Tags
Elaph, Kayhan, Lebanon, Mahmoud Abbas, Mitt Romney, Mohammad Shtayyed, Najib Miqati, Obama, Obama and the Middle East, Obama Election, Saudi Arabia
On the 6th of November, Obama won his famous second term in office. And the world reckoned and revelled. And celebrated. Well at least most of it.
But what does the Middle East think of Obama’s re-election? For one we know that Saudi Arabia and Jordan, the two countries the US is staunch allies with, have largely not reacted especially positively to his re-election. Elaph, the daily newspaper in Saudi Arabia, wrote: “The US has chosen the more experienced president, who seems more rational than his rival Mitt Romney, who seemed to fantasize about rekindling the dream of an American empire…What is important to us as Arabs is Middle Eastern foreign policy. In this regard, there will be nothing new under the sun, we already have much experience with Obama and he has nothing new to offer us,” wrote a Palestinian correspondent.
The Prime Minister of Lebanon, Najib Miqati, seemed optimistic though, saying four more years may give rise to a new momentum. But Iran and Syria, two countries which the US are not particularly on good terms with, have also not expressed particularly warm emotions. One Aleppo commander said: “We were hoping for Romney. At least he said he would do something different. With Obama it had all been words.”
Similarly, Kayhan, a publication that speaks for the Iranian regime wrote “Barack Obama is weak, unable to solve challenges and has the same ‘serial’ crimes as the predecessor from whom he inherited the White House: George W. Bush.
To further emphasise the point, Mohammad Shtayyed, the aide to Palestinain President Mahmoud Abbas said “President Obama has spent four years in office, unfortunately he hasn’t done much for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.” However, he added, “We have seen Romney making statements that are really not helpful at all in the peace process, very biased toward the issue of Israel. In the debate on foreign policy, Israel was mentioned 32 times; there was no mention whatsoever of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, so it seems to us really we have to choose between the bad and the worst.”
Election translation services have made it possible to understand Obama’s message and have given the people of the Middle East the opportunity to determine whether or not they like his policies. As a result, it seems most of the Middle East have been a bit luke warm about the President’s election, but have instead been focusing greatly on tensions and relations between Israel and Palestine. Perhaps the only way Obama could become a true political star and icon in the Middle East is if he indeed makes it his priority to resolve the Arab-Israeli issue, a bloody crisis that dates back to 1948.
Source: The Guardian
Eastern Affairs 
Obama is leading the world to chaos…the central planners best friend. He has betrayed his own country and constitution. He is the enemy of Individual liberty and freedom anywhere, masquerading as their friend everywhere. Period!
Hi shutupnsing, can you elaborate a bit about why Obama betray his own country and constitution? I’m interested. Thanks!
What the world is seeing in America now is a tragic perversion of the original “great experiment”. It is the result of a creeping infiltration of Marxist ideology that, just like mold, spread in the shadows throughout our most critical institutions; schools, churches & media until the soil was just right for Obama. You are a journalist. Your objectivity is refreshing. That does not exist in our “main stream” journalists…they are all “in the tank”! Obama wasn’t elected…he was “installed”. Read “Dreams From My Father”, or see the movie “2016” to understand who Obama is…and who he is not. You will not recognize America after his 2nd term…The Republic is dead because the Rule of Law is dead. The election was Kabuki Theater produced by the Oligarchy…Follow the money Hristina! From Washington to Brussels…there’s enough evil to block out the Sun!
What a great blog! I applaud you for your audacity, tackling this subject is certainly not an easy feat, and inviting a variety of opinions is very cool, and shows your openness, perhaps a budding journalist if you’re not already! Thanks for checking out my blog, and I look forward to reading more of your topics.
Thank you! Thanks for subscribing. It’s good to network with like-minded individuals.
Shutupnsing- You are sounding silly and paranoid. Obama has no more thwarted the Constitution than Reagan did. Actually, less. That is an absolutely ridiculous re-ignition of the red scare and a ridiculous idea about what is and isn’t constitutional. You have failed to mention a single fact and have spread the silly rhetoric of the far right pundits whose job is to inflame people to incredibly outrageous conclusions in order to sell books and increase ratings. You sound more ridiculous than Cleon Skousen and his son put together.
