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June 8th, 2009 From the Soviet Union’s Russia’s Pravda:

Barack Obama becomes USA’s Mikhail Gorbachev

08.06.2009
History may repeat itself two or three times or even reach the point, which Francis Fukuyama described as the end of history. The US historian of Japanese origin introduced the notion during the time when there were two dominating superpowers in the world – the United States and the Soviet Union.

When the USSR collapsed and Russia lost much of its international influence, the USA became the world’s number one gendarme. That was the time, when US presidents started making one mistake after another. Their mistakes eventually led to the phenomenon, which is currently known as the clash of civilizations. America needed an enemy. America needed oil. Both were found in one country – Iraq.

US President George W. Bush declared the date of September 11, 2001 as the beginning of new history in the world and announced the crusade against the international terrorism, which took roots in radical countries of the Muslim world.

Pakistan found itself involved in the US-led war in Afghanistan. The relations between the United States and Iran were finally ruined and were balancing on the brink of war during the last year of Bush’s presidency.

The new president of the United States of America, the first Afro-American of the Muslim origin, Barack Hussein Obama, had to face the severe reality of Bush’s legacy.

As soon as the United States found itself in the middle of the economic crisis, the administration of the country decided that it was the best time to launch the struggle for peace in the whole world. This is exactly what Mikhail Gorbachev was doing during the agony of the Soviet Union.

Barack Obama did not say anything when Israeli troops were destroying residential quarters in the Gaza Strip during the Cast Lead operation in Palestine. Obama was as silent as a sphinx.

The sphinx started talking.

Obama said during his landmark speech at the Cairo University that the state of affairs in Palestine was unbearable. He also emphasized that the USA’s ties with Israel were indestructible. Obama quoted the Holy Book of all Muslims, the Qur’an and urged the people of all religions to live in peace with each other. However, good words do not leave a sweet taste in the mouth.

Obama says that it would be good to give a new incentive to the dialogue with the Muslim world. Will the US administration be able to recognize the rights of the Palestinian Authority to create an independent state? Will the US administration ever realize that the Muslim world is not a pack of cards which the USA can play to win the geopolitical leadership?

History repeats itself. The Mideastern tour of the Afro-American head of the White House was promoted as a new page in the relations between America and the Muslim world. As a matter of fact, Mr. Obama simply did what his predecessors had done before him.
Ivan Tulyakov
Pravda.Ru

Well, if anybody should know, it should be Pravda.

The new president of the United States of America, the first Afro-American of the Muslim origin, Barack Hussein Obama, had to face the severe reality of Bush’s legacy.

The things one learns from Pravda.

In any case, this makes a timely follow-on to Mr. Gorbachev’s editorial in Sunday’s Washington Post:

We had our perestroika, it’s high time for yours

By Mikhail Gorbachev

Years ago, as the Cold War was coming to an end, I said to my fellow leaders around the globe: The world is on the cusp of great events, and in the face of new challenges all of us will have to change, you as well as we. For the most part, the reaction was polite but skeptical silence.

In recent years, however, during speaking tours in the United States before university audiences and business groups, I have often told listeners that I feel Americans need their own change — a perestroika, not like the one in my country, but an American perestroika — and the reaction has been markedly different. Halls filled with thousands of people have responded with applause.

Over time, my remark has prompted all kinds of comments. Some have reacted with understanding. Others have objected, sometimes sarcastically, suggesting that I want the United States to experience upheaval, just like the former Soviet Union. In my country, particularly caustic reactions have come from the opponents of perestroika, people with short memories and a deficit of conscience. And although most of my critics surely understand that I am not equating the United States with the Soviet Union in its final years, I would like to explain my position.

Our perestroika signaled the need for change in the Soviet Union, but it was not meant to suggest a capitulation to the U.S. model. Today, the need for a more far-reaching perestroika — one for America and the world — has become clearer than ever.

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