Obama Not Anti-War

This is a scary moment for Canadian nationalists, as they have to reconcile themselves to the fact that the Americans have elected a black Democrat as president and that they'll no longer have George Bush to kick around (or, more correctly, they won't be able to kick the US around anymore for having him as their president).

Canadian nationalism, at least in its current left-wing form, is based primarily on a visceral hatred of the US and its institutions and of the dominant culture and values of its citizens. George Bush was the greatest gift nationalists had ever received, as his election validated (at least in their minds) every horrible belief they even believed and preached about "Amerika" and those "Yankee imperialists".

But now Americans have a perfect comeback for those who continuously trumpet Canada's supposed moral superiority to the US. "How many black presidents have you elected?"

Admit it Susan. You're going to miss George W. Bush, as many of those Canadians you once counted as allies give themselves permission to like Americans again.

Ignore "individualist", Susan, engulfed as he is in the jingoistic rhetoric of the Damn Yankees.

Obama has little choice in embracing the war mentality that is woven into the very fabric that comprises the US, considering that the only viable industry it has is the "defense" industry.......

Sorry, Individualist. But Dubya was the worst thing to happen to Canadian nationalists, as well as the rest of the world! His bullying and disasterous foreign policy does not cause me to hate the American people, but to hate their right wing power structure that doesn`t respect the sovereignty of other countries, including Canada. And although an Obama victory may appear progressive on the outside, it really is a continuation of the same imperialistic agenda. And no matter who sits in the oval office, Vichy France -like Harper will carry out his orders from Washington. But really, Canadian nationalism doesn`t need an aggressive, imposing America to function. Most Canadians have always been desirous of a sovereign Canada. Even in the days of British dominance, Canada may have had strong ties, but still Canadians thought of themselves as just that- Canadians, and not British. Hell, even my Polish grandmother, who came here after WW2, calls herself, first and foremost, Canadian! I think that Canadian nationalists want good relations with the USA. We just don`t want to be dictated to. Also, remember when Obama was lying to the American people by saying he`d re-negotiate NAFTA, then he quietly leaned over to Harper and said, " Don`t worry, we`re not really interested in re-tooling NAFTA." But then, the whole ordeal was spun into 'Canada meddling in American politics.' And another sellout, Jack Layton, appeared on CNN, claiming that the Canadian government should 'apologize.' I mean, the circus never ends! The Washington imperialists, and the Ottawa bootlickers. But trust me, Me,myself, 99% of the WORLD, will not miss dubya!

"Obama says he would have voted against the Iraq war if he were in the Senate at the time, but has voted for continued funding of the war. He talks about a timetable for withdrawing main-combat forces in Iraq, but would then send more to Afghanistan. He has talked about possible missile strikes against Iran and military action against Pakistan. He would continue to expand the war on terror, and he supports preemptive strikes, increasing the size of our armed forces, and further militarization of the middle east. It is impossible to label Obama as an anti-war candidate, but it might be unfair to say that he is a warmonger. He is pro-military, and has demonstrated his willingness to maintain the U.S. as the world?s police force. Obama as president would not bring about any radical shift in foreign policy."

This is taken from a previous article that sums it up quite nicely.

Ron Paul is the Real Candidate for Change, Not Barack Obama
http://intelstrike.com/?p=185

Have to agree with you, Nauwatch. But Ron Paul wouldn't be much good at all for the Military/Industrial leeches..............nor the Wall Street ones.

I just hope that with Obama in that all the people on the left don't go to sleep because their man and party is back in power. The truth is that no matter how many times you say the word change it doesn't mean things will be any different than the status quo. Furthermore, it will take more than a new president to bring about real change. It won't be easy because it requires a whole different attitude and mindset on the part of individuals. In the end we must judge our leaders not by what they say, but by their actions and that includes OBAMA.

If Obama was elected due to a slick sales campaign, then time will tell. The problem this time, with misrepresentaion of himself and his intentions, is the different reaction he will get from the American public. Millions are expecting change, and will deliver civil unrest and violence if they don't get it.

I am not an optimist about what Obama will deliver in the end. The problems of Amerika are greater than any one man, and are rather systemic to its capitalist system. If that is true, then it is the issue of capitalism itself that is going to have to be addressed, in the end, not this or that Great Man..., or Great Woman for that matter.

And the central argument of this article, that Obama is NOT a peace candidate, is entirely true. He is, and he has stated it in one form or another quite openly and often, pledged to continued Amerikan "power" and "leadership" in the world. These concepts but being but a code-speak way of saying that he is committed to US Empire over the world, especially those parts of it that possess the resources the Empire needs/claims. Indeed, his pledge is but to withdraw from Iraq in merely a shift of emphasis to the Afghan front. (Which is less even to capture Osama or protect young Afghan girls, how e're much this latter is a laudable aim, largely propaganda justification for the Empire's imperialism, but to secure the oil resources of the northern 'stan countries of former Soviet influence, funnelling it through a pipeline across Afghanistan and Pakistan to Amerikan tanker bottoms in the Arabian Sea. See: http://www.newhumanist.com/oil.html )

Obama's only real significance, at least to this point in time, and likely for the foreseeable future, is for what his election says about the American people themselves: they have finally risen above the racism of their own history, for a complex of reasons, and elected the first black man from amongst them to be President. (As significant as if Canada had elected a Native to Prime Ministerhip of Canada.) Laudable, no doubt. BUT... the reality remains that, he has been elected to lead over what is fundamentally, though in precipitous decline as could lead to collapse, the leading "oppressive" imperial power in the world today.

Still, Islandcynic above is entirely correct, in the quote I have copied above. It is the main hope we can have in this entire business... a "rising" of the American people. I have lived to observe one already myself, in the events that led to the defeat of US Imperialism in Vietnam. And the objective socio-economic preconditions now taking shape, further augmented by a once in a hundred years economic collapse feel familiar. It is about the only thing that could occur here, that would actually have the potential power to turn this all around. Ditto, taking advantage of the chaos of such an event, even more so, for any hope of a real Canadian independence, let alone the further development of economic and political democracy in the land.

Obama, a low level political figure, is going to usher in change? He would not have been "(s)elected" if this was the case. Unlike American Beer, Canadian Beer is not made with Kool Aid.