Hristina, While I respect that the Arab governments may not welcome a second term for Obama, that is not necessarily unwelcome news to the American electorate. If they were to believe that he was truly an extreme turn away from the foreign policy that we have maintained since after WWII, then we would consider him an extremist. It is hard for me to express empathy with nations like Saudi Arabia who have allowed for extremists to control the schools and allowed for large anti-american terrorist networks to nestle within their countries. While they may not have appreciated American interference in the past, they have created regimes that minimize true freedoms within their own countries and end in revolts which they have answered with violence while trying to scape goat America and Israel for all their problems. They complain we are unwilling to work with the leaders that are there, and then when the leaders are deposed, America is accused of upholding those dictators. They want it both ways, but they can’t have it. Those governments have power and money because of oil, and they know it. But they are feckless, cruel, and completely corrupt. If they absolutely embraced our President or any American President in history, for that matter, the American people would be wary.
Re: Tough Bunny. Thanks for your response and opinion. I agree with your response to Shutupnsing. And true Cleon Skousen was a bit of a funny man – but I would like to point out that nowhere in my article do I establish an opinion or make a judgement about American interventionism. I only refer to what others, mainly the media, have said. On another note, how do you compare the Obama and Reagan administrations? Thanks for reading. Hristina
Hristina, I wasn’t thinking you put forth an opinion. Only that you made us aware of the opinion of the “arab street” and I was simply saying that typically, Americans would not welcome the embrace of the President by those contingencies.
When it is implied that Obama has “thwarted the freedoms outlined in the Constitution” I can only imagine a number of typical right wing throwaways. They have argued that Obamacare is Unconstitutional because it mandates that the american people buy health insurance, or pay and extra tax. This is hokum on a grand scale. Obamacare falls neatly within the powers of congress, who passed it, as congress has the obligations to regulate interstate commerce (Art 1. Section 8) and to tax (Art 1, Sec 1) and to “promote the general welfare” (Preamble). The other things they like to throw out there is his use of the war powers act, which he has actually done more responsibly than any president since LBJ. shutupnsing reveals his idiotic tea party roots by calling me the secular elite.
On the contrasting side, Reagan actually did usurp the powers of the congress by running a secret military mission funded by selling guns to our enemies and empowering our “new” friends against our “old friends”. Maybe you heard about Iran-contra? yeah. Behind congresses back. So, yes, Reagan was more of a constitutional threat than Obama ever has been.
But that comparison is domestic/foreign, a bit apples and oranges. It is hard to compare them directly because the state of the world is so very different. The perceived powers are changed. I was not a big Reagan fan, so I hope he isn’t the model of leadership we are seeking. That said, I don’t think he was a bad leader either. He had excellent moments… That may be all we can hope for.
Sillwee Wabbit…you see that’s the problem with the Koolaid. It leads to harder and more psychedelic and psychotic states…like delusion for instance. By invoking Clousen, Sillwee Wabbit reveals the Secular Elite’s disdain for Truth. ( Add the “5,000 Year Leap” to the book & movie I’ve already suggested to understand the difference between our Founding Principles & the Progressive Sillwee Wabbit Stew the Left has cooked for us all!) As a Conservative, I look to Jefferson, Adams, Madison & Franklin. As D’Souza points out in the movie 2016, Obama derives his inspiration from a different set of “Founding Fathers”; Frank Davis, Reverend Wright, William Ayers and Saul Alinsky!
Not exactly champions of “Individual Liberty” if you catch my drift…which is exactly why the fragrant aroma of the Arab Spring has turned foul and rancid in Cairo. They are all about power and control. And as Sillwee Wabbit so effectively illustrates, there is sadly no shortage of “useful idiots”!
