Obama's Speech: The Elephant in the room

My thoughts on a shameless attempt to mask an ugly reality. Posted on the British Iraqi Forum:

President Obama’s speech on Thursday at the State Department is neither groundbreaking nor surprising. Despite the rhetoric from both Secretary of State Clinton who spoke briefly before the President about a “bold new approach” in US foreign policy, and Obama himself who bespeaks a “new chapter in American diplomacy”, the realities on the ground tell a different story. The speech was an eloquent, but not substantive, 45-minute charade about an America that is trying to portray itself as a friend of the people of the Middle East. The truth of the matter is no one can cover up the history of America’s alliances with the dictators who are enemies of their own people and this relationship still defines much of US foreign policy in the region albeit with Mubarak and Ben Ali out of commission. The US needn’t worry on this front; they have plenty of other Arab dictators who are still keeping them company. [More...]