Voting for 'True America'

Unfortunately, I don't have the right to vote in the upcoming US Presidential elections in November - but if I am to vote I would vote for the Republican candidate, John McCain.

Many around the globe were talking about the right of the world population to vote in the US elections on the ground that new president's policies affect not only the American people, but the whole world. In fact everybody, from Venezuelans to the Myanmarese, have an opinion now about the next White House inhabitant.

Most of the people in our region would like to see an African-American president, especially if he has got Hussain as a middle name. Actually, the Democratic presidential candidate has got a remarkable full name. His first name is the surname of the most probable next Israeli Prime Minister.

Ehud Barak, who is a current Israeli defence minister, is a Zionist hawk. No need to remind you of what the middle name refers to, as Iraq is still a hotspot. Last name was used by Fox news, early in the election campaign, to mock him as "Barrack Osama", linking him to the Al Qaida chief Bin Laden.

Obama might have been fighting for the White House with slogans opposing President George W. Bush's policies, and consequently John McCain's, on Iraq and other issues.

In fact this is just a campaign tactic to win the votes of those who opposed the war and want their soldiers to return home safely. But Senator Obama voted for the war at the very beginning, and tactically changed his earlier views about containing Iran peacefully when it seemed it was going to cost him votes.

The same applies to all foreign policy issues, from the biased American stance in the Middle East to interventionist policies in Latin America.

Appeasement

All this has nothing to do with me not voting Obama. When it comes to foreign policy, you hardly judge it by the president's view, as it is the whole nonpartisan establishment that sets the foreign policy. My fear is that Obama would lead a policy of reaction rather than initiative.

To distance himself from his so called Muslim roots, he would be harsh Islamophobic. To prove that he is enlightened Christian, he would alienate the religious voters who might bring him to office.

He would always be obsessed by being "President for all Americans", and not a "Black President" or a minority president. So, he is expected to be more "royal than the king" in appeasing the Anglo-Saxon white and blue-collars at the expense of blacks, Hispanics and likes.

John McCain has always been consistent in his views. On the war in Iraq, he voted for it at the beginning, supported Bush's policies up to the last "surge" of troops. He is clear about the need to stay in Iraq and use it as a launch-pad in the fight against what he sees as "Islamic terrorism".

Whenever he visited the region, even as a leading figure of the Senate Defence Committee, he had one focus: Israel security interests. He is a strong believer in the idea that invading Iraq was the best to do for the sake of Israel.

As for the global economic crisis, in which the ills of the American economy play a leading role, McCain is bound to lead the same approach of the current administration. He vowed to extend tax cuts, especially for businesses, and most likely he will spend more, thus aggravating the structural imbalances in the federal budgets.

Most likely, he would help big businesses to get the law changes Bush's administration could not pass through Congress. Big oils will have Alaska environmental reservation opened for them, and the military-industrial complex will get more contracts and create more jobs.

Voting for John McCain is actually voting for the true America now. The Republican Senator's military background and his old age are consistent with the time-frame of the American dream.

He represents all what the world saw as shortcomings of Bush. Moreover, he is an economic liberal, religious liberal, social liberal with a cabal of neo-conservative advisers.

McCain would properly fit the profile with the development of the American empire, while Obama will be an illusive attempt to regenerate the fading American dream. Then, voting for the "True America" means voting for McCain.

Dr Ahmad Mustafa is an Arab writer based in London.