Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: January 7, 2010
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/227632/Obama-in-a-rage.html
But he is to blame, too
After spending the first year of his presidency
toeing the line of least resistance to Islamist terrorism and pretending that
jihadis no longer pose a threat to America, apart from pitilessly mocking
at his predecessor for putting in place a tough anti-terror regime, President
Barack Obama really has no reason to berate US intelligence and security agencies
for what he has rather colourfully described as a "screw-up" which
almost resulted in an airliner being brought down by a bomber over Detroit
on Christmas Day. Obviously Mr Obama is now beginning to realise that long
sermons peppered with historical inaccuracies delivered from Cairo and Istanbul
may fetch him praise in Arab palaces but has done little to placate Islamists
in Arab streets (and in Muslim countries) who still see America as a legitimate
target and Americans as villains worthy of severe punishment. This has nothing
to do with either manufactured grievances or imagined victimhood - the failed
bomber proves why profiling of jihadis is virtually impossible - but the ideology
of hate which Al Qaeda continues to preach and which still finds sufficient
adherence among the Muslim masses around the world; India is no exception.
The response to such ideologically-motivated war cannot be either nuanced
or soft; it has to be, more often than not, militarily crude. Of course, there
shall be collateral damage but an asymmetric war cannot be won without factoring
in undesirable losses, nor can a distinction be made between 'good' terrorists
and 'bad' terrorists. Mr George W Bush understood this simple fact and in
retrospect, his critics, we can be sure, must be wondering whether they 'misunderstimated'
him.
Be that as it may, it is amusing to learn
that Mr Obama, livid with rage at being let down by intelligence and security
agencies, has publicly rebuked them for failing to analyse and leverage available
information. According to him, America's intelligence and security system
has "failed in a potentially disastrous way", something which he
is loath to accept and tolerate. "We dodged a bullet but just barely.
It was averted by brave individuals not because the system worked," he
told officials whom he had summoned for a meeting at the White House. While
it is for the American agencies to respond to the tongue-lashing they have
received from their President, it would not be out of place to suggest that
perhaps Mr Obama should consider the debilitating impact his Administration's
wavering, wobbling policies to deal with global jihad and counter the offensive
by adherents of Al Qaeda's obnoxious ideology (which inspires the Taliban
in Afghanistan and Pakistan) have had on those who are supposed to be on the
frontline in the war on terror. Frankly, the blame lies with the political
leadership and not those who take their cue from politicians in power.
