Opinion Forum

Newsflash – Obama (Almost) Saves The World!

February 3rd, 2011

According to media reports, President Obama (almost) resolved the spiraling Egyptian crisis in one “private message” to Hosni Mubarak. “Mubarak Promise Comes After Private Obama Message,” AP reports.

President Obama is firmly in charge and appears to finally be calling the shots. In a bold, presidential moment, Obama said Tuesday evening that he has told Mubarak that a transition to representative government “must begin now.”

For the millions of Americans who only watch CNN, it appears that our president has, once again, saved the day. Only problem is, it’s just not so.

On Monday, after maintaining a conspicuous silence throughout the escalating Egyptian protests, Obama finally revealed America’s stance on the escalating Egyptian crisis. A full week after they started. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said it is “not for me or our government to determine” whether Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak should leave office.

Translation: America, via Obama, is firmly committed to sitting on the fence and waiting for the situation to resolve itself. As it appeared to do on Tuesday, with Mubarak announcing the he would not be running for re-election.

With a response time measured in minutes, Obama appeared on national news and claimed the credit. The Washington Post reported:

President Obama, clearly frustrated by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s intention to retain his hold on power until elections later this year, said Tuesday evening that he has told Mubarak that a transition to representative government “must begin now.”

Taking a cue from George Bush’s famous “We hear you now” declaration made on the burning embers of the World Trade Center, Obama proceeded to voice his support for the Egyptian protesters, saying the passion and dignity demonstrated by the people of Egypt has been an inspiration. He says young protesters will reach their destiny. “We hear you now!” Obama stated.

The media ignored the fact that it took a full week for our president to be so inspired, while giving full credence to the “private message” Obama reportedly sent to Mubarak which reportedly persuaded Mubarak to announce he would finally step down. Does anyone else smell a rat?

Like every other issue Obama has faced in the last two years, he maintained a deafening silence until he saw which way the wind was blowing. Then he jumped on board and took the credit. Following events and maintaining silence until there is no political risk is not leadership.

The good news is, Obama has finally taken a stand. The bad news is, he is now committed to those who want Mubarak out now. Unfolding events show this crisis is far from over. With communications now restored, Americans are watching live as this crisis spirals into yet another phase.

Waiting to place a bet until after the race is run is not leadership. And claiming success for a position he never took is shameful. Almost as shameful as trying to obtain courage on the cheap by trying to associate himself with the real leadership George Bush took. “We hear you now” indeed.

(This article was first published in American Thinker and was also posted at Right Bias.)

Articles written by Nancy Morgan
Tags: Cairo, courage, credit, Egypt, leadership, Mubarak, Obama, protests
Categories: News, Politics | Comments (4) | Home

4 Responses to “Newsflash – Obama (Almost) Saves The World!”

larry ennis | February 3rd, 2011 at 6:05 am

Once again we are seeing an example of the pitifully inept leadership of this poser.

d | February 3rd, 2011 at 4:19 pm

Real leadership of George Bush, please. You make me laugh again, Nancy. George Bush was about as inept as they come, he sure left our country in a great state, huh? What great leadership, getting us into two ridiculous wars, or the recession?

Tom Carter | February 3rd, 2011 at 4:35 pm

I’m not sure how you expected the President to respond to the crisis in Egypt. This is one of our few allies in the region, and it’s a big and influential country. Mubarak may not have been good for his people, but whether he chose to keep fighting or give in was beyond our ability to influence. If we stubbornly supported Mubarak, whoever replaced him would consider us as enemies for not supporting them. If we openly supported the protesters and Mubarak remained in power, we could easily have lost his support in the region. Given that we couldn’t make it go as we wanted (within reason, anyway), it was wise to find out which way it was going to end and then be on the right side of the equation. That’s what was in the best interests of the U.S., and it appears that’s what Obama did.

If the next regime in Egypt is heavily influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood and is a fundamentalist islamic regime (Iran is a good example), we’re going to have a lot of problems trying to deal with them. I’d rather have us start out on a good footing with them than as opponents.

Dan Miller | February 5th, 2011 at 1:35 pm

There now may well be little President Obama can productively do about Egypt. However, the situation there did not arise overnight; action supportive of the protesters in Iran, rather than benign neglect, might well have made the present situation easier to deal with. Ditto the situation in Honduras not very long ago. A clear path, rather than a muddy and muddled maze, for U.S. foreign policy might have emerged. Since President Obama and his administration assumed office they seem to have put themselves into a box from which they can’t now find an exit.

More interested in his domestic initiatives than in foreign affairs, President Obama’s minions

fret that new instability in the Middle East could distract from the jobs and innovation message that the president started pushing in his State of the Union address; dim hopes for a breakthrough in the peace process; and, most worrisome of all, stall the economy if the revolutionary tsunami spreads to other Arabian states, driving up the price of oil.
“It’s just a very tough line to straddle,” a senior administration official said. “If [Mubarak] guts this out and stays, we’re going to continue to need him and work with him, and he might not appreciate that we pushed. Bottom line, Egypt’s destiny is Egypt’s to decide, and we’ll work with whoever emerges or is left standing.”
Moreover, administration officials confess that they are uncertain who should replace him.
“There’s no horse to bet on,” said a Democrat with intimate knowledge of the conversations. “There’s no opposition leader to get behind.”

And that’s from a generally pro-Obama blog.

President Obama himself appears – and probably not only to the politically aware in the United States – to have little interest in foreign policy beyond the opportunities it provides for poorly concealed hypocrisy — Iran, Honduras, Israel and now Egypt. Does President Obama want President Mubarak go, stay, do both or do neither? Probably something like that. Does he have any conception of what would be good for Egypt or the United States? It was observed here as to Egypt that

the Obama White House hasn’t helped matters by shifting policy ground almost daily, causing confusion, and thereby squandering America’s credibility and limited but precious influence. President Obama has got to learn the fundamental rule of dealing with careening crises: State your basic principles and then shut up publicly! (Meaning, just boringly repeat your mantra daily.)

That’s all well and good; however, it requires clear “basic principles” and vacillation as the winds blow is inadequate as a basic principle.