Sadder and Wiser

Obama shatters 18 innocent lives in Pakistan as he continues to dash voters' hopes for sustained 'change.' It appears that the commencement of hope and other heartwarming abstractions have begun and ended in the same hard-boiled breath as the US actively engages a sovereign nation within the usual format: illegal unilateral military strikes.

Obama's strategies have the appearance of LBJ in 1965 - it is worth recalling that LBJ was also the 'peace' candidate ushered in with a massive inauguration crowd. As of now, Obama is on the road to escalation in Afghanistan (increased troop levels, bombing campaigns, cross-border operations etc) and not the stepped-up support for post-war state building that many were hoping for. Hope may keep the desire for change alive, but it does little to generate it. Only through the exhaustive efforts of diplomacy and direct action can 'change,' the abstraction or glossy campaign slogan, enter the immediacy of lived life.

"President Orders Air Strikes on Villages in Tribal Area"

"Thousands Attend Funeral of Drone Victims in Pakistan"

Iraqi Ra'ed Jarrar who attended the inauguration comments on Obama's first executive orders and statements:

While Obama's order to close the secret CIA prisons around the globe is positive, it is still just a gesture that must be followed by real orders to stop all the CIA's illegal overt operations around the world.

While Obama's call on Israel to open Gaza's borders for commerce and humanitarian aid was a nice gesture, it must be followed by real steps to reevaluate the U.S. blind and unconditional support to the Israeli occupation(s).

While I deeply appreciated all these nice gestures, they all were dwarfed by yesterday's attack on Afghanistsn that killed 25 people, and today's attack on Pakistan that killed 20 people. These new criminal attacks on Pakistan and Afghanistan not only killed dozens of civilians in their homes, but also exposed and shattered Obama's hollow promises. Obama's choice to continue the same old U.S. policy in disregarding other nation-states' sovereignty cannot be excused, and the bombs that assassinated Pakistanis and Afghans during the last couple of days cannot be sugarcoated by some nice gestures.

If Obama really wants to "seek a new way forward" with the Muslim world based on "mutual interest and mutual respect", I think a good start would have been to stop assassinating Muslims in their homes.

-mr