Kerry and the Middle East
Jane Novak, Arab News
http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=49248&d=1&m=8&y=2004
WASHINGTON, 1 August 2004 During John Kerrys speech
accepting his partys nomination at the Democrats National
Convention in Boston, he spent a great deal of time defining
himself by the four months he spent in Vietnam 30 years ago. Old
comrades were trotted out, old war stories were told, old pictures
shown as evidence of his fitness to be Commander in Chief of the
US military.
Kerry spoke only three sentences regarding the 20 years he spent
in the US Senate and did not mention his consistent pattern of
voting to remain unengaged internationally.
The majority of John Kerrys speech dealt with domestic issues.
His stated foreign policy objective consists of rebuilding
Americas relationships with her traditional Western allies. This
he believes will provide greater security for Americans from Al-
Qaeda and like-minded jihadiis.
Kerry did not mention the Middle East at all, except on US
reliance on the region for its energy needs. Kerry stated he prefers
to rely on ingenuity and innovation? During the hour-long
speech, neither Israel nor Palestine escaped from his lips
while words were plentiful about domestic environmental
concerns, tax issues, health care and educational opportunities.
On some issues America is a firmly divided nation. As Bill
Clinton noted at the Convention, Democrats and Republicans
have very different and deeply held ideas about what choices we
should make. Theyre rooted in fundamentally different views.
There is no issue that demonstrates this fissure more clearly than
Iraq a national Rorschach test.
Many of the convention delegates sported green stickers saying
the Occupation of Iraq. The American anti-war movement and
many Kerry supporters see the invasion of Iraq as a fiasco, a
personal financial burden, and a national embarrassment. They
believe it has created terrorists. Kerrys seeming opposition to
President Bushs Iraq policy has drawn many supporters to his
camp, although Kerry voted for the Senate resolution authorizing
unilateral military force. Kerry later voted against the 87 billion
funding that military force. Now he supports a continued military
presence.
It is difficult to discern Kerrys thinking on the validity of the war,
and more importantly, his plans and goals going forward. The
New York Times notes in an editorial: Kerrys history on the
critical Iraq issue has been impossibly opaque. Kerry has
alternately said he would do whatever it takes and he would
withdraw US forces as soon as Iraq was stable. I dont think we
should be opening firehouses in Baghdad and closing them here,
Kerry states in one of his most frequently run TV advertisements.
In his speech in Boston, Kerry said he knows what to do in Iraq
share the military and financial burden internationally. This
will be possible he believes once he restores Western alliances
and respect for the US . Opening the convention, former President
Jimmy Carter stated, The dominant international challenge is to
restore the greatness of America.
Republicans see the greatest challenge elsewhere. Vice President
Cheney articulates their vision that the enemy America faces
today is every bit as intent on defeating us as were the Axis
powers were in World War II or as the Soviet Union in the Cold
War. This view holds that the goal of the jihad is not to change
US foreign policy but to destroy the US itself in a quest to
establish a global caliphate. The 3/11 massacre in Spain they see
as part of a larger effort to reclaim Al-Andalus. Republicans
believe Al-Qaeda terrorists understand better than Democrats the
historic stakes in Iraq and the major blow that would be dealt to
their ideology by a self-governing Iraq.
Republicans, contrary to the prevailing international view, are not
comprised of a cabal of neocons, Evangelicals, Zionists, oil
barons and warmongers. Rather a portion of Bushs base consists
of ex-Democrat voters, prior liberals and other middle Americans
disgusted with the Democrats reaction to the challenges America
faces from radical Islamists.
Many Bush supporters disagree strongly with President Bushs
domestic policies and are extremely disheartened by chaos of the
reconstruction of Iraq. Cringing at the presidents handling of the
Greater Middle East Initiative, they agree on its goals of reform,
economic development, greater literacy, and individual rights in
the Middle East.
John Kerry offers these voters little global vision beyond restoring
alliances in Europe.
The emphasis on the participation of the militarily weak and
overtly hostile French and Germans in Iraq has little logic to the
Republicans who see in the Democrats a Eurocentric view that
dismisses the sacrifice of the Poles, El Salvadorans, Mongolians,
thirty other nations and, most importantly, the valiant Iraqis.
Todays Republicans see an Islamic democracy in the heart of the
Middle East as the linchpin of American security that may
forestall generations of terrorists. They believe in the domino
theory a strategy that relies on the hope of democracy,
presented in a region of autocrats, to spread over borders and from
heart to heart. This pattern of human behavior, they say, has
demonstrated its strength and consistency over time in Latin
America , Eastern Europe and South East Asia. For these
Republicans, to paraphrase James Carville, Its the war, stupid.
Many Americans, hopeful and committed to success in both
Afghanistan and Iraq , are unsure if Kerry shares their
determination.
Those around the world who were hoping for a coherent Middle
East policy from John Kerry have had their hopes dashed. Many
in America are disappointed that the Democrats have not learned
the lesson of 9/11, that the Middle East does affect American
children mightily. As Americans, Muslims and innocents
everywhere are endangered by radical Islamists, as nations
globally are threatened, John Kerrys mantra of Stronger at
Home, Respected in the World offers little substance. And the
question remains, is Anybody But Bush the best choice for the
American electorate?
(Jane Novak is a columnist and a student of international
relations.)
---
To unsubscribe from the Virus list go to <
http://www.lucifer.com/cgi-bin/virus-l>
Author
Logged
