Strategic Paradigms by Ehsan Ahrari

President Barack H. Obama spoke to the Muslim world from Cairo on June 4, 2009.  Symbolically, that day will always be remembered every time someone raises the issue of the United States’ relations toward the world of Islam.  The following statement he made that day will go down in history as a memorable one:  The United States is “not and never will be, at war with Islam.”  He made the same statement for the first time in Turkey two months prior.

 

In the post-9/11 era, America’s war against terrorism was interpreted as a war against Islam. Usama Bin Laden harped on that issue quite consistently and effectively, and a large number of Muslims believed him.

 

President George W. Bush invaded Afghanistan to retaliate against al-Qaida and its chief sponsors, the Taliban regime.  It was expected that he would focus on constructing that country after ousting the Taliban.  But Bush went after Saddam Hussein’s regime, something he wanted to do soon after he entered the White House. His determination to invade Iraq went blind against all sings of protests and disagreements to the contrary.  Perhaps it was his slowly burning, but intense, rage to eliminate the man who wanted to “kill my Dad”—as he frequently stated—that led him to ignore what was in America’s best interests.

 

The blood and gore, and enormous instability and turbulence, that stemmed from Bush’s revenge against Saddam created a deeply-rooted and an equally intense hostility and hatred toward the United States.  One has to examine the Pew public opinion polls to get a real sense of how much America was despised in the world of Islam, from Indonesia to Morocco, while Bush sat in the White House.

 

Bush might have been sincere in insisting that his country has no quarrel with Islam.  But one has to examine the daily flow of briefings that Donald Rumsfeld sent for the President’s reading that were peppered with Biblical quotes.  A contemporary reader of those briefings is left with little doubt that a self-styled born-again Christian president was really on a crusade against the terrorists.

 

That type of retrospective debate aside, what was working against America during the Bush presidency was that the United States was occupying two lands of Islam:  Iraq and Afghanistan.  Iraq became a hellish place between 2003 and the early part of 2007.  In 2006, there were several powerful voices inside the U.S. urging Bush to “declare victory and get out of Iraq.”

 

Then came the Sunni protest movement against al-Qaida in Mesopotamia (AQIM) and the introduction of the “Surge” by the U.S. force commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus.  Aside from inserting more troops in Iraq, the United States also introduced a new counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine.  That doctrine became a success, largely because it was supported by the Sunni insurgents—also known as the Sahwa or the “Sons of Iraq” movement.

 

That reality also improved the security situation inside that country.  Still, the hatred of Bush and antipathy toward the United States remained pervasive all over the Muslim world.  It was clear that, even if Bush were to withdraw all U.S. forces from Iraq, the hatred of Bush and America was not about to dissipate.  A clean break from his administration was necessary before Muslims were to be persuaded that the lone superpower was not fighting a war against their religion.

 

President Barack Obama has fulfilled that requirement.  The son of a Muslim father, and a person who spent four years of his life in Indonesia—despite the fact that he is a Christian—he has brought an enormous amount of credibility to his office.  Even though, under Obama, the United States is still occupying Iraq and Afghanistan, he is believed when he says that his country has no fight with Islam.

President Obama is not part of the white American elites, who read Samuel Huntington and Bernard Lewis’s contentious books on Muslim and Arab countries and became instant “experts” on Islam and Muslims.  Obama understands the intricacies and multi-dimensionalities related to Islam and the Muslim world, and is not ready to formulate instant judgment. On the contrary, Bush saw the world of Islam through his highly partisan lens of a “born-again” Christian faith.

Obama, also a Christian, does not have the Manichean perspectives related to the Christian evangelical world.  Muslims sense his sophisticated and respectful view of the world when they hear him speak.  Bush could never convey that sense.  Even when he might have been sincere when he said that his administration is not fighting Islam, his policies conveyed a contrary perspective to most Muslims all over the world.  Obama does not carry that baggage when he speaks to Muslims.  He is much more believable than Bush ever was for the Muslim masses.

 

Muslims also know that Obama is no Bush.  He is very sincere in his resolve to arrive at a rapprochement with their world.  Obama sent his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, to the largest Muslim country, Indonesia.  He declared the resolve to arrive at political understanding with Iran.  He went to Turkey and delivered a major speech in his message of peace and respect toward the Muslim world.  Obama told Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, during their first meeting, that he supports a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and he also told him that Israel must stop building settlements in order to reach a peace with the Palestinians.  Obama’s speech in Cairo was yet another historical step in his desire to reach a grand bargain with Muslims.

 

By speaking candidly to the Muslim world, President Obama has taken a major step in nullifying Bin Laden’s recurring diatribe that portrays a negative image of the United States.  Muslims of the world at large are likely to give enormous credence to Obama and his respectful message of peace and harmony.

 

The Bin Laden camp understood how potentially powerful Obama’s message from Cairo was likely to be.  Bin Laden decided to issue his own video, in an attempt to preempt the American president.  But Obama’s message had the power of a tidal wave, while Usama’s message barely had the influence of a “storm in a teapot.”

 

The Muslim world and the United States under Obama are entering a new phase.  The post-Cairo speech period has to be followed up by specific maneuvers toward a number of major Muslim issues where America’s presence and influence are enormous. They include creating new momentums in the peace process in the Palestine, nation-building in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and pushing India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir conflict.   

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