Our Meddlesome President (Except When It Comes To Iran)

“It is not productive, given the history of US-Iranian relations to be seen as meddling - the US president, meddling in Iranian elections.” --President Barack Obama, June 16, 2009

---

When President Obama said it was not for the United States to be seen as meddling in Iran’s “elections” he was acting out of character. In less than six months in office, President Obama has seen fit to meddle in the affairs of several other countries namely Sri Lanka, Israel and now Honduras. All three countries are democracies. All three countries pose no threat to the United States. The arrogance with which Obama meddles is breathtaking. This past May, as the Sri Lankan army was vanquishing the last vestiges of the Tamil Tigers, President Obama spoke. While Obama called upon the Tamil Tigers to lay down their arms he also admonished Sri Lanka for “indiscriminate shelling.” Obama also said, “The government should live up to their commitment not to use heavy weapons in a conflict zone.” It was an astonishing spectacle. President Obama put the legitimately elected government of Sri Lanka on the same moral plane with the Tamil Tigers. The last time I checked the United States has diplomatic relations with Sri Lanka while deeming the Tamil Tigers a terrorist organization. But to listen to Obama one would never have known the difference. To the credit of the Sri Lankan government, they wisely ignored President Obama and finally ended a civil war which had lasted more than a quarter century. If they had heeded President Obama’s sermon from the mount this civil war would have undoubtedly been prolonged. Of course, Obama’s sanctimony does not stop with Sri Lanka. Obama has also meddled with Israel where it concerns Jewish settlements. In his Cairo speech on June 4th Obama had this to say about Jewish settlements:

Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.

If saying, “The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements,” isn’t an act of meddling then nothing is. So while President Obama does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements he apparently accepts the legitimacy of Iran’s “elections.” Unsurprisingly, President Obama’s remarks on Jewish settlements went over well with the audience at Cairo University. He effectively told the Arab street and the Muslim world that Israel’s policy on settlements is to blame for the lack of peace in the Middle East notwithstanding all evidence to the contrary. When Israel evacuated all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip in 2005 did it stop Islamic Jihad from launching rocket attacks from Gaza into Israel? When the IDF was put into the uncomfortable position of having to free Gaza of all Jews did it stop Hamas from kidnapping Corporal Gilad Shalit? If President Obama honestly believes peace in the Middle East will be brought by meddling with Jewish settlements then he is running a fool’s errand. This brings us to Honduras and the events that have transpired in recent days. Their President was Manuel Zelaya. He was elected in November 2005 to a single four year term. According to the Honduran Constitution, the President can only serve one term. Zelaya, an acolyte of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, wanted to be able to run for re-election indefinitely. Zelaya proposed a referendum. However, both the Honduran Congress and Supreme Court declared such a referendum illegal. Zelaya wanted to proceed with the referendum anyway. When General Romeo Vasquez, the head of the Honduran military refused to distribute the ballot boxes (as is the custom in Honduras), Zelaya fired him. The Honduran Supreme Court ordered Zelaya to reinstate Vasquez. Zelaya refused to comply with the court’s edict. A defiant Zelaya said, “Congress cannot investigate me, much less remove me or stage a technical coup against me because I am honest, I'm a free president and nobody scares me." The following day, Zelaya was on a plane headed for Costa Rica and Roberto Micheletti (a member of Zelaya’s own party) is now the Interim President. President Obama responded with the following statement: I am deeply concerned by reports coming out of Honduras regarding the detention and expulsion of President Mel Zelaya. I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms, the rule of law and the tenets of the Inter-American Democratic Charter. Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference. But Honduran officials are respecting democratic norms. As Mary Anatasia O’Grady writes in The Wall Street Journal: Honduras is fighting back by strictly following the constitution. The Honduran Congress met in emergency session yesterday and designated its president as the interim executive as stipulated in Honduran law. It also said that presidential elections set for November will go forward. The Supreme Court later said that the military acted on its orders. Yet President Obama would have us believe Honduras is becoming a banana republic. It is not. There is no military government. Its elections will proceed as scheduled. But if Zelaya should return to Honduras and manages to reclaim power then we will witness Honduras turn into Venezuela and we will have President Obama to thank for it. If not for Obama’s statement would Zelaya contemplate returning? President Obama is correct about one thing. Any existing tensions and disputes in Honduras must be resolved peacefully dialogue free from any outside interference, namely his own. Somehow I do not think this will be the last we see of President Obama meddling in the affairs of other countries – except for Iran, of course. If this state of affairs continues it will be up to American voters to rid ourselves of this meddlesome President. Aaron Goldstein was a card carrying member of the socialist New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP). Since 09/11, Aaron has reconsidered his ideological inclinations and has become a Republican. Aaron lives and works in Boston.