Why Iraqis, Afghans, Palestinians, and Others Might Be Nervous About President Obama

By Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, Democracy Now!. Posted November 7, 2008.

Juan Gonzalez: Congratulations are pouring in from around the world for President-elect Barack Obama after his historic victory Tuesday night. His diverse background is truly unique for a U.S. president. With a mother from Kansas, a father from Kenya, a stepfather from Indonesia, and a middle name -- Hussein -- from the Middle East, Obama has sparked the imagination of people on every continent. In cities across Africa, people hailed the United States for electing Obama.

Johnny Bent, Johannesburg Resident: I think Obama is a good guy. And I just hope Obama will have influence in Africa, especially to develop us, to help us with the sickness and the AIDS and so on. So, especially it's -- at least he's from Kenya. So I just hope there's going to be a lot of influence in Africa to help us and support us and to come out as a new, new, new nation. Thank you.

Bolaji Ilori, Nigerian Politician: For us, this is a threshold of history. It is a resurgence of hope for black man, and not just for black man, a triumph of democracy. For us, it's a lesson in this country. We are trying now -- we are struggling for open and democratic governance, for us to have flawless elections. We are happy we saw the loser congratulating the winner. For us, it's good. But for us, Obama represents a new generation of ideas, of peace in the world.

Femi Oshi, Johannesburg Resident: It's not only the president of the United States of America; this is a black man in a black skin, ruling the world. And take it or leave it, he's going to be the best thing in the history of the Americans.

JG: In the Middle East, reactions to Obama's victory were more cautious. From Iraq to Iran to the Occupied Territories, people called on Obama to change U.S. foreign policy toward the region.

Alaa Al-Zerjawi, Sadr City Resident: [translated] My message to the U.S. president, Barack Obama, is to withdraw troops from our country. This is the first thing. We want him to be honest with us, because Bush has given many promises, but he did not fulfill any of them. We have suffered a lot from the occupation. Because of the occupation, there were divisions, sectarian conflicts, and now we want them to leave our country.

Mohammed Abu Awda, Gaza Resident: [translated] We hope that he will help find a solution for the Palestinian cause and to end the siege, because we are really suffering. I hope we find a solution for the Palestinian cause, and everybody will live in peace.

Hossein Nazari, Iranian Student: My message to Obama, to Barack Obama, is that if you want your country -- actually, if you want to have a good relationship with our country, with our politicians and with our government, you have to radically change your former policies towards Iran.

JG: And in South Asia, in countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, there was concern over the future of U.S. foreign policy under a President Obama. In Afghanistan, where Obama has pledged to escalate the war, President Hamid Karzai called for an end to U.S. air strikes in the country.

President Hamid Karzai: [translated] Our demand is a change in strategy fighting terrorism. It means fighting against terrorism should not be in Afghanistan rural areas. Fighting against terrorism is not in our country. Our country is a victim of terrorism. And I wish that civilian casualties would be eliminated here. By bombing Afghanistan, the war against terrorism cannot be won. These are the important demands of Afghans. This is our first demand and our basic demand.

Arshad Hussain, Pakistani Journalist: [translated] Pakistan should not expect much, because every U.S. president has his own interest. The example is President Bush and many others who give aid to Pakistan but did not get much work done in return.

Amy Goodman:Today, we host a discussion on Obama's foreign policy, particularly with respect to hotspots in the Middle East, in South Asia, Africa and Latin America. We'll talk about the concerns and hopes of those who live in countries at the receiving end of American foreign policy.

We're joined on the phone and through video stream in studios by a number of people. First, Australian investigative journalist, bestselling author, documentary filmmaker, John Pilger, joins us on the telephone from Britain, just back from the United States. His latest book is called Freedom Next Time: Resisting the Empire; his most recent film, The War on Democracy.

And we're joined in our firehouse studio by Mahmood Mamdani. He is professor of government and anthropology at Columbia University and has written extensively on post-colonial African politics. His most recent book is Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, the Cold War and the Roots of Terror. His latest article for The Nation magazine focuses on recent events in Darfur and is called "The New Humanitarian Order."

We'll start with John Pilger in Britain. You were just in the United States in Houston. You're back in London right now. Your response to the election of Barack Hussein Obama as president of the United States?

See more stories tagged with: iraq, israel, afghanistan, palestine, barack obama, war on drugs, raed jarrar, john pilger, mahmood mamdani, tariq ali, laura carlsen

Amy Goodman is the host of the nationally syndicated radio news program, Democracy Now!

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