyist for their country abroad and the second is Israel’s need to take care of its own nuclear program in addition to the fact that Israel’s position on nuclear power has technical legitimacy over Iran, for the mere fact that it is not a signatory country to the Non-Nuclear Proliferation treaty and Iran is. So technically and realistically, Iran is in violation when it continues to denying inspection and continues to have ambiguity over its nuclear program. and not Israel.

If we drive down or up the road few miles- sometimes it depends where you are, it is a matter of driving few feet- to the Palestinian side, there are no lobbyists making the case for Gaza and the West Bank as Bibi Netanyahu is making the case for his country; The State of Israel. 

As a matter of fact the only clever lobbyist the Palestinians ever had was Yasser Arafat. Regardless of personal opinions, like Bibi, Arafat kept going like a clever salesman, Master Salesman. The West Bank and Gaza need a chief lobbyist now not tomorrow.


More on Israel, Netanyahu and the job of the PM in Israel:

Pease with the State of Israel without a Rabin and without an Olmert

Bibi and Ehud and a Journey inside the politics of the State of Israel

Israel from 1947 UN 181 to 2016 UNSC 2334

The Middle East is on Fire...Updates by Jamil Shawwa

Here are the latest; if any of these mobs or demonstrators in the Middle East or elsewhere take American hostages, then, probably, Obama needs to say goodbye to a second term. 

Check links below.

09/13/2012 The Ghost of Jimmy Carter...by Jamil Shawwa
http://www.arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-ghost-of-jimmy-carterby-jamil-shawwa.html
09/12/2012 The Night The Ambassador Was Killed by Jamil Shawwa
http://www.arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-night-ambassador-was-killedby-jamil.html


Egypt is on and off, after Mursi, the Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt, told Egyptians that it is against Islam to attack embassies..

Haaretz is reporting on clashes between police and worshipers in Jerusalem protesting the movie made by a Coptic Egyptian living in America about the Prophet Muhammad.

AP is Reporting clashes in Khartoum, Sudan with Police trying to prevent angry demonstrators and mobs from approaching the US and German Embassies. It seems the Sudanese are blaming Germany for something..or getting confused between the two.

AP is reporting that the Yemenis  are still marching towards the embassy trying to break in...

and now in Kashmir, Pakistan, demonstrators are gathering, and burning tires and throwing stones.

The Ghost of Jimmy Carter...by Jamil Shawwa

***Since 2010, I drew a comparison with Jimmy Carter, the Democratic president that got a one term, lost to Ronald Reagan due mainly to the US Embassy hostages in Iran following the Iranian revolution that kicked out the regime of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi. We have a situation in the Middle East that could snowball and become as serious to Obama as it was to Carter. Arab Muslims rioting, attacking US embassies and in Libya, a criminal group- not fully publicly identified yet- that news reports said that it had intentions to attack the consulate regardless of the video but took advantage of the chaos, attacked the consulate in Benghazi and killed a good ambassador that went in goodwill to talk to people that did not want to talk but wanted to kill- the riots are caused by the release of a low budget 14 minutes or so movie produced by an Egyptian American Copt who is wanted before Federal authorities for multiple fraudulent commercial activities, insulting the Prophet Muhammad. AP reported this afternoon that the US Attorney General is considering and looking into the film. My belief, is that the US might move on and charge this Egyptian with spreading hate that led to violence which could basically allow the US to sue. As of now, the situation in the Middle East is manageable and probably Obama has learned the Carter lesson; unless politics is driving for some reason in the opposite direction. Now, internally, internal US politics, since the election of Barack Obama,  hardcore Republicans , Mr. Romney's party, have been for the longest time trying to draw a comparison between Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, to make a point that Obama is a one termer, or at least should be. First it was the economy but it's improving now or the signs show that it is on a recovery path . But now this one, even stronger comparison if it continues to snowball as I have mentioned. Few hours ago, Hillary Clinton issued a smart statement condemning the video and calling it reprehensible. So the big one now is to watch and see how events will unfold . But for the coming weeks, probably, the Gohst of Jimmy Carter will continue to spread its shadows over the Obama White House. Below is a link to my 11/03/2010 Carter comparison. Some of the notes above, I wrote today in a disucsion on http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/
***Report Card to Obama from 11/03/2010
***http://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2010/11/report-card-to-obamaby-jamil-shawwa.html

