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"Obama’s promise of change is being materialized but not by doing the usual 'out with the old and in with the new'," says Faheem. |
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama's Cabinet choices have sparked worries about whether the change mantra he campaign on would be put into effect, but Muslim community leaders still believe the change is coming, albeit slowly.
"Obama’s promise of change is being materialized but not by doing the usual 'out with the old and in with the new'," Samina Faheem, executive director of the American Muslims Voice (AMV), told IslamOnline.net.
Obama wrapped up his administration line-up on Wednesday, taping New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as commerce secretary.
This came shortly after Obama, who takes office on January 22, unveiled his national security team, led by rival Hilary Clinton as secretary of state and Robert Gates who will who will stay on as Defense Secretary.
The mixed line-up of Democrats and Republicans, featuring many hawks, is worrying many that Obama might be willing to compromise on his change promise.
"Change does not mean bring everyone new, it means a combination of experience with new to get the job done," says Ali Khan, National Director of the Chicago-based American Muslim Council, is even more optimistic.
"Change is occurring, new faces along with experience hands," he told IOL.
Laila Qatami, Director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), also believes that familiar faces do not always mean old policies.
"Change doesn't happen overnight," she told IOL.
She believes that changing the face of American policies after eight years under George W. Bush would prove a long, tough process.
"We need to be realistic in terms of the change we seek."
Wars
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| "There would be no revolutionary change in either domestic or in foreign policies," Nawash believes. |
Muslim leaders believe that one major change Obama's administration will bring will be ending the unpopular war in Iraq.
"Retaining Robert Gates as Defense Secretary does not mean he is back-tracking on his promise," insists Faheem, founder of the New Jersey-based Muslim organization.
"We believe Obama will stick to his promise of the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq within 16-months after his stepping into the White House."
She does not believes keeping Gates would change anything.
"Gates was selected for his pragmatism and competence, and he ultimately will have to follow what Obama will want him to do."
Khan, the head of the Chicago-based American Muslim Council, agrees.
"I fully expect Obama to withdraw US troops from Iraq as soon as possible.
"He has been against the war from the start, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates or anyone else cannot stand in his way."
Gates said Tuesday, December 2, US commanders are considering an accelerated drawdown of US forces from Iraq, softening his opposition to Obama's 16-month timetable.
"I am less concerned about that timetable," he told a news conference at the Pentagon a day after Obama announced keeping him as Pentagon chief.
Without a UN authorization, Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq in 2003 on claims of stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, a claim that later proved false.
To day, the country is still gripped by a bloody cycle of violence that claims the lives of innocent civilians on a daily basis.
The war is also very unpopular inside the US, with polls showing that a majority of Americans believe it was Bush's gravest mistake.
Doubts
However, not everyone is so optimist about Obama's change promise.
"There would be no revolutionary change in either domestic or in foreign policies which the Americans, especially the Muslims, expected of him," Kamal Nawash, President the Free Muslims Coalition Against Terrorism, told IOL.
He contends that Obama’s national security team shows that his administration would be "a Part-2" of former president Bill Clinton's.
"The only change is Barack Obama himself and that has already occurred when he won the historic presidential elections. No further drastic changes."
Corey Saylor, a spokesperson of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), believes expecting "too much change" from the Obama’s team is "unrealistic".
"There will be some change, but not that is widely expected," he told IOL.
Saylor doubts that Obama will be able to bring troops home as promised.
"Sixteen months is not a reasonable timeline for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq."
Even those on the optimists' side like Qatami, of the ADC, are also predicting resistance to change.
"I don't think we will necessarily see much change in US views on Israel and Palestine."
Clinton, Obama's diplomat-in-chief, is well known for her unwavering support for Israel.
During the Democratic presidential primaries, the former first lady threatened to "totally obliterate" Iran if it was ever "reckless" enough to attack Israel.
"Senator Clinton is a friend of the state of Israel and the Jewish people," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a statement on her nomination for the prestigious post.
"I am sure that in her new office she will continue promoting the special bilateral relationship between the two countries."
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