Downtrodden dreams

US President Barack Obama's positive overture should be taken up quickly by the world, writes Gamal Nkrumah

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Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th US president and the crowds gather to celebrate in front of Capitol Hill

"We remain a young nation, but in the sacred text, the time has come to stop childish things." These words of United States President Barack Hussein Obama set the tone for his inaugural address. Indeed, it is high time for America to heed the biblical injunction to discard its petulant ways around the world.

Setting aside childish things is not as simple as it first appears. Listening to Obama's words made people sit up because they came from the heart. He is not something of an accidental president though he came out of nowhere. He rose like a meteor and has wowed statesmen and the common man on the international scene since. He exudes confidence and style. As African Americans say, he is the very embodiment of "cool".

But is cool enough? The challenges, both domestic and foreign, before him are tremendous and he must prove very quickly that he is up to par. As the world faces its greatest economic challenge, it looks for inspiration to the mightiest nation on this planet and its new leader.

He purports to be everything to everyone. His phenomenal success is in the first instance due to the devotion of the poor and underprivileged as well as to young people on the make. "Millions of Americans are losing their jobs and their homes. They are worried about how they'll afford college for their kids or pay the stack of bills on their kitchen table," Obama noted in his inaugural speech in acknowledgement to their right to dream.

On the surface, the world watched astounded as Obama was sworn in as the 44th president yesterday. It was not so long ago, after all, that the 13th Amendment abolished slavery, that a person of colour could vote in the US, and for millions around the world the spectacle of an African American whose father was born in a "poor village" in Africa was nothing short of aphoristically inspirational.

Obama's first act in office was to close Guantanamo. He had pledged to close down the notorious prison during his presidential campaign and he is carrying out his pledge, though where the prisoners will end is a million dollar question. He is also poised to pull the troops out of Iraq within 16 months.

The current tragedy unfolding in Palestine was conspicuous in its absence during Obama's speech. Israeli atrocities in Gaza are after all an echo and a reflection of America's own war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If terrorism is a targeted act of violence against civilians designed to have a random and multiplying effect, then the savage Israeli assault on Gaza epitomises the terrorist act, and as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki- Moon, who toured Gaza this week observed, "It is outrageous and totally unacceptable. There must be a full investigation, a full explanation to make sure it never happens again."

It was unsettling that no mention was made of the suffering of the people of Gaza, though Obama's entire inaugural speech was championing the underdog at home and abroad. Was this deliberate, reflecting a continuum in US Middle East policy, a naive oversight, or is Obama unwilling and incapable to stand up to this evil?

There is a yawning gap in the world between rich and poor nations, and Obama noted this discrepancy in a most articulate manner. "To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it."

That is why the world should respond quickly to Obama's feelers. Peruvian shamans summoned the Andean spirit totems in a heart-stopping show of support for Obama. African faith healers, too, bestowed their blessings on Obama. "He has the spiritual support of Martin Luther King and John F Kennedy," the soothsayers prophetically proclaimed.

There are, however, practical obstacles to Obama's aspirations. I was left with the impression that while his detractors see a fraught game, the vast majority of his admirers at home and abroad trust that the Obama circus would make a difference. It is hoped that he would not let the downtrodden masses down.

Obama left his listeners thoroughly confused in his admonishments directed at Muslim leadership. "To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West -- know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy." What Muslim leaders did he have in mind? He continued, "To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

Obama opened up the all-important question of US military prowess and pledged to invest in the US military. "We need greater investment in advanced technology ranging from the revolutionary, like Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and electronic warfare capabilities to essential systems like the C-17 cargo and KC-X air refuelling aircraft which provide the backbone of our ability to extend global power," Obama observed. Let the boys have their toys.

Be that as it may, he has yet to demonstrate he has the full confidence of the American security apparatus, still the most powerful institution in the US. The temptation to crack down indiscriminately on suspect terrorists is an option that Obama can ill afford to ignore. He addressed this only vaguely, saying "we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."

Obama comes from the heart of the American political establishment. That much is clear. "In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned," Obama shrewdly pointed out, expounding on the American dream theme. "Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction."

World reactions to the inauguration of Obama were swift and telling. Perhaps the most poignant was from the Bush administration's arch adversary. "If Obama as president of the United States does not obey the orders of the empire, they will kill him, like they killed Kennedy, like they killed Martin Luther King, or Lincoln, who freed the blacks and paid with his life," warned Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Yet Obama seems to have anticipated that not everyone across the globe would be ecstatic. "What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them -- that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply." Does this reasoning wash given the ominous continuity with the Clinton-Bush dynasties?

"The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works -- whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward." Does this mean he will provide jobs as opposed to bailing out bankrupt financiers, provide universal healthcare, and protect social security from the likes of the Bushites?

When the euphoria dies down, the world will evaluate Obama's record on its successes and failures. "We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the spectre of a warming planet." Hot air? We can only hope he succeeds in even a fraction of his stated ideals.