The problems come in the fact that a warrior president will find it difficult to pivot quickly and emerge once again as the creative peace president he initially promised to be.
To be sure, and much to his domestic advantage, Obama's cyber attacks and his increased use of drones do not put American troops in harm's way. But, it is also true that by his decision to use remote technology to attack other nations, Obama is setting an example for other nations to follow him down a dangerous and unpredictable path.
In a second Obama term, Obama will either have to continue his remote warfare and give up his desire to be a peace-maker, or he will have to utilize his next four years to lead his nation out of its exceptionalist warrior mentality.
Stephen M. Walt, co-author with John Meirsheimer of the Israel Lobby, wrote for the Foreign Policy web site a perceptive description of how others see us:
"[An] unchallenged faith in American exceptionalism makes it harder for Americans to understand why others are less enthusiastic about US dominance, often alarmed by US policies, and frequently irritated by what they see as US hypocrisy, whether the subject is possession of nuclear weapons, conformity with international law, or America's tendency to condemn the conduct of others while ignoring its own failings. Ironically, US. foreign policy would probably be more effective if Americans were less convinced of their own unique virtues and less eager to proclaim them."
The US, as Stephen M. Walt knows well, has "friends" like Israel, who want the US to remain exceptional. Israel believes it is to its own advantage as an intruder, occupying power in the predominantly Muslim region, to maintain a military edge that allows it to continue to illegally expand its own empire ambitions.
President Obama, heavily burdened by his own Zionist-controlled Congress, will have to exercise considerable wisdom and courage to pivot away from his campaign image as a warrior president to that of a leader who means it when he says he wants to apply "American values" to his foreign policy.
Those "American values" also reject Islamophobia, which unfortunately was ignited full force after 9/11 and which President Obama has done little to tamper down with his random killing of Muslim suspects, primarily in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
How strong is Islamophobia and racism among America voters?
Go to the right wing web lists and list serves, or just spend two hours a day watching Fox News/Entertainment, and you get an understanding of the ignorance and fear promulgated from these corners, pouring more Islamophobia into the American public's emotional bloodstream.
Islamophobia in its present form is not as old as anti-semetism, but it is easily ramped up in the hands of hate mongers with a political agenda.
In case you don't have a conservative friend who emails you Islamophobic literature, Wikipedia offers this definition:
"Islamophobia is prejudice against, hatred or irrational fear of Islam or Muslims. The term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, but came into common usage after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States."
It is depressing to have to suggest that our "change we can believe in" president has adopted the mantle of a warrior president, out-doing George Bush in some quarters.
But politics is a messy business which calls for twisted paths to victory. Maybe President Obama is riding the warrior president chariot until his successful reelection. After that he will need considerable help to get off that chariot.
The story is told of a meeting at Franklin Delano Roosevelt's home in Hyde Park, New York, attended by labor and civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph.
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