Is Obama More of the Same?
Plus Ça Change.gov
Like millions (probably billions) around the
globe, I was delighted to the
point of tears the night of Nov 4 when Barack Obama
was elected the 44th president of the United States.
Sadly, my delight and optimism have been eroded by
many of the decisions he has made since that historic
night.
And he's not yet even
in office!
His appointment of Zionist Rahm Emanuel as Whitehouse
Chief of Staff (as I recall, the first slot he
filled) triggered alarm bells. I was, and remain,
concerned by a number of other appointments since
then (including Hillary Clinton as Secretary of
State)—and especially today's announcement of
Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence.
While an admiral, Blair condoned and actively
supported the mass murder of hundreds (possibly
thousands) of defenseless innocent children, women,
and men in East Timor by the Indonesian military
under the command of General Wiranto.
In his role as admiral, Blair (along with Bill and
Hillary Clinton) supported the Indonesian occupation
of East Timor during the 1990s. At the height of a
wave of ruthless attacks on indigenous Timorese that
killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands,
Blair personally informed top Indonesian general,
Wiranto, of unwavering US support (contrary to the US
Congress). Blair lied to the Indonesians and he
lied to the US Congress. He continued to support
the Indonesian military until international outcry
forced the Clinton administration to withdraw its
military and diplomatic backing.
Now Obama is taking the same path. I was appalled
this morning when I heard him describe Blair as a man
of "unimpeachable integrity." Clearly, Obama knows
this is not so. After all, having lived in Indonesia,
he is probably more informed about its recent history
than most US politicians. For Obama to choose, as
head of National Intelligence, a man who is guilty of
abetting mass murder of innocent indigenous people
while they sought sanctuary in churches and
cemeteries, is even more alarming than his selection
of Rahm Emanuel.
And, as John Pilger points out in
his New
Statesman article (Jan 8,
2009, “Holocaust Denied: The Lying
Silence of Those Who Know” ), Obama's
silence on the current Gaza holocaust signals his
complicity in this most recent US-supported mass
killing by Israelis.
Until today, I was willing to give Obama the benefit
of doubt. I was open to the possibility that he was
surrounding himself with people who would challenge
him—because he was confident in his own
strength and integrity, and because, in the end, he
will call the shots. But when he calls an advocate of
mass murder a man of "integrity," it loudly proclaims
Obama's own lack of integrity. Like most politicians
(Kucinich seems to be a rare exception), Obama is
willing to "play politics" even when it involves the
deaths of innocent men, women, and children (not to
mention untold numbers of other animals who suffer
and die as a result of the human insanity of
war).
Obama's silence about the Gaza holocaust is just
another indication of his lack of consistency and
integrity. He was quick to speak up about the Russian
invasion of Georgia and the terrorism in
Mumbai—but not about the Israeli invasion of
and chronic terrorism in Gaza and Palestine in
general.
"Change we can believe in"? More like:
"Plus ça change, plus
c'est la même
chose."