Obama\\\'s worst times in presidency

President Barack Hussain Obama, the first African-American, who has been elected for the second term of the US presidency, is in a fix, as evident from his approval rating for conduct of business of the state. Possibly, this is a record-breaking approval rating of a seating US President. Obama received one of his lowest approval ratings, as released by the Quinnipiac poll on November 25. Only 39 per cent approved the President's performances while 48 per cent disapproved his actions.

President Obama committed to the nation that he would never indulge in a war and he would draw down American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. As per his pledge to his voters, the President withdrew troops from Iraq and handed over sovereignty to the Iraqis. He is committed to withdraw troops from Afghanistan as well. Neo-conservative politicians in the US are being paid by lobbyist groups like the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee, military industrial complex and the National Rifle Association. The neo-conservative gang is not happy the way Obama is moving while conducting the country's foreign policy.

Obama's foreign policy priority was to  resolve Palestinian-Israeli conflict to bring into being two states side by side in his first term. The dream was shattered because neo-conservatives in the Congress did not approve the conduct of the President with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. The President could not make any headway in resolving the conflicts. The Congress gave the Prime Minister of Israel all-out support.

Obama has been progressing well in dealing with Iran to bring it from the shadow and to become a member of the civilised world by abandoning dream of becoming a nuclear powerhouse. The Israeli Prime Minister did not accept the idea that Iran would abandon its nuclear weapon capabilities to become a friend of the US. The Israeli Prime Minister appeared on the CBS channel on its Face-the- Nation programme on November 23 to remind Obama that Iran is not his ally and even not a friend. Iran is the enemy. The President's secret letter to Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khomeini recently has caused serious concerns in Israel.

The much-talked-about deal with Iran on November 24 could not be achieved but further deadline was given to narrow the differences between Iran and P 5+ 1 on the nuclear deal. As per a preliminary deal that was reached last year with Iran, six countries have agreed to extend the discussion with the aim of reaching a high-level political agreement by March 1 and finalise the final deal by July 1. In fact, there was no agreement as to how much Iran would be able to enrich uranium. As the political climate in the US has been vitiated with capturing of both the Houses of the Congress by the Republican Party, it would be difficult for Iran to reach a deal by July next year. Possibly, Iran would miss the train. The new Republican lawmakers have already threatened to impose additional sanctions on Iran on bipartisan basis. The President's veto power would not succeed because the Republican Party won majority seats in both the Houses of the Congress to overrun any veto by the President. Here too, the President would not succeed to make any deal with Iran.

The President's signature on the affordable health care law is now awaiting judgment by a federal court because the Republican- dominated House of Representatives filed a lawsuit against it.

Meanwhile, Obama also faces another disquiet in his presidency when several protest demonstrations took place on the streets from Ferguson of Missouri to Chicago and New York when the grand jury did not indict white police officer Darren Wilson for killing an unarmed 18-year old black American. Addressing a gathering in his hometown of Chicago, Obama renewed his plea for calm and pointedly called for prosecution of the looters, most of them minorities, who set fire to cars and storefronts and smashed windows in Ferguson on November 24. He said, a police force that is representative of the communities it is serving makes a difference. He called for a national dialogue on healing minority communities' biggest frustrations with law enforcement.

The departure of Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is not a good sign for the Obama administration which seems to be anti-war provocateur. Chuck Hagel was opposed to war in