Obama and Afghanistan

United States’ presidential hopeful Barack Obama is on a foreign mission to prove his credentials as a diplomate and a frontline man.

On his European list are Germany, France and Britain, while in his Middle-Eastern leg he visited Afghanistan last Sunday and then Iraq, Jordan, Palestine and Israel.

Whereas his European visit is a pure gesture to the voters at home to show that he’s capable of dealing with foreign affairs and allies in Europe, his visit to the Jewish “state” is to assure Israelis that he is no different to previous US presidents. And to avoid any potential criticism he puts the names of some Arab states in the list too.

Afghanistan and Iraq’s visit is yet another premeditated tactic to respond to his criticism from voters and his Republican rival of having no military experience or credentials necessary for a commander-in-chief.

In Kabul, he held a meeting with president Hamid Karzai and assured him of full support and said the “war on terror” will be fought “with vigour” and called for extra troops for Afghanistan. Earlier in an interview with CBS Mr Obama said Afghanistan should be the main focus of the “war on terror” due to its “precarious and urgent” situation.

We have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent and I believe this has to be the central focus, the central front, in the battle against terrorism.

Mr Obama’s visit to Afghanistan and Iraq is happening at a time when the US most senior commander in Iraq suspects of a shift in the anti-American forces strategy. While rejecting the idea of a complete abandonment of Iraq, General David Petraeus said:

What they certainly may do is start to provide some of those resources that would have come to Iraq to Pakistan, possibly Afghanistan.

It’s crystal clear that the whole Obama’s visit saga has a sole reason, and that is to remove every obstacle between him and the Whitehouse. Apart from being labelled as inexperienced in foreign and military affairs, Mr Obama’s identity has been questioned by some ranks of his opponents. Mr Obama is in a constant struggle to convince the American public that those who say that he is the son of a Kenyan immigrant, raised and got some education in a Muslim country, and even has a Muslim middle name are wrong.

His extreme statements about Jerusalem in favour of Israel and his comments, a while ago, to bomb Pakistan shows that the Illinois senator is trying to demonstrate that he is not what his opponents say.

His above mentioned comments about south-central-Asian region, which includes Afghanistan and Pakistan as “the central focus, the central front” is alarming and indicates that president Obama may will turn the already troubled region into a hell.

Thanks to George Walker Bush’s “war on terror” and invasion of Afghanistan the whole tribal belt between Afghanistan and Pakistan and some settled areas of North-Western-Frontier-Province (NWFP) of Pakistan, which were peaceful even during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, are now burning in a disastrous fire of fierce clashes between the Pakistani army and revolters.

It has been a common practice in the US, whenever a president encounters domestic problems and criticism, that he resorts to some catastrophic measures abroad to avert public attention from the domestic issue that is not in his favour.

Experience also showed that people whose identity, political opinion or loyalty are under question or scrutiny, have resorted to extreme measures in order to prove his/her loyalty to a dominant political opinion, culture or religion. The experience of Palestinians has showed that they have severely suffered whenever the so-called lenient labour party of the Jewish “state” took over. To show that they are not softer than the extremist Jewish governments, they have inflected catastrophic invasions and aggressions on the Palestinian land and people.

Barack Obama could easily resort to unhelpful actions against sovereign countries like Pakistan and Iran (Pakistan in particular) under the slogan of “war on terror” to prove that he is not Barack HUSSIEN Obama. This will not only have catastrophic consequences on the local people, but will push the whole south-central Asia and surrounding region into a devastating war.

As General Petraeus has intimated that anti-American forces are changing focus to Afghanistan, it provides all the essential ingredients for the next man in the Whitehouse to ignite a fire that will have all potential and characteristics of a World War III.

And have the two World Wars solved any problems? Couldn’t we have solved these through negotiations? Why can’t we just assist and let the indigenous people of countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and so on decide for themselves rather than imposing forces from outside?

I won’t be surprised if Afghanistan and adjoining regions turn into a major battlefield if Mr Obama as president is not surrounded with responsible advisors.