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Obama in Berlin: A President of Peace

by Captain Future Thu Jul 24th, 2008 at 06:18:11 PM EST

Covering his speech in Berlin today, the wire services will probably emphasize Obama's call for a united front against terrorism, especially in Afghanistan. But that was only part of Barack Obama's speech today before a quarter of a million Europeans--some who came from Poland and the Netherlands and across Europe to Berlin to hear him.  It was structually and as a whole a call for a greater unity, for a world united to foster equality, freedom and peace.

He used the Berlin airlift of 1948 as his central metaphor--the moment, so soon after the horrific bombings that turned many cities in Europe and Japan into literal holocausts--that wave upon wave of American airplanes dropped not bombs but food, to sustain the people of West Berlin.

And from across the Atlantic, we could hear the chants in Berlin: Yes, we can.


 
Obama used the partnership of the U.S. and Germany that began after World War II and has survived for 60 years as a symbol of the partnerships that has transformed the continent which plunged the world into war twice in the 20th century into a peaceful Union, the United States of Europe that dreamers like novelist James Joyce hoped for. He used this Union as a symbol for a partnership of peoples around the world, that dreamers like H. G. Wells advocated as the only means that humankind would survive and prosper on this planet. While Obama spoke of his pride in being an American, and of America ideals as a model for the world, he did not shrink from calling himself a citizen of the world.

He spoke of our planetary crises, that bind our fates together and therefore should bring us together in peaceful resolution: nuclear weapons proliferation, and the Climate Crisis.

So here are parts of Obama's speech in Berlin today that you may not see highlighted anywhere else.

"Yes, there have been differences between America and Europe. No doubt, there will be differences in the future. But the burdens of global citizenship continue to bind us together. A change of leadership in Washington will not lift this burden. In this new century, Americans and Europeans alike will be required to do more - not less. Partnership and cooperation among nations is not a choice; it is the one way, the only way, to protect our common security and advance our common humanity.

This is the moment when we must renew the goal of a world without nuclear weapons. The two superpowers that faced each other across the wall of this city came too close too often to destroying all we have built and all that we love. With that wall gone, we need not stand idly by and watch the further spread of the deadly atom. It is time to secure all loose nuclear materials; to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; and to reduce the arsenals from another era. This is the moment to begin the work of seeking the peace of a world without nuclear weapons.

This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands. Let us resolve that all nations - including my own - will act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation, and reduce the carbon we send into our atmosphere. This is the moment to give our children back their future. This is the moment to stand as one.

And this is the moment when we must give hope to those left behind in a globalized world. We must remember that the Cold War born in this city was not a battle for land or treasure. Sixty years ago, the planes that flew over Berlin did not drop bombs; instead they delivered food, and coal, and candy to grateful children. And in that show of solidarity, those pilots won more than a military victory. They won hearts and minds; love and loyalty and trust - not just from the people in this city, but from all those who heard the story of what they did here.

Now the world will watch and remember what we do here - what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?

Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words "never again" in Darfur?

Will we acknowledge that there is no more powerful example than the one each of our nations projects to the world? Will we reject torture and stand for the rule of law? Will we welcome immigrants from different lands, and shun discrimination against those who don't look like us or worship like we do, and keep the promise of equality and opportunity for all of our people?

People of Berlin - people of the world - this is our time.

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Good grief.  If you'd only read ET today, you'd think Obama were a neo-con or something.  

Thanks for this.


"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Thu Jul 24th, 2008 at 06:30:17 PM EST
Ditto in a big way.

... all progress depends on the unreasonable mensch.
(apologies to G.B. Shaw)
by marco on Fri Jul 25th, 2008 at 12:43:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]
I give you a 4, as you make an excellent point about a finely crafted piece.

But it is still a complicated issue.

What Obama says in general is often belied by what he does or says in specifics. E.g., his stances on Israel, Iran are neo-con rhetoric. Often he should just shut his mouth instead of getting into specifics, since they often expose the connection to the all too common thread of  American Exceptionalistic Mendacity.

For example, his non-general statements on these issues will force him into a corner, as well as taint him as a diplomate. Did he need to say that Jerusalem would be the Israeli capital? Could he not have just left the comment about negotiating with Iran live without also having to say that the table is full of other options? He is not going to get elected or not elected for having said these things (and others like it), but he won't get my vote either...which will also make little difference.

Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.

Frank Delaney ~ Ireland

by siegestate (siegestate or beyondwarispeace.com) on Fri Jul 25th, 2008 at 08:52:55 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Jerusalem is the Israeli capital, regardless of what anybody says. The problem is that he said that all of it will remain Israeli and undivided (factually false, since there is already a wall dividing it). He does seem to have reassured the Israeli public, to judge by the polls, but not all journalists are convinced.
Our problem with Obama is not his views - he has the right views, just like any liberal Democrat. Rather, his priorities are our problem. The Israeli issue is simply not urgent for him.

