by Marwan Bishara, Al jazeera, Aug 26, 2010
While the Obama administration continues to affirm its intention to withdraw US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the US’ military presence in the Muslim world is actually expanding and this is exacerbating tensions and inflaming animosities.
Barack Obama’s promise to open a new page with the Muslim world on the basis of mutual respect and interests – supplemented and enforced by the use of soft rather than hard power — now rings hollow.
This is most evident in the withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq and the corresponding surge in Afghanistan — an exercise in redeploying military forces, not extracting them.
As the gap between words and deeds; declarations and policies; public diplomacy and military strategy deepens, so the political and strategic crisis facing the Obama administration continues to deepen.
