Barack Obama
(On CBS 60 Minutes, November 16, 2008)

It was one of his first future plans: Closing the US. military prison at Guantanamo Bay! After 2 months of his administration he mentioned it would be “a challenge” to close it even within the first 100 days ..and now Mr.Obama?

In January he celebrated his first anniversary as President-elect and Guantanamo Bay isn´t closed until today! (about 250 prisoners still there)

But, what are the main problems with closing the prison Mr. Obama?

 1. Closing Guantanamo involves sending the detainees either to their home country or bringing them to the  United States for prosecution. However the US-citizens strictly refuse to open their gate “for Al-Quaeda terrorists” as many Americans say. (great pressure from the US-citizens to Obama)

2. But if it would be the case that the native countries will take them back, many of those countries couldn´t offer  sufficient safety precaution which increases a potential jailbreaks level (great burden for undeveloped countries; great risk in general)                                                                                                           

Nevertheless ”Guantanamo” is a

synonym for torture for all of us and not only the

human rights groups have called for its closure.

Opponents say the methods used there are illegal,

immoral, and harmful to America’s image!

It remains an ambivalent discussion about closing the prison but for now – as I always evaluate Obama´s decisions by highlighting the topic ”CHANGE” - I asked myself:

Could we really speak of CHANGE concerning “Guantanamo” Mr. Obama? Isn´t it nothing more than hot air but nothing happens in reality?

 In my opinion, it isn´t!

Obama brought CHANGE to America and the entire world concerning “Guantanamo”! ..why do I think so?

-> Generally President Obama - and I want you to recognize that just that makes a difference to the Bush administration - admits publicly the truth of inhuman cirumstances in the prison of Guantanamo. The Obama administration definitely wants to avoid criticisms that have marked the Bush administration’s military commissions.

-> Furthermore the plan of closing could require the creation of a new legal system, a new valuation of human rights, and that not only within America

-> Ok, definitely we have to face problems by closing the prison but nevertheless Obama FACES those problems and makes an effort in finding solutions

-> In contast to the Bush administration, Barack Obama tries to solve the “problem of Guantanamo” in collaboration with other countries and continents to work together “for a better world” at the Guantanamo Bay

Even if many questions still remain unsolved concerning Guantanamo, Obama SENT A SIGNAL and in my opinion we face one more time A

CHANGE IN THE WORLD´S POLICY – THIS TIME CONCERNING “GUANTANAMO”!!

From "Badische Zeitung"

..as you all know the purpose of my blog “Change in the Word´s Policy – Subject Obama” is to summarize every week the latest news of Obama´s politics and *as you hopefully have recognized* it doesn´t pall because every week there´s enough “stuff” to talk about! …to be honest, SO MUCH stuff that I often can´t easily decide what are the MAIN NEWS to talk about in my next blog entry!  

Regardless the hundreds of news which would definitely worth to be discussed I want to post something like an “Out-of-order-entry” today! “Out-of-order” because it shouldn´t be discussed Obama´s politics of the last week but 

THE POLITICS OF “ONE YEAR OBAMA”!!

(“One year Obama”: January 20, 2010)

It was the January 20, 2010 when President Barack Obama 

marked one year since he took office. In the

daily news it was reported that this anniversary 

was barely mentioned at the White House. (Virtually 

the only public commemoration of the anniversary 

was by the president's wife, Michelle Obama, who 

surprised visitors Wednesday by personally 

conducting White House tours!!)

But – What was the reason? …doing a bad job during the previous 12 months??

This graph shows the public’s view of President Obama´s first year in office! It is far from being an effective predictor of how well he is judged as president! …nor it is a good predictor of his probability of being re-elected!

The comedown is dramatic!

-> 62 % of Americans now say the country is off on the wrong track

-> 53 % aren’t confident in Obama to make the right decisions for the country’s future

-> 41 % say he’s keeping his major campaign promises

-> 76 % thought he’d bring “needed change” to Washington - 50 percent today say he’s actually done so

Nevertheless it´s close to my heart to indicate which major
problems Mr.Obama had to solve during the last 12 months
although he is NOT RESPONSIBLE for them!!! Just imagine the
global finance crisis, the dramatic budget deficit of 482
billion (remaining of Bush´s policy!!), the record level 
of unemployment when he took office one year before, the
dramatic situation of America´s wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq, the list is never-ending...