BTW Hristina, this is a wonderful daily dose of antivenom for those poor souls who have been fully or partially lobotomized by the Left http://thedifferencesofus.com/2012/11/27/ntkn-those-who-ignore-history/
I find it foreign relations to be a very complicated issue. I would be surprised if any nation in the Middle East was ever prepared to celebrate the election of an American president, given the long history if interference. Perhaps more people recognize that the moves the US makes are typically moves of investment. Unfortunately the monies are usually earned from “conflicts” to secure trade or better revenue from trade. The US role in the Middle East is not one of peace keeper, liberator or as a human rights watch dog. Indeed their policies indicate much the opposite. The oil producers who the US smiles upon will appreciate a president who supports continued financial involvement with their nations, meanwhile those with strained relations will likely rally against any president. I can understand a luke warm reception to anyone who takes office. Corruption at home and corruption abroad, the US certainly has no high horse to ride into the sunset, it only takes a short examination to discover that those with money and prestige, along with corporations dictate the majority of US politics. Certainly when a foreign president is elected or there is turnover I pay attention, but for most people it only goes so far as it affects them, their families or their sensibilities. Perhaps American presidents would receive a better reception if it were to turn it’s attention to home and ends the pervasive cycle of conflict it has raged overtly and covertly since it’s inception.
Seems from here that the Arab/Israeli conflict stems from attitudes that can change only when their owners decide to change them. U.S. presidents may tilt one way or the other but Israeli interests are well entrenched in American voters, limiting the actual range of movement. And I hear that a lot of people, given choice, would prefer life in Israel over life in most of the surroundings.
Recently retired U.S. Congressional Representative Ron Paul has said that America should not be involved with client states; Israel should be treated the same as other countries…and so also should the surrounding Arab states. That would leave Israel and its neighbors to solve their problems among themselves…
I would say that the relationship between the Middle East & the West mirrors the cycle of “spousal abuse”…in the sense that the abused seems to come back for more. What would happen, for instance, to the average Palestinian lifestyle if every NGO folded up shop and moved out tomorrow? Bureaucracy is the only thriving “growth” industry in the US now because we replaced making cars with making and perpetuating the cycle of victimhood!
I should correct myself…guns are selling quite nicely here now. It seems our Founders were on to something with that 2nd Amendment!
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We Americans don’t like Obama’s history or what he has to offer in the future as well. The ONLY reason why he was chosen by the electoral college votes, and then the popular votes adjusted accordingly, was because he is the first African American President. How would it have been perceived if he “The First black President lost?”
If Romney had been black, it would have been a different story.
I pray for our country. And yours. Currently, we are waiting on congress to agree on financial decisions, otherwise our taxes will increase. I have an odd feeling that congress will conveniently never agree, therefore American citizens will fall more into debt. Yikes!
Unfortunately, and this may sound crude, I don’t think ‘praying’ will help, at all, and neither do I care if your taxes increase.
LOL- I agree with you Hristina. I think praying could calm the mood a bit maybe. But WE AMERICANS like Mr. Obama just fine. We re-elected him… with room to spare. And the rant on tax increases has nothing to do with your forum.
I stand for caring for each other, so I’m sorry you feel that way. I will still pray and believe in faith for blessings to come to you and yours. My apologies if this sounds crude;)
Massafrass…if I may call you Massy (as a more efficient term of endearment), I have discovered this about our friend Hristina. She is a wonderful journalist. Her reporting is remarkably objective. In fact, it is nearly impossible to tell where she leans…until she jumps out of the story and into the comment section. Here we see that she is as smitten as the rest of the world’s youth with our emperor! And why not? It is as if the entire world’s education system has been one large Petri dish…with the entire world’s history removed!
On taxes and prayer, I would say this. We are all serfs now whether we know it or not. I had an old boss once who used to make us laugh till it hurt. He used to say to all us young dreamers, “If you shit in one hand and wish in the other, which one do you think will fill up first?” On the basis that “stimulus” is just the Oligarchs word for TAX…I’ve developed a bit of a spin on my old bosses saying. If you “stimulate” in one hand and pray in the other…which one do you think will fill up first? We don’t always find God Hristina, but we may have a better chance of him finding us if we choose the right hand. IMHO….
Thanks for liking one of my quips and for following my blog. Hope something else fits your interests and/or concerns
Lovely. Some people change because they see the light. Others because they feel the heat. ha ha.
Sillwee Wabbit! Many Presidents stepped out of their Constitutional bounds…your hero (and mine) Lincoln being one who comes most notably to mind. The difference for those of us with eyes to see, is that Obama has distinguished himself as an enemy of the Constitution with very little regard for separation of powers. If Americans are so in favor of Obama as you purport, why did the regime feel the need to cheat?
