It is interesting to contrast President Obama’s actions towards Egypt during its protests with his tepid support of protesters in Iran. Towards the end of Hosni Mubarak’s time in office, President Obama made it abundantly clear that he wanted Mubarak to step down. When asked at a press conference, President Obama stated that he felt that protesters in Iran should have the same rights as Egyptians have to voice opposition to their government. He qualified this statement of support with the statement that America did not have the right to the the Iranian government what to do.
In Egypt, it should be noted that the US has about Two billion dollars in aid that it gives Egypt annually with which to exert leverage. What leverage does Obama have with Iran? Obviously there is no US government aid to Iran. As leader of the United States, Obama might have some credibility with democratically minded Iranians, although the Iranian government clearly considers him to be either an enemy or a useful idiot.
As the child of a Muslim father, Obama could speak personally as an advocate for Islam that is respectful of individual rights and supportive of a representative form of government. In his books, Obama has attempted to sway political debate with stories from his life. Why does he not do so when faced with unrest in Iran?
When he came to office, Obama kept his promise to reach out to the Muslim world. He gave a well written speech in Cairo which was respectful to Islam and displayed considerable familiarity with Islam’s concepts. Unfortunately, on the one side, Obama’s new approach did not yield dividends of love and affection for the US. On the other side, a massive disenchantment with Arab governments in power is sweeping the Muslim world. Neither Obama nor anyone else has decided how to address unrest in Muslim countries effectively. If these revolutions are democratic, they are challenging to Obama’s respectful, pluralistic attitude towards regimes in the Muslim world. And if these revolutions herald nascent theocracies, it flies in the face of Obama’s assertions that Islam is a benign force in the Middle East.
It seems that the US government was blindsided by the eruption of unrest across the Islamic world. A new cast of characters is on the scene. in Arab countries. Ideas about democracy that are axiomatic in the west are challenged in Egypt, Iraq and other countries, sometimes at the grass roots level.
Islamic rejection of Western values has led many leftists to mistake radical Muslims for fellow travelers. In reality, progressives and socialists are as much of an anathema to radical Muslims as are people in the American and European political mainstream. At best, progressives are like “useful idiots” to Muslim organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood that want to spread their faith around the world.
Obama was surprised along with the State Department by the rapidity with which the Muslim world erupted into turmoil. But it is his own “progressive” vision of a friendly Muslim world gratefully aligned to a self effacing west under his leadership that leaves Obama speechless.
America still has influence in the Arab world and abroad. Whether or not America’s leader knows how to use that influence is a pressing dilemna. Whether Obama even wants to use that influence in America’s best interests is yet another, far more disturbing question.
