In Obama’s opening days as President he has already made two decisions I wholeheartedly agree with and commend him for doing:
- He has appointed former Senator George Mitchell as Middle East envoy; and
- He has announced the closure of Guantanamo Bay prison within a year
I undertook a project during my university studies on the Northern Ireland peace process, specifically the Good Friday Peace Agreement of 1998. George Mitchell was Bill Clinton’s Northern Ireland envoy and helped broker this much-needed and, so far, rather successful peace deal. With the exception of its brief breakdown and closure of Stormont a couple of years ago, this peace deal has managed to quell the violence and strong disagreements in Northern Ireland. This is the main reason I am so glad Obama has selected him to go and, hopefully, do the same in the Middle East. If George Mitchell can manage to get the Unionists and the Loyalists to meet, talk effectively and agree a peace deal, hopefully, he can do the same with the Palestinians and the Israelis.
And finally, of course, I am ecstatic to see the closure of Guantanamo Bay. That has been one of the worst decisions in history, in my opinion. It has wrecked American standing throughout the world almost worse than the war from which the prisoners were drawn. It made us look like hypocrites with a capital ‘H’ when we lectured China and Darfur on their human rights violations. I knew Obama would probably be doing something about the prison; I’m glad to see it was one of his first decisions.
I wake up each day proud to be an American again. I don’t feel the need to cower in shame or lower my voice and try to sound English. I can hold my head up high again and say, yes, I voted for Obama and, yes, isn’t he doing a great job. Here’s to more good days to come.