Strategic Paradigms by Ehsan Ahrari

I am reminded of an extremely arrogant statement that an unknown Arab oil minister made to a Western journalist at the peak of oil prices.  He said, “We are now richer than God.”  I wonder what that Minister is saying today?

COMING FACE TO FACE WITH A PAIR OF SHOES

An Iraqi journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, might have expressed the contempt of a lot of Iraqis toward President George W. Bush when he hurled his shoes at him during a joint appearance with the Iraqi Premier Nuri Kamal al-Maliki.  Bush was on a “surprise” visit to Iraq in order to bid farewell to the Iraqi leaders and the American troops stationed in that country.

Even though the Iraqi journalist was promptly arrested, he emerged as an instant hero in the Arab world.  Considering the fact that Arabs showed a similar contempt when a number of Iraqis stomped on the fallen statue of Saddam Hussein immediately after the fall of his regime, there is little doubt that the symbolic act of that journalist, and the resulting Arab euphoria, at the event leaves little doubt as to what the Arab world thinks of Bush and his invasion of Iraq.  This reality becomes one more reason why the administration of President Barack Obama must seriously think about getting out of Iraq, and soon.

IRAQ’S BRUTAL DICTATOR IS GONE, BUT HIS MEMORY PREVAILS: BEWARE AMERICA!

Thirty-five officials of the Interior Ministry of Iraq, including some generals, were arrested on December 17, 2008.  Their charge: reconstituting Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party.  That is definitely one of the major shocks of the year.  But Saddam was the most brutal dictator in the entire Middle East; and he was definitely the most hated man inside Iraq.  How can anyone think about reviving a party whose history is written with the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, whose sole crime was that they did not like to live like animals under the tyrant? 

While one is pondering over the meaning of this development, it is worth asking why anyone would want to revive a party whose history was soaked in blood.  Are things really that much better off for the Iraqis in the post-Saddam Iraq?  If so, why would even a handful of them want to return to the shameful legacy of the past?  For those Iraqis who wanted nothing to do with such an attempted rollback of history, could the next attempt to return to the legacy of Saddam be thwarted in time?  If not, what awaits Iraq in the not-too-distant a future?  Beware America!

LITTLE CAROLINE OF YESTERYEAR; SENATOR CAROLINE NEXT YEAR?

Caroline Kennedy is likely to succeed Hillary Clinton as the junior Senator of New York.  Why?  Because she wants to.  Those who remember her father’s presidency, also remember little Caroline so well, along with her little brother, John.  John became the victim of a series of tragedies that appear to be following the Kennedy family.

Nothing about the Kennedy family in America happens without raising emotions of agony, joy, or anxiety on the part of a majority of Americans, and for some, even annoyance.  America has no royalty, but the Kennedy family comes close. 

Caroline has been the most private person of the Kennedy family.  What made her shed that natural zone of comfort and throw her hat into the arena of politics where nothing is sacred anymore?  Perhaps she finally feels the passion of her uncle Bobby regarding the prospects of change that the coming months hold for America.  Barack Obama’s slogan of “Yes we can” might remind her of her father’s inauguration speech, especially these words:  “Let the word go forth…that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.”  “Let every nation know…that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

No matter whether Caroline Kennedy lives up to the legacies of her famous father and uncle or makes a niche for herself, a whole lot of people will be watching her with utmost affection and good wishes.