The Night The Ambassador Was Killed...by Jamil Shawwa

The killing of the US ambassador to Libya yesterday night, the day America Commemorates the 09/11/2001 tragic terrorist attacks, should not pass with the regular and routine condemnation;its much bigger and grander than that. Not Enough that President Obama issued a strong obituary for the ambassador's death AND condemned the attack and asked to increase security for the embassies around the world; the crime is beyond it. It is about the questionable lack of anticipation and preparations to what looks like now to many as something that was expected. But even if it were not expected-for the sake of argument- but it should have been, due to the magnitude changes in that part of the world, where the newly elected governments of Egypt and Libya, continue to try to make “democratic statements” by allowing groups and individuals to break every law, to attack every place they do not like and jump over the walls and fences of embassies burning properties and disgracing flags and as in Benghazi killing the ambassador in premeditated action. Then  the event gets stronger consequences and have loads of more questions about how the US is perceived to encourage lawlessness in the Middle East in the name of democracy. But things even get worse, instead of just addressing the murder of the ambassador, president Obama said that the relations with Libya will not be threatened by this murder; how come, and how wrong. The issue this morning was not the relations with Libya but what is the US doing to protect its  diplomats and ambassadors in areas that are not stable and where security is obviously and well known not to be found, not enough, or lack of it is on purpose allowed. The demonstrations started earlier in Cairo Egypt, where the Egyptian government allowed demonstrators to climb the embassy walls, and burn the US flags and replacing it with flags of hate, that they called falsely flags of Islam. So the US had ample time between then, giving the administration the ultimate benefit of the doubt, to prepare for what was to be in Libya; the symptoms were  the same and the movements were the same- even as we speak more information came in that the administration was expecting an attack or said to expect that mobs, criminals, would take advantage of  protests for Egyptian American producers showing an insulting movie about the Prophet Muhammad, to attack the consulate in Benghazi. In Egypt the reaction from the Obama administration was complacent, almost nothing, no reaction for attacking the embassy- the embassy issued a statement condemning hurting the emotions of the Muslims by individuals showing a movie claiming it represents Prophet's Muhammad life, which is good but in the same time the embassy should at least have urged the Egyptian government to act and protect its walls and flags. The libyans took it further, no reaction in Cairo, then go for it in Benghazi, they fired rockets and grenades and suffocated the ambassador whom reports said went with three other individuals to Benghazi to save the consulate- went alone, no security details, no libyan escorts, nothing. I do not believe this could have been worse, three or four individuals going to a chaotic, lawless area, trying to save something that should have been in the first place saved by the marines inside the consulate and the Libyan security forces outside. Well, forget about the Libyans for now, but the Marines. America by being hypocritical to the negative side and lawlessness of the  Arabs rising in Egypt and Libya and elsewhere, is not providing service to anyone, not to itself, nor to the fledgling democracies there. Embassies should be protected and can be protected and we have the know how and the intelligence resources to protect even in chaotic places; for God’s sake, the Middle East is as a whole a well monitored American piece of real estate. Things happen, for sure, but what happened yesterday is an act of weakness or complacency on the part of the US or both and this needs to be corrected. Complacency to chaos and terror, historically, for long run,  never paid off.

An Evening with Barack Obama ...by Jamil Shawwa

During their national conventions in Tampa Florida and Charlotte North Carolina to nominate their nominees for president, The Democrats sounded Republicans and the  Republicans  sounded Democrats. Historically, the Democrats were more on social and less on defense and power, and the Republicans were less on social issues and more on defense.The Republicans at their convention did not even mention troops or Iraq or Afghanistan, as if they were ashamed of the progress on war on terror and the demise of Bin Laden, thinking thanking the troops would mean an automatic recognition of Obama's effort. The Democrats took the opposite direction, they linked the progress America made on the war of terror with the progress it made on the economy-today's unemployment report and yesterday's Dow surge helped their argument. And although Bin laden is gone, the war on terror continues and in progress, same on the economy and the bailout of GM and the auto industry. Although is done and GM is moving and profiting, the job on the economy is still not where of needs to be but progressing. All the speeches and especially those of Bill Clinton and Joe Biden highlighted the theme which is forward and personally I think that the case was made, and the defence attorneys have leveled the field for the lead attorney, Obama, to take the ball all the way and score a touchdown  unless something drastic happens in the coming couple of months or Obama falters in the debates or the message gets for whatever reason, sidetracked. 
Here are the highlights from Obama's acceptance speech yesterday in Charlotte North Carolina:

10. Obama talked as a leader and not as a politician tonight.
9.Obama asserting leadership by saying he is no longer just a candidate, he is the president..
8.I will never turn Medicare into a voucher, Says Obama
7.America is Christians, Jews and Muslims, says Obama.
6. Made in America is back in business says Obama.
5.We reinvested a car industry that is back on top of the world; Says Obama
4.We will maintain America as the strongest power on earth, says Obama.
3. Al Qaeda is on a path of defeat and Osama Bin Laden is dead, says Obama.
2. We reinvested a car industry that is back on top of the world; Says Obama.
1.Clinton and Biden leveled the field for Obama; so smart strategy, now Obama is talking point by point on how he is going to keep moving the country forward.

