The Leopard Cannot Change its Spots

[IndianaGreen]

The Leopard Cannot Change its Spots

Prior to the inauguration of Barack Obama as the new president of the United States, there were a lot of expectations that he would set a new tone for American foreign policy. These expectations persisted despite the fact that in his campaign speeches Obama pledged to continue most of the foreign policies of the Bush administration.

Obama’s supporters and those who chose to create illusions about his presidency excused these pledges on the basis that Obama needed to say such things in order to get elected, but once elected he would pursue a different foreign policy. In particular, there have been many suggestions that Obama would change the American attitude towards the Israel-Palestine conflict. During the three weeks of Israeli bombardment of the people of Gaza, Obama remained silent, claiming that there could only be one president at a time.

On his first day in office, Obama’s promises to close the Guantanamo detainment facility within a year and to order the military and CIA to stop torturing prisoners have been hailed as signifying a new era in U.S. foreign policy. However, the U.S. was already a signatory to numerous international covenants prohibiting torture and that has never stopped it from training, organizing and supervising torture and death squads throughout the world - Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Iran, Indonesia, etc. Furthermore, by focusing on only the issue of torture, which has seriously tarnished the image of the U.S. in international public opinion, Obama is covering up the more fundamental crime of U.S. imperialism – the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and the ongoing slaughter of civilians in those countries. Neither in his campaign speeches, his acceptance speech, nor in his inauguration address has Obama once referred to the equality of nations. Rather, he has repeatedly called for the restoration of the pre-eminent position of the U.S. in international affairs. He never speaks about respecting the sovereignty and independence of other countries and peoples, but rather about spreading American “freedom and democracy” around the world. American “freedom and democracy” has become synonymous with war and aggression, with support for fascist dictatorships, and the use of terrorism, torture, assassinations and “disappearances” to crush any opposition to U.S. control. So Obama’s pledge to end the practice of torture at the same time that he pledges to strengthen U.S. imperialism rings somewhat hollow indeed.

http://www.modern-communism.ca/mc100301.htm