EDITORIAL
Obama hits a rough spot
- Published: 25/11/2009 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
President Barack Obama of the United States has hit the one-year political wall hard, and it especially showed during his recent trip to Asia. In the year since Mr Obama was elected, both the excitement of the polls and the expectations have worn off. As with all democratic leaders, election hullabaloo has been replaced by reality. Not all promises can be achieved quickly, or in the way they were presented in a free-wheeling election.
In some ways, Mr Obama has been brought down to Earth, and his achievement-free Asian tour is a case in point. The high point of the US leader's trip turned out to be during his first stop in Tokyo. There, he made a policy speech promising that the days when the George W Bush administration ignored Asia were over. His vow to reinvigorate US-Asian relations capped his speech and his trip. From then on, he ducked serious economic questions such as criticism of growing American protectionism made at the Apec summit in Singapore, and simply ignored even the most blatant political issues, in particular when Chinese authorities censored his speech to the nation on the advantages of openness in media and on the internet. By the time he left Asia after a visit to South Korea, Mr Obama looked weary.
It appears that he has, indeed, reached the end of his gracious political honeymoon. Popularity polls at home put his approval rating below 50% - roughly the average for new presidents after a year in office. Overseas, it is a different matter.
Mr Obama has already broken his promise to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility for terrorists. His defiant decision to order a trial in New York City for leading terrorists, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, has been savaged by many in the US. But now it is under strong attack from Europe. Germany has said it may not be able to cooperate in any manner with the prosecution, because Mr Obama is seeking the death penalty. German cooperation is highly important if the prominent terrorists are to be convicted, because many of the 9/11 plans were drawn up in Germany and monitored or later uncovered by German government investigators.
Mr Obama's first trip to Asia has drawn strong media criticism in the US for lack of planning and achievement. The US leader returned to Washington without any agreements from any governments, an unusual occurrence for the carefully choreographed trips by US presidents. Perhaps more importantly for his standing, Mr Obama was savagely satirised by the popular TV comedy show Saturday Night Live for his failure to convince China that its investments in the US are safe. Mr Obama until now has been considered untouchable by the US entertainment industry which almost unanimously backed his run for the presidency.
His foreign policy in particular has been highly disappointing. Contrary to his promises, he has failed to galvanise the United States, his Senate or even his own officials on the issue of climate change. The promise on Monday that his administration will announce targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a weak substitute for real action. He has put off a decision on whether to attend the Copenhagen global warming conference. He also has delayed any decision on the next US step in Afghanistan - even while asking Canada and European allies for more troops in that war.
None of this threatens Mr Obama's presidency, of course. With just one year into his term, Mr Obama has nearly three years to make up for the still minor if niggling political losses. Some strong leadership and decision-making will regain his reputation.