Ever since Jimmy Carter was kicked out of the White House we haven't had the chance to meet an objective American president. Reagan viewed us as a Cold War asset, Bush Sr., Clinton, and Bush Jr. supported us as part of their religious belief (and personal friendship.) Obama is about to become the first objective president in 30 years.

For Obama, any dollar sent to us means one dollar less for Detroit's poor neighborhoods. Any flak jacket sent to the IDF is taken from a US Marine in Iraq; any dispute with the Saudis will turn into inflated fuel prices at gas stations in Los Angeles.

The last paragraph is meant to be criticism...
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Jul 25th, 2008 at 10:04:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Jerusalem is the Israeli capital, regardless of what anybody says.

Of all the horrors that Theodor Herzl's dream created, violating 478 is a minor one and not the energy to snark upon. Suffice that I enjoy the unattributed view that the Torah says that the Jews can't rule themselves until their Messiah comes, QED, etc. </snark>

I don't get the criticism in the last paragraph. When my mother and father were the quite out of money, I would expect them to have taken care of the family first, not worried about war toys and paying the cement bill for a nuclear power that has been too clever for its own good.

Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.

Frank Delaney ~ Ireland

by siegestate (siegestate or beyondwarispeace.com) on Fri Jul 25th, 2008 at 04:55:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Suffice that I enjoy the unattributed view that the Torah says that the Jews can't rule themselves until their Messiah comes, QED, etc

Jesus doesn't count? Seriously, the really interesting question for the future will be whether the Ultra-orthodox still believe this or whether they have moved more towards the right-wing settlers. With a fertility rate of around 8 they will become a much more significant factor in Israeli politics, but nobody seems to want to discuss the long-term implications of this.

As for the last paragraph, it's the Israeli journalist who is critical of Obama for this reason. Your answer is exactly the point I was trying to make...(I'm not sure he needs to worry, I'm afraid).

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Jul 25th, 2008 at 05:44:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm re-reading Robert Graves' King Jesus, which gives a good telling of whether the Jesus figure counts. But I'll bet that my opinion makes in that regard makes even less of an impact on those involved than my opinion of the Obama. Peace - Out.

Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.

Frank Delaney ~ Ireland

by siegestate (siegestate or beyondwarispeace.com) on Sat Jul 26th, 2008 at 02:40:33 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Was just looking at that "crowd" near the Tiergarten.  The parade and festivals surrounding the Allies leaving Berlin drew far more people in 1993, but that was before America squandered her reputation with a psychopathic government.

Obama stands not for anything save the interests of global corporations and anything his master Zebignew Brezinski says.  The American Indians could have been called "terrorists" too.

by Lasthorseman on Thu Jul 24th, 2008 at 06:59:01 PM EST
If that is really true, then the GWOT may at least come to an end. From Brzezinski's 1998 interview with Le nouvel observateur
N. O. -- Vous ne regrettez pas non plus d'avoir favorisé l'intégrisme islamiste, d'avoir donné des armes, des conseils à de futurs terroristes?

Z. Brzezinski. -- Qu'est-ce qui est le plus important au regard de l'histoire du monde? Les talibans ou la chute de l'empire soviétique? Quelques excités islamistes ou la libération de l'Europe centrale et la fin de la guerre froide?

N. O. -- "Quelques excités"? Mais on le dit et on le répète: le fondamentalisme islamique représente aujourd'hui une menace mondiale.

Z. Brzezinski. -- Sottises! Il faudrait, dit-on, que l'Occident ait une politique globale à l'égard de l'islamisme. C'est stupide: il n'y a pas d'islamisme global. Regardons l'islam de manière rationnelle et non démagogique ou émotionnelle. C'est la première religion du monde avec 1,5 milliard de fidèles. Mais qu'y a-t-il de commun entre l'Arabie Saoudite fondamentaliste, le Maroc modéré, le Pakistan militariste, l'Egypte pro-occidentale ou l'Asie centrale sécularisée? Rien de plus que ce qui unit les pays de la chrétienté...


Of course he's doing his best not to remind us of this these days, and the McCain camp will have a hard time using this against Obama without implicitly attacking Reagan as well.
by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Jul 25th, 2008 at 03:59:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Brzezinski still is mostly right, there. Either way, he's just one of many people Obama has on board. Susan Rice and Anthony Lake are the big shots.
by nanne (zwaerdenmaecker@gmail.com) on Fri Jul 25th, 2008 at 08:29:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]


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