“I must admit that, like most progressives and antiwar activists in the coalition that played a crucial role in the victory of President-elect Barack Obama, I have been greatly disappointed with his national security team (NST). Gone are all the hopeful signs of real change in the American foreign policy that we saw – as it now appears self-deludedly – coming with the election of Obama. Instead, we must confront the cold – but by now very familiar – reality that the main players in U.S. foreign policy for several years to come will be people we have disagreed with very strongly, even despised, over the years.
There is not even one progressive or antiwar voice with principled positions in Obama’s NST to counter all the pro-war people he has picked, even though when introducing his NST, Obama declared that he believes in having “strong personalities and strong opinions” and that he will welcome ‘vigorous debate inside the White House.’
I don’t want to rehash all the praise that Obama has been receiving for the selection of his NST from the neoconservatives and the War Party, which is a glaring sign of how terrible his NST is. Many people, including the author, have already done that. It should suffice to say that the neocons and the War Party could not have been happier with Obama’s NST. The turncoat Joe Lieberman, whose sole purpose in life seems to be starting a war with Iran, called Obama’s selections ‘virtually perfect,’ and Michael Goldfarb of the Weekly Standard declared that the selections indicate “surprising continuity on foreign policy between President Bush’s second term and the incoming administration. . . . The expectation is that Obama is set to continue the course set by Bush. . . .”
. . . .
In the Democratic debate in Philadelphia on April 16, 2008, [Obama] said,
‘I have said I will do whatever is required to prevent the Iranians from obtaining nuclear weapons. I believe that includes direct talks with the Iranians where we are laying out very clearly for them, here are the issues that we find unacceptable. . . . Now, my belief is that they should also know that I will take no options off the table when it comes to preventing them from using nuclear weapons. . . .’
Those are weapons that Iran does not have, and there is no evidence that it is attempting to get them.
In an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America on April 22, 2008, Obama said, ‘We shouldn’t allow Iran to have nuclear weapons, period. I have consistently said that I will do everything in my power to prevent them from having it, and I have not ruled out military force as an option.'” (Read more from antiwar.com)
Question: Can we create cult of personality to gain support of all the policies begun under our reviled President Bush?
Answer: YES WE CAN!