What Obama actually did to solve all that problems or more precisely: What his major topics of concern were during the last months you can see by observing my blog – have fun by browsing and don´t hesitate to comment! (all of your comments will be invisible for other visitors if you request  that like many of you did!)

But for now I don´t want to keep MY PERSONAL OPINION
about the previous 12 months secret:

Yes that´s it:

“Obama weaker, but still strong”

This slogan summarizes my personal opinion about the presidency of “Mr.Change”! He is “still strong” although the US.citizens kept him more grounded one year before! BUT he will continue making a good job under difficult circumstances!!

..and please don´t forget: 

For the moment the data show that President Obama is performing below average in the context of other presidents one year after their election. ..and that Americans have become less sure that he will be able to accomplish a number of his administration’s goals. BUT it may not have much significance relative to re-election at the beginning of year two, as the two presidents (other than Obama) with the lowest approval ratings at this stage of their White House careers were both re-elected!! ..and one of those with the highest approval ratings (George H.W. Bush) was not!!!!!

SO… 1 year Obama?! – My personal opinion to his presidency:

But now let´s interact: It’s one year since President Barack Obama was sworn in. Let’s talk about it!

What do you think about the last year? What’s gone right? What’s gone wrong? What impressed you? What disappointed you? What should the Obama team keep doing – and what should they change going forward?

The financial crisis of 2007–2010 is called to be the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many causes have been proposed years ago, only the dimension remained questionable among leading economists.    

What were the reasons for that global collapse? Let us have the cartoon speak for itself:

Just for reminding – the five most responsible facts a bit more precisely:

1.) Growth of housing bubble
    (Many homeowners refinanced their homes
     at lower interest rates by taking mortgages)

2.) Easy credit conditions
    (Encouragement to borrow money by lower interest rates)

3.) Sub-prime lending
    (Making loans that are in the riskiest
     category of consumer loans)

4.) Deregulation
    (Simplification of government rules which
     constricts the operation of market forces)

5.) Predatory lending
    (As the name implies: unfair, deceptive practices
     of loaning money in the hope the consumer will default
     and the lender will be able to take the collateral)

How did President Obama react on that global crisis? Could we expect a CHANGE in the World´s fiscal policy?

…the answer is given in the following video – have a look at it!!  

Summary: 

-> central banks shouldn´t be able to take great risks on their own
-> growth of central banks should be bounded
-> investment banking should be treated separately to all other financial affairs 

Consequence on Obama´s latest financial plans: 
The Dow Jones Industrial sank 1.1% last 
Wednesday (20.01.2010) and 2.0% on Thursday!

CHANGE concerning fiscal policy?
It SEEMS there will be a tiny change concerning fiscal 
policy with the help of greater control of central banks. 
But in my opinion it´s too early to make a 
forecast to the future! We will see what the following 
months will implicate!

   1.)  Date: 12 of January, 2010; 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC)
   2.)  Magnitude: 7.0 M (with 33 aftershocks)
   3.)  Epicentre: Léogâne (approximately 25 km west of
        Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti)
   4.)  Number of People affected by the quake: three million
   5.)  Number of People died: almost 200 000

 ⁽For further information have a look at this video)  

Nevertheless the main challenge of that blog shouldn´t be to report about the world´s crisis but to debate how President Obama deals with such crisis!  

So for now where we recalled the facts we can discuss the question “How did President Obama react on that Crisis? How was his crisis management? …and furthermore: IS there a CHANGE in the policy of Obama´s crisis management compared to the crisis policy of the previous presidents?”     

1. How did President Obama react on that Crisis?

Clear?? …summary of the video:  

-> massive US. military response to the Haiti earthquake (ships, helicopters, transport planes and a 2,000-member Marine unit are on their way)  

-> promise to mount an all-out rescue and humanitarian effort to help the people of Haiti overcome a “cruel and incomprehensible” tragedy”  

-> General position of President Obama: “We have to be there for them in their hour of need!”  