Desmond Tutu...The Loss of Respect...by Jamil Shawwa

Desmond Tutu, the former Archbishop of Cape town, South Africa, came up a day or two ago with an idea that it seems hit his aging brain all of a sudden, and out of the blues and after almost ten of years from the inception of the event that he is protesting now. He is calling for bringing Tony Blair, the former British prime minister and George W.  Bush , the former US president, to trial before the International Criminal Court for the war in Iraq. Wow, The Archbishop  is losing sight and losing focus and eroding the respect he earned over the years fighting apartheid in Africa. He thinks that for him to come again on world stage, he needs to find something big, international, huge, that of course has to involve the US, otherwise, no one, in his mind, would pay attention. He is talking about Iraq after almost 10 years of the end of the tyrant there and leaving his own backyard suffering under the dictatorship of his comrades at the ANC. Tutu feels that defending the poor, black miners, of *Marikana is not worthy of his stellar name and stellar reputation. Desmund Tutu needs to take a turn, a sharp turn, if he wants to earn back the respect he once had and he needs to focus on the atrocities of the ANC inside South Africa, on the miners that got killed in Marikana South Africa, on the injustice that the majority cries every day, some even say that the days of the apartheid were better than the days of independence and the rule of the majority.


*http://arabamericanwire.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-loss-of-ancsouth-africas-tragedyby.html

Safe Havens in Syria; multiple ones by Jamil Shawwa

The following are posts and notes I placed in Jamil Shawwa's ArabAmericanWire Group on Facebook about  safe havens in  Syria. I think a safe haven along the Turkish border is very practical and attainable. Syria will not dare to attack, because it would result in the immediate defeat and crush of the Syrian army. A political decision has to come and be made and  an agreement among permanent members of the Security Council of the UN, before such events take place. No country in the Middle East is by itself and alone, a policy maker for the Middle East.

From 06/26/2012

http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/permalink/439355646098840/

Syria updates today;

Turkey now is at the forefront, on behalf of NATO, confronting Al Assad in Syria. The escalation in the tone of Turkey's Erdogan after Syrian forces downed a Turkish jet fighter, shows clearly that a Turkish role in ending Al Assad is something that is in the books. Turkey could easily move in and occupy a borderline and with Syria's free army, creates a safe haven as Benghazi was in Libya. Actually this is not a bad scenario ...the Summer of Syria is underway ..

From 07/17/2012

http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/permalink/448894558478282/

Syria's Updates... Happening now...

The liberation of Syria from Al-Assad is underway, Reuters just distributed that the Free Syrian Army is converging on Damascus and the fighting is intensifying..The Summer of Syria is at the horizon. Using helicopters to kill the innocent is the straw that will break the Camel’s back for Al-Assad and it will allow NATO to move in, or the UN or a regional arrangement for Turkey to at least create a safe haven and then move in and clean and fumigate Syria from Al-Ba’ath, the dictatorship of the sect the Alwais and Al-Assad family. Witness history in the making...

From 08/11/2012

http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/permalink/457953944239010/

Hillary is holding talks in Turkey today to discuss the Syrian revolution and met with figures from the Free Syria Army, also discussed safe haven within Syria..via The Washington Post.

my note:

The summer of Syria is moving from speculating and waiting to preparing and ending and finalizing a roadmap to create a safe haven inside Syria. Check my posts and the group from yesterday, and mainly from 06/26 and 06/28 regarding the role of Turkey and my note about creating the safe haven as a prelude to liberate Syria from tyranny and Al Assad. I personally cannot see anything done, if something needs to be done, without a safe haven, at this point, or two by the borders of Jordan and Turkey. Turkey though can be done in moments if the green light to Turkey to move on is provided.

Israel vs. Iran...Nuclear Powers in the Middle East...by Jamil Shawwa

In an article published yesterday in the Washington Post, *link attached, the Post's Ombudsman highlights in my opinion two important points, the first one is it ok to discuss the State of Israel nuclear power, and the second one why are we, the world community, quiet  in regard to Israel’s nuclear power and very aggressive on Iran’s nuclear potential. The answer to the first question is yes, it is ok to discuss Israel's nuclear power, like any other country. The answer to the second question is, the article highlighted it in part as well, that Israel is not a signatory country to the Non-Proliferation treaty and accordingly it does not need to allow inspection as Iran needs to; Iran is a signatory. Another reason here is that from Israel’s perspective it is surrounded by hostile countries, including Iran that its rulers and religious dictatorship threaten the State with all kinds of harms and showcase their hatred to the country-at least publicly. Once Israel and the Arab and Muslim countries become formally and publcly in peace, Israel’s nuclear know how will, I'm sure, be shared and benfit other interested countries in the Middle East. In this regard, check my post from 07/29/2012 on facebook Jamil Shawwa’s ArabAmericanWire Group
http://www.facebook.com/groups/jamilshawwa/
*http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/patrick-pexton-what-about-israels-nuclear-weapons/2012/08/31/390e486a-f389-11e1-a612-3cfc842a6d89_story.html