Barack Obama: Can’t Touch This?

President Obama must take a deep and soulful reflection on Afghan policy. Is Karzai a foe or an ally? Would it not be ironic if the corrupt Karzai regime plunges Afghanistan into more chaos and tarnishes Obama’s achievements at home?

[Black Star News Editorial]

Barack Obama is emerging as the New Teflon President.

In this president’s case, it’s actually meant as a compliment. For a leader who was supposedly routed in the midterm elections, this president apparently didn’t read the memo informing him that the country is currently in a lame duck legislative period.

His recent victories –and this country’s– post midterm elections, include the ratification of the New Start Treaty with Russia today, something renegades like Republican senators Mitch McConnell and Jon Kyle had vowed would not happen. Instead, scores of Republicans bolted from their own leaders when President Obama launched a full court press. The vote was 71-26.

Obama secured the right for Gay Americans to serve openly in the Military services. The President scored the tax compromise, which, although very distasteful in many respects and derided by many Democrats, paved the way for extention of jobless to millions of people –something Republicans were poised to eliminate– and other measures such as credit for business investments and reduction in payroll taxes.

The painful cost was that the wealthy also got two additional years of lower taxes.

This page has been solidly behind President Obama for rescuing the country from a Depression and for his legislative and policy achievements. He’s not been given appropriate due credit: he halted the 800,000 average monthly job losses such that over the past few months there have been net job gains; he achieved pay parity for women and men; he halted the collapse of the auto industry, such that GM is actually hiring and just issued a heavily sought-after IPO; and, he ushered the historic healthcare reform bill which made 32 million additional Americans eligible for health coverage.

President Obama introduced financial regulation reform to help prevent the kind of shady and unfettered “trading” or speculation that caused the global economic meltdown; he fulfilled the campaign promise of student loans overhaul; he is taming the credit card industry; and, he radically overhauled education, introducing competition, with an injection of billions of dollars as incentive.

Which other president in recent memory has scored such victories?

We have serious concern with his Africa policy, allowing the State Department to embrace genocidal presidents in Ethiopia, Uganda and Rwanda, as allies.

President Obama elevated pragmatic and real world circumstances over ideology in foreign affairs in dealing with Afghanistan. He aims to withdraw American troops while not allowing the corrupt regime of Hamid Karzai and his drug-dealer brother Ahmad Walid Karzai to collapse overnight, thereby restoring that country as an absolute haven for the Taliban.

The president has met many daunting challenges head on and prevailed. But we have very serious doubts with respect to Afghan policy.Karzai is a failure and should be forced into a coalition government which would be more legitimate. Karzai has no mandate since he stole the elections. Minus the Taliban’s desire to strike at U.S. targets, the Karzai regime is substantially not much of an improvement in terms of improving the lives of Afghans.

The U.S. would not tolerate such theft, incomepetence and corruption from the Taliban. Why suffer it under Karzai and his corrupt relatives and government? Karzai may be more dangerous to Afghanistan than the Taliban. It would be of no surprise if it was revealed that he supplies the Taliban with sensitive information about U.S. Administration policy.

While President Obama takes a very well-deserved holiday break in Hawaii, he must take a deep and soulful reflection on Afghan policy. Is Karzai a foe or an ally? Would it not be ironic if the corrupt Karzai regime plunges Afghanistan into more chaos and tarnishes Obama’s achievements at home?

Given Karzai’s corruption, arrogance and treachery, why not deal directly with Taliban and explore an accommodation?


“Speaking Truth To Power.”

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