Some self-correction, perhaps?
Addressing the three day White House Conference on violent extremism, Obama has come up with some new ideas while some of the points raised by himneed further elaboration. There are other suggestions that may not be considered realistic. At the end of two costly wars there is widespread war wearinessin the US. When in August 2009 Obama defended his decision to increase American involvement in Afghanistan, calling it “a war of necessity”, the idea that military action and law enforcement alone would not defeat terrorism might not have appealed to many Americans. Now it would go down well with them. Obama is, however, not clear as to what else besides military action needs to be done to defeat terrorism.
Obama realises that Muslims have grievances against the West which need to be removed. He may try to address some of the minor complaints like the profiling of the Muslims in the US. But like other American presidents he is unlikely to try to do anything to deter Israel from atrocities against the Palestinians. As long as the Zionist state receives US aid, military equipment and political support while refusing to accept the Palestinians’ right to statehood and not ending encroachments on Palestinian land, there would be no let up in anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world.
The common Muslim is less concerned about the past grievances like the Crusades. What disturbs him most is the US support for military rulers and reactionary Gulf kingdoms who deny their citizens the basic democratic rights. There is a widespread perception that US governments care little for their cherished values when material interests are involved. Democracy is thus often sacrificed at the altar of security.
And how can the US “take immediate steps to break the cycle of sectarian conflicts” when it is supporting regimes that view regional politics from purely sectarian perspectives?
