The Obama Photo Flap

Here's the story and the photo, something you're all fully aware of by now I'm sure. While the rumor of Obama being some sort of undercover Muslim are not true and wearing the garb of another nation is somewhat of tradition, there's a few things that can not be overlooked and a disturbing pattern is emerging. Another issue that I'm sure you are aware of is the radicalization of Somalia, going back to the Black Hawk incident while Bill Clinton was our president. The garb he's wearing in this photo, while in Kenya, is that of Somalian origin, where there is most definitely a terrorist problem. What's going on in Kenya is extremely serious as well, though that has little bearing on the photo flap, it is something that we all need to be aware of as Africa has largely been ignored by US policy except under the Bush Administration, where he is largely celebrated as a hero across the continent, and kudos go to him and everyone else in the United States who is trying to rally greater attention to the genocide in Darfur, something President Bush should be commended for as the UN refuses to call it a genocide. That being said, the pattern that is emerging with Obama is one of complete ignorance on foreign affairs. He is a tremendous orator, and he is correct that we should never give up on hopes and dreams, no rational personal should ever make an argument to the contrary. However, when you have a person who is running to be commander in chief who is not aware that he may be dressing in the garb of terrorists who celebrated the murder of American troops in Mogadishu, who openly wants to meet with world dictators, while trashing allies such as Pakistan, and is willing to allow the Iraqi people to face a genocide that will rival or surpass Darfur by not staying and protecting them, then there is a serious problem with his world view. Regardless of what the stance of any politician was before Congress, in a bipartisan fashion, authorized the War in Iraq, if you you think of it as a mistake or a correct decision, it would a horrible decision to leave the Iraqis to slaughter and the accompanying violence that will befall their nation. Once the decision was made to go to war a commitment was also made to stand by the Iraqis to see their nation rebuilt and the defend the citizens of Iraq until their new government blossomed. Now, you can make the argument that the Iraqi government has not developed quickly enough, and that is fair, but then, how quickly, in our highly developed democracy, does our government move? To have gone into Iraq and engaged in war, only to leave them before we fulfill the commitments we made to help the people of Iraq would make us liars and hypocrites in their eyes. The possibility of electing Barack Obama has become increasingly problematic in my view, as he has time and again shown that he is willing to take risks and moral stands, indeed levy threats, only against allies, while looking to appease and negotiate with Tyrants and Dictators (i.e. Raul Castro, Kim Jong Il, Hugo Chavez, etc) and Terrorists (Ahmadinejad, et al), sends exactly the wrong signal to anyone who would love to cause us harm. If you threaten the United States openly, he will give you his ear. If not, he will scorn you until you do. That, my friends, is the problem with his foreign policy attitude.

-Caomhin