Kailash Chand says the 44th President will need all the talent at his disposal to undo the damage wrought by the 43rd
FINALLY, it’s the end of the line for arguably the worst presidency in the history of the United States. The dawn of a new era must not be a false one. After years of watching Labour Prime Ministers cosying up to right-wing Republicans, Labour Party members will be among those breathing a sigh of relief at the change in the White House. George W Bush is the most detested President in several decades. His presidency had been the worst since Ronald Reagan’s in terms of the economic damage done, the worst since Theodore Roosevelt’s in terms of imperialism and the worst since Richard Nixon’s in terms of dishonesty in government.
The International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes against Humanity spoke for many when it found “the President of the United States and his administration guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity”. Bush belongs in the dock for his wars of aggression, presiding over illegal detention and torture, suppression of science and catastrophic policies on global warming, and the abandonment of New Orleans before, during and after Hurricane Katrina.
His incompetence was maddening and often heartbreaking. Remember “Mission accomplished” over Iraq? And the world will be paying for years for the damage his administration has done to the American and global economies.
The interrogation practices he authorised violated any rational reading of laws prohibiting torture. Is it any wonder that some people argue he should be charged with war crimes. In short, it’s hard to find another two-term US President who left office in such low esteem.
At his final presidential press conference, Bush conceded that the “Mission accomplished” banner used as a backdrop to his speech on an aircraft carrier in 2003 claiming victory in Iraq had been an error. He also admitted that pointing to non-existent weapons of mass destruction as an excuse for the invasion of Iraq was another mistake. However, not for the first time, Bush has missed the point. Human beings are fallible and make mistakes – and they can be huge ones. But what was devastatingly wrong throughout Bush’s presidency was the whole principle of using military power to enforce his minority policy on the world. The neo-conservatives called it pre-emptive regime change, hoping that the jargon would make what this actually meant sound more palatable. Bush’s faults lie in his efforts to impose his reactionary ideology on the whole world, regardless of the reality.
He took the world’s natural and understandable sympathy for his country in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and perverted it into the crudest form of alliance, memorably threatening other governments with the words: “You are either with us or with the terrorists”. This was no way to try to lead the human race and it has been rejected.
It seems unlikely that there will ever be a monument in Washington for the 43rd American President, although one is guaranteed for the 44th even before he takes office, since he is his country’s first black US head of state. We must hope that history will remember Barack Obama for the change he personifies. His reputation and place in history will depend on how far he succeeds in restoring the US’s confidence in itself and the world’s belief in it as a force for good. He must be sure not to misuse the power now in his grasp or squander the enormous goodwill that he has been able to evoke at home and abroad.
In political terms, what has helped Obama is the havoc Bush wrought on his country and others during his eight years in power. Obama starts at a low point and many commentators regard the only way as up. Certainly, the new President inherits huge problems – domestic and international. He enters the White House exuding hope for better times and striving to promote optimism that global politics and markets can be remade.
But now comes the difficult bit and Obama must work out his priorities. He has to pull the US out of the economic crisis that has brought into question the very nature of capitalism – the system on which America has been built. A free-for-all banking system has left coffers empty and the US faces an economic recession comparable to the Great Depression – a nightmare that still haunts America’s collective folk memory.
Meanwhile, Obama’s foreign policy challenges are equally formidable – from the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran to the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, instability in Pakistan and the ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East.
The international crisis is so profound that tackling it will be neither quick nor easy. Yet people may be expecting too much too soon from Obama and he must be wary of their disillusion.
In a debate with Hillary Clinton during the Democratic primary campaign, Obama explained his position on Iraq. “I don’t want to just end the war, but I want to end the mindset that got us into war in the first place.” We must hope he makes good on this aspiration and prevents a similar debacle from ever happening again.
If he is serious about restoring America’s standing in the eyes of the rest of the world, Obama must reinvent the US as a nation that listens, engages with others and has, in the famous phrase from the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, “a decent respect for the opinions of mankind”.
The new administration must show that, despite its understandable internal preoccupations, America – still by far the world’s richest country– will never forget its responsibilities to the wellbeing of the whole planet.
Initially at least,Obama will have one asset no American President since John F Kennedy has enjoyed: a huge reservoir of national and international goodwill. That is based partly on the simple fact that he is not George W Bush. But there is also the widely-held belief that, in electing its first black President, the US is somehow closing one of the darker chapters of its story. Obama has made history by winning power. He has inspired people around the world to feel that they have a personal stake in his success. As he attempts to make history again in the way he exercises power, he may be weighed down by expectations. He is going to need all the many talents – and all the luck – that got him into the White House.
Everyone should wish President Obama the very best in what is sure to be a long and difficult journey.
Kailash Chand is a Manchester-based GP