• GOP Poll Inspectors illegally removed from voting locations!
• More than 100% of registered precinct voters turning out to vote…all for Obama?
• Computers reverting to a default Obama vote regardless of whom the voter selected!
• Absentee ballots counted while neutral observers were blocked from supervising!
• Military ballots not delivered on time to active-duty servicemen & women around the world!
• Illegal campaign contributions, deceased & illegal alien voters, “lost ballots” and intimidation at the polls!
And yes, Miss Wabbit…I am a Tea Toddler! This explains why in 5 minutes http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/EW5IdwltaAc?rel=0
The entire world is being held hostage by a Junkie called “Government”. What the balance sheet of the world is desperate for is “growth”, but it is at the mercy of insatiable governments who are left with only more tax, spend and debt as a solution. To refer to the Tea Party as “idiotic” is the same as rejecting the Fire Brigade with pump trucks of water on the way to your house in flames! Hence Reagan’s infamous quote re: the most dangerous words in the English language, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” So it’s only logical that the most dangerous words to the usurper would be “Tea Party”. Wake up you Sillwee Wabbit!
Shutupnsing – It’s very easy to critcise, perhaps you could suggest a few altneratives to this so called junkie government to which you feel so subjected to. !
Hristina, I only respond as honestly as I know how. Your question is fair, but the answer is extremely painful. The fact is that the present paradigm is broken and will soon collapse of its own devious weight. As the IBM accountant of 27 years points out in the youtube…spending money we don’t have to the tune of a TRILLION a year, 5 years in a row…borrowing 46 cents of every dollar…with ZERO growth in the equation is morally reprehensible! The 1st Republic is dead because there is no Rule of Law…we are presently living under Arbitrary Tyranny under the thumb of a Ruling Class who enrich themselves at our expense, suck the life’s blood from the private sector with tax and regulations they exempt themselves from, aided and abetted by a mainstream media that disgrace a once honorable profession by referring to themselves as “journalists” while a seemingly endless parade of blind bunnies call out for more of the same! Tertullian, Saint Augustine, Jefferson, Washington, Adams & Franklin all understood what wishful thinking bunnies fail to grasp. While times change, “human nature” does not! …Which brings us to the answer to your question ~
A hard reset ~ followed by a reformed Constitutionally-Limited government which recognizes and respects the boundaries of Natural Law, and that the rights of ALL men are endowed to them by their creator! Period! Free Markets of Free Men are the only system that has ever and will ever work! (Why reinvent the wheel?)
Some sort of a contemporary Christian understanding?
You may call it what you will, but to any objective mind that has taken the time to look deeply into the history of mankind and all civilization…any successes enjoyed by America and Israel for that matter, are due to that understanding. And all declines are due to the forgetting…
Every problem on our planet today is a direct result of man trying to play God! I promise you…
God?
I thought nooone believe in God anymore..!?
Do you see Noah’s ark on this time line? http://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/oconnell/astr121/im/earth-hist-periods-AW.jpg
Are you denying the existence of…. Dinosaurs?!?!?! The earth is 4.54 billion years old mate, I suggest you drop your political ranting and go read some science books. To be perfectly honest.
Excuse me, but it was you who invited me to speak my mind. Who is doing the “denying”?
it is quite difficult to deny fact.
Back to the original subject http://shutupnsing.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/thugs-will-be-thugs-courage-is-the-only-cure/
“It is quite difficult to deny fact.” ~ Agreed!
We must remember that the US was the prime mover in the formation of Israel, to be more specific the present Statelessness of the Palestinians.(ably and deliberately aided by the British by leaving the middle east, promising both Palestinians and the Jews the same thing-A State of their own)
The US Election machinery is controlled by the Jewish Cabal.
Even if the President tries to do some thing worth the while., he can not do it.
It is time that the Oil rich Arab Nations understand the power of Oil , stand behind the Palestinians , stop bickering among themselves and create space for the pathetic people.
The world will not help.
Have they not learned this from the Jews who were ostracized for centuries and yet carved out a Nation for themselves/
I am not sure the oil rich Arab Nations do not understand the power of oil nor do they not stand behind the Palestinians
Tragic. that they do not understand