The US president should not forget that the world will judge him on achievements US President Barack Obama must realise that his credibility, at home and abroad, is at risk because actions will always speak louder than words — no matter how good a speaker you are. In his first State of the Union address on Wednesday, Obama tried to shore up his declining popularity among the American people, and across the world, with an acknowledgement of past failures and fresh promises of change. His words sounded hollow, given his poor record so far, and he did not look powerful or even convincing behind the podium.
The most important element of his speech was his efforts to get the US economy back on track. This is important to the international community as the global economy will struggle to recover as long as the world’s richest country remains in the doldrums.
But Obama’s efforts to rescue the US economy, in part by bailing out financial institutions that had made reckless loans and with some stimulus spending, has not gone down well with the public. His promise of a second stimulus package seems unlikely to be fulfilled given apparent weakness while trying to secure health care and financial regulatory reform.
Obama claimed some successes in the US war against terror, saying that “far more” Al Qaida terrorists were killed last year than in 2008. It is unfortunate that this is how a president who promised to build security through persuasion and diplomacy now measures the success of his efforts. It should rather be measured in terms of progress towards a real and permanent settlement of the conflict in Palestine and ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among others. At least he remained committed to withdrawing US combat forces from Iraq this year.
Obama started off as president with a message of hope and change for the world. But the financial crisis forced him to concentrate on US politics and the economy and abandon his foreign policy promises. It will take more than words to convince the world that this speech marks a new start.
gulfnews.com
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