2. How did previous US-presidents react on crisis like earthquakes?  

In my opinion we definitely can assert that the US-government pursued most of the time a policy of support and help in times of crisis! With good cause the United States are seen as the “world policy” by many countries today. And even if the previous US-Presidents like Mr. Clinton or Mr. Bush already finished their presidency they come together in times of crisis to speak to the general public (a fact I was personally very surprised of!)  

 3. IS there a CHANGE in the policy of Obama´s crisis management compared to the crisis policy of the previous presidents?  

Ok, by the first video of this blog entry and my personal summary below we learned something about the facts how President Obama deals with crisis like that. It remains the question “CHANGE in the World´s Policy concerning crisis management or not?”  

…in my opinion, we cannot observe a change concerning that topic (Thank God!) due to the fact that the U.S. government offered help in most of the word´s crisis of the last decades. (..if this help was always desired remains questionable -> Afghanistan??)  

But searching for a little change I found one fact I definitely want to mention at last: It seems that Obama brings all US.Presidents (still acting or not) together to demonstrate strength in times of crisis which I personally appreciate!!  

From "BBC News"

Hey Guys! ..even though I always write to you at the weekend about a SPECIAL, INTERESTING

CHANGE concerning the world´s policy, I want to make today a little “out of order-post”!!

You could be curious, …I´ll even include a SELF-MADE video, filmed at the American

Embassy in Berlin! But now, let´s start with the topic of today!!  

I want to deal with a topic which is – let´s say - really close to my heart:

The troop surge in Afghanistan!    

Of course everyone of us noticed that fact and most of the Germans didn´t brim

over with enthusiasm for it. I personally found it difficult to evaluate the

importance (or unimportance ??) of that new war strategie, the

importance of sending more troops to Afghanistan!?    

Due to that fact I was glad to hear that I personally will have the opportunity to

discuss that topic with two representatives of the American Embassy in Berlin who

both support Obama´s decision of sending more troops to Afghanistan. (I was

given the opportunity by the “Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung” of whom I get a

scholarship from)  So it was last week that I set out for the American Embassy

in Berlin situated at the “Pariser Platz” close to the “Brandenburger Tor”…    

For my personal blog about the politics of President Obama I filmed the most important part of our

discussion with the two American representatives. You can watch their explanatory statement

concerning the troop surge in Afghanistan below but I will also summarize their main justification for

you:    

In their opinion the troop surge is definetely NECESSARY for stabilizing Afghanistan!    

1. They argue that the Taliban could organisate it´s structure exactly in the times when just a

little amount of American troops were stationated in Afghanistan. The Taliban grew in that

times and breaked down in times of America´s military strength.

2. They justify the political step in Afghanistan by comparing it to the war of Iraq: In Iraq where not

that much troops stationated with the consequence that America was only able to take the

country over BUT NOT TO SECURE IT!!

3.They emphasized that America is not trying to succeed in Afghanistan with military strength but

with civilian developement, civilian reconstruction and good governance! (They pointed out

that the US spends billions of dollars on the civilian side. 20 times that much Germany spends!

*Germany: 1.2 billions!!*) 

4. They both desire more support of Germany for the war in Afghanistan! In their opinion the

German “Bundeswehr” is always about ”KLASSE” with their wonderful police academy as

they named it in contrast to the US military which is always about “MASSE”!

5. They argue furthermore that the encouragement of Germany in Afghanistan is that

important since Germany constituted a democracy itself 60 years ago in contrast to

the US who has no experience with constituting a ”new” democracy!

BUT NOW: Watch the video!!    

What is YOUR PESONAL OPINION to the speech of the American representatives in

Berlin? I´m looking forward to get comments from YOU!!

From "Guardian"

Heaven on earth was promised but - once elected – heaven on earth is neglected! 

In many cases that´s policy in my opinion!

It was last Wednesday, December 9 2009, when Barack Obama travelled to Copenhagen to participate in the United Nations Climate Change Conference.  Until that day it remained disputable if Obama would come up to his expectations he raised on the hustings in 2008!

…so, have a quick review WHAT Barack Obama promised when he campaigned in 2008 (concerning the climate change):

In my opinion Obama really promised “heaven on earth” – let´s say, he really promised A GREAT CHANGE in the US-policy concering climate!

So, I asked myself: Did Obama make the grade in Copenhagen?

Let us have the facts speak for themselves:  

-> He put on the table a U.S. emissions reduction target in the range of 17% below 2005 levels by 2020, in the range of 30% by 2025 and in the range of 42% by 2030!

-> He avowed hisself publicly to the fact that it´s for the most part the challenge of the U.S. AS A GREAT POLLUTER to take an active part in the current discussion!

-> In the U.S. he introduced the law that greenhouse gases like CO2 are henceforth categorized as “noxious”! With the help of that fact Barack Obama is now able to regulate the emission of carbon dioxide also without prior agreement of the congress!

-> By the action readiness of the U.S. Barack Obama obviously exerts pressure on the People´s Republic of China to act! 

IN GENERAL:  He totally turned his back on the policy and ideology of the “Bush-administration”!

So, what´s up with the promise of  Barack Obama concerning the climate discussion? Did he make the grade in Copenhagen? …

HE DID!!

From "Elephantjournal"

And furthermore:

In my opinion his presidency will mark a new chapter in America´s leadership on climate change!

December 2, 2009 – IT IS DONE:

President Barack Obama ordered another 30 000 American soldiers to Afghanistan!

From "Blogspot"

The reason:

-> ”The Taliban has gained momentum. There is a danger that Afghanistan could once again become a base for terrorist operations.” (B. Obama)

-> ”The status quo is not sustainable.”

(You like to watch the hole speech? Just click…)  

Are the American citizens convinced of that reasons?

From "Onstream media"

Are YOU convinced of that reasons?

I´m really curious about YOUR opinion and get excited about sharing it with you! So come on, write me what YOU think about enforcing troops in Afghanistan, I look forward to your notion!

but those costs are necessary when we consider the cost of a strategic victory for our enemies in Iraq!”

(George W. Bush)

 SO…

From "Politicalhumor"

-> Start: March 20, 2003 

-> Invasion of the Iraq by: Invasion forces of United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Poland and Denmark

-> Reason (official version): Weapons of mass destruction possessed by Iraq; reforming the human rights of the Iraqi; stopping financial support for the families of Palestinian suicide bombers; democratising the country

-> Soldiers in action: 682 200 (255 000 American soldiers; 45 000 British soldiers; 2200 Australian soldiers; – 380 000 Iraqi soldiers)

-> Criticism: (I only deal with the six  most  important ones according to my personal opinion. In reality there could be easily found thousands of arguments for criticism!)

1.) Till this day there weren´t found weapons of mass destruction!

2.) Up to now around 14 000 soldiers killed in that war (4700 soldiers of coalition of invasion, 9300 Iraqui)

3.) Disturbance of the oil production of the Iraq (the price of oil has quadrupled since 2002)

4.) Health of the Iraqi population has dramatically worsen since the beginning of the war (i.e.: 5 million orphans today;  68% of Iraqis have no access to safe drinking water; etc.)

5.) Financial total costs of the war to U.S. taxpayers will be around $1.9 trillion. (a multiple of stopping the hunger wordwide!)

6.) Legality of the invasion stays questionable! (Kofi Annan, the United Nations Secretary General, still states “Iraq was illegal”)

-> Status: “CONFLICT ONGOING!” …

…so what did Obama do with that conflict? – Once more: Change in the World´s Policy? Phew, that question is definitely hard to answer because from my point of view Mr. Obama serves not sufficient time as President that we could evaluate precisely how the strategy concerning Iraq will continue. But in one case I´m absolutely sure: He WILL finish that war IN THE LONG-RUN, remains the question:”What is THE LONG-RUN?”