Obama: A Lost Article

A recent review of saved documents on my computer has given me a few forgotten gems. The following article I wrote just after Barack Obama took office. It’s an interesting piece that has since been proven right. I have not altered it and is a straight copy from my computer.

I am a supporter of most of Barack Obama’s policies and believe that he was the best choice of all who wanted to be US President dating back to the primaries. However a number of issues relating to his policies have irked me into a response. Obama’s careful play of words have led some media outlets and people to have a misconstrued belief in Obama’s aims.

The first issue is related to his military policies. Obama has been portrayed as peaceful, non-militaristic idealist and has even been called a left wing communist by some media outlets. These claims though are slightly askew of the truth. Obama is not against the military, in fact to the contrary he hopes to expand it. In his campaign promises stated that he wants to increase the size of the UA army, marine corps and special forces. He is also going to change tact with Iran which is quite aggressive. Like Bushes statement you are either with us or with the terrorists Obama has stated that he will talk with Iran and offer them some incentives not to continue their nuclear programme or face political isolation and economic restrictions. Which will escalate as time goes by.

Another big issue that Obama has been praised for is his expected closure of Guantanamo Bay detention centre, a promise he is fulfilling as I write this because a draft proposal has been written up. Obama is closing Guantanamo Bay but Guantanamo is a lot better compared to other detention centres the US operate. One in particular is Bagram Theatre Internment Facility which has nearly double the detainees of Guantanamo. Not only this but the conditions the detainees suffer are far worse than those suffered in Cuba. Captives are called ‘unlawful enemy combatants’ not ‘prisoners of war‘ hence the detainees do not have the same rights as POWs. Many former detainees have stated that the conditions in Bagram are far worse than that suffered in Guantanamo.

I must stress that I am a supporter of Obama and that this piece is not against Obama but its purpose is to highlight some facts that I have found to have been overlooked by many people.