Obama has no doubt achieved where his predecessors failed, deserves credit

By Anyang’ Nyong’o
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November 22 was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK, or Joseph Fitzgerald Kennedy, one of the most celebrated leaders in the US. The New Frontier, JFK’s theme for his daring policies in the sixties, which included giving communists no room for maneuver on the global stage, is remembered in Africa for initiating the Peace Corps programme.

Kennedy, in a speech at the Madison Square Gardens on May 20, 1962, called for sweeping changes in the American health insurance system, invoking the necessary role of the state to defend the vulnerable from annihilation by catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditures.

If he had lived to complete his first term and even take up a second term, JFK would have accomplished exactly what Obama is trying to do today. At that time, as at now, JFK faced the same resistance from the same interest groups as Obama does today. The only differences is that the entrenched forces fighting  Obamacare have come out with more zeal laced with both racial bigotry and a deep political desire not to let Obama take credit for any achievement while in office.

There was once a man called Osama bin Laden. He was reputed to be a very dangerous terrorist leading a lethal squad of terror perpetrators called Al Qaeda. Many an American president had sworn that they would get hold of him dead or alive.

But none of these great men succeeded in getting the fellow until one young man, the grandson of the Kogelo clan in a place called Alego in Kenya arrived from Chicago, Illinois, on the scene to occupy the White House.

Quietly but surely he moved, pouncing one day on Bin Laden and without a doubt consigning this terrorist to the dustbin of history. One would have expected the Americans to shower Obama with accolades. But that did not happen. The media reported the news as just one of those events in the international scene, with a few congratulatory messages here and there. But more important was his daring salvation of the economy at a time when giant banks and automobile industries were on their knees at the dawn of his presidency, threatening massive lay offs of workers, the recalling of loans and the entire economy sinking to the doldrums. He pushed through Congress a rescue package which worked, but also warned that it was going to take a long time for the economy to recover after a decade of profligate spending when the Republicans were in power following Bill Clinton’s glorious presidency before then. As we write home owners are beginning to see the value of their investments beginning to appreciate, yet the chattering mob in Washington does not appreciate a thing that Obama has achieved in office.

It is not for lack of trying that not all American troops have not been withdrawn from Afghanistan. In essence they should leave and let the Afghans control their own destiny. But the US army having been there for long leaving cannot be an overnight matter: the question to ask regards the viability of the programme of pulling out. Is Obama’s programme more viable than any that those who claim they know better could ever practically put in place? Let the critics ask and answer this question objectively. But Obama must indeed be congratulated for his achievements in Iraq. The body bags stopped landing at Air Force bases in the US a few months after he assumed office. The whole withdrawal of troops was tough to negotiate, but it was finally negotiated in the end. The problem always remained what kind of government was to be left behind in Iraq. The US government as a whole bears substantial blame for the wanton destruction of Iraq; hence the problems of governance encountered in the face of the withdrawal of troops. A nation so destroyed cannot possibly put together a sound and legitimate civilian government of whatever kind overnight.

The price the Iraqis have paid for the so-called regime change has been enormous. Granted that there were intolerable human rights abuses in that country under Sadam Hussein, the question still arises whether the brutish action taken by the Americans was the best way to democratise Iraq. Obama simply arrived to clean after the mess his predecessors had created.

Obama’s greatest shortcoming has been his foreign policy towards Africa. Nothing dramatic has happened under his presidency compared to JFK’s Peace Corps initiatives, for example. But in this day and age, after the much-hyped AGOA of yesteryears, engaging Africa at a higher and more sophisticated level would have made a difference.

Take the simple but important issue of the African diaspora in the Americas and the Carribeans. Obama has been best placed to take a lead on this given his first generation status as an African American. Bringing together the cultural, educational, economic and technological links among these African peoples, divided by the cruelty of history and the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, would have made a lot of sense.

Brazil, South Africa and Nigeria, no doubt, would have joined Obama in leading this endeavour. Tony Blair initiated the Africa Commission as his last hurrah to leadership in Great Britain. Maybe Obama is waiting to do the same after he says goodbye to the White House.

Back to Obamacare, the brand name given to the Affordable Care Act that is seeking to open up access to affordable and quality health care to all Americans, particularly the 15 per cent currently left out of health insurance due to poverty or “ pre-existing” conditions. Critics have dwelt too much on how the technology of rolling out the healthcare plan has failed.