Commander-in-Cliche

By Alan Caruba

Some of my favorite science fiction villains are the “shape-shifters” like the cyborg from the 1984 “Terminator” movie. Barack Hussein Obama reminds me a lot of those creatures.

All during the campaign, the use of his middle name was decried as a subtle form of racism, suggesting his Muslim roots, but when he took the oath of office, there it was and, in Cairo, Obama stressed those same roots. Salaam Alaykum everyone!

His Cairo speech, however, was met predictably by his Arab Muslim audience with less than enthusiasm and, as always, the endless complaints by people for whom democracy is an illusion and oppression is a way of life.

Our Commander-in-Cliché did not disappoint anyone by saying anything original. “We have a responsibility to join together on behalf of the world we seek.” No kidding! Wow! Obama is under the impression that America and the nations of the Middle East “share common principles—principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.”

I suppose that explains all the bombings of mosques, the beheadings, the endless turmoil from so-called Palestinians who have refused to accept a two-state solution for six decades or been assimilated into Muslim nations for all that time. For Obama, their situations was one of “occupation” but it doubtful that Obama will ever reference the many Arab “settlements” in the West Bank or the way Arabs have pushed out Jewish and Christian residents from Israeli cities whenever they gained a majority foothold.

For the Arabs, the response to his speech was the very tired claims about the Palestinians (there is not, nor ever was, a “Palestinian” state. Palestinians are stateless Arabs.) The Arab man in the street tended to dismiss Obama as “just a prettier face,” as one Cairo electrician put it. “I don’t expect much from the man.” Both newspapers and ordinary Arabs who had previously welcomed Obama’s election warned against emulating George W. Bush by “lecturing Muslims about democracy.”

Osama bin Laden put out the word that Islam was locked into a very long war with America, democracy, human rights, whatever. The man desperately needs killing.

There is, of course, one genuine democracy in the Middle East and that is Israel. Iraq’s first steps toward democracy were made possible by an American invasion, the removal of Saddam Hussein, and our continued military presence. If we go, democracy is likely to leave with us. That leaves Turkey which has practiced democracy with some success so long as its army can keep Islamists from taking over.

With considerable irony, having stopped in Saudi Arabia just prior to his Cairo speech, a Saudi newspaper warned Muslims against having high expectations. “The Islamic world should not think that Obama is coming to be an ally or a supporter,” said an Al Riyadh editorial.

In Tehran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the guy that runs Iran, said “The nations of this part of the world…deeply hate America because during many years they have seen violence, military interference, rights violations, discrimination…from America.” Not like Iraq under Saddam who invaded Iran and made war for eight years; that guy was a real statesman. In Iran, you can get hanged for just about anything including littering.

As for Israel, Khamenei called it a “cancerous tumor in the heart” of the Muslim world. And Iran backs up that bile by funding both Hamas and Hezbollah, the two Palestinian terrorist organizations. Egypt and Jordan who both signed peace accords with Israel probably disagree.

Obama called the bonds between America and Israel “unbreakable”, but it’s hard to know what this presidential shape-shifter will say tomorrow, so proceed with caution.

For his Middle East Muslim audience, Obama’s speech largely fell on deaf ears. The only things they want is for Israel to go away, for the U.S. to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and for Islam to be the lone religion of the world. With more than a billion Muslims in the world, however, it is doubtful they all agree on any common view of America or the future.

One thing we do know, however, even if Obama does not, is that there are just over two million Muslims in America and one assumes most are happy living here. His deliberate tripling of that number suggests ignorance or his rather odd notion that America is not a Christian nation and is, in fact, a major Muslim one.

Is Obama sincere in his latest appearance on the world stage outside of the White House? He could be just the pathological narcissist we have come to know from the days of his campaign. He could be a Muslim with a secret agenda. It is hard to know anything for sure about Obama except that, since taking the oath of office he has tirelessly worked to destroy our economy in every way possible. Overseas, no one appears to take him seriously.

On June 5, Obama visits Buchenwold, the former Nazi concentration camp. He might just make a connection between that place and Israel’s right to exist on its own terms, not his. In Tehran, Mamoud Ahmadinejad will be busy telling everyone who will listen that the Holocaust never happened.

Fortunately for our Commander-in-Cliché, he gets to strut and fret his stuff upon the world stage again as he pays homage to D-Day on June 6, the 65th anniversary of when Americans continued their tradition of rescuing Europeans from themselves. Now there is very little left of Europe to rescue. It has long since become Eurabia.

No doubt he will deliver another speech filled with hope and change and, well, whatever. We’ve heard it all before. He’s beginning to bore everyone, but worse, he’s beginning to scare everyone, too.