Mohammed Amir Ahmed Khan in the Tehelka on how things will be the same whoever wins the US presidential elections this November. I agree with him on this(my take). However he extends this to propose that it doesn't make much of difference whoever wins and puts forward the argument that all presidents have continued a common strand of foreign policy.
I have my issues with that argument. It is true that many of the existing issues that face America and the world will not, in any way, 'change'(as some of the campaign slogans seem to imply). But it is equally true that a lot of new crisis situations can be avoided depending on whoever comes to power. Al Gore becoming the president in 2000 would have meant the continuation of lot of foreign policy high-handedness, but one can safely assume that Gore would not have invaded Iraq.
John McCain is after all the author of the famous song..."Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb..Iran". Assuming that a McCain presidency and an Obama presidency will have the same impact worldwide is stretching it a bit too far. In case of the latter, Iraq will still fester, Palestinians will still be ghettoized in their own homeland and the military-industrial complex will still exert great influence, but the least one one can hope for is a better approach to Iran and for all you know Cuba and Venezuela as well.
Optmistic Ravings eh? Let's see.
A more scholarly study on McCain's militaristic credentials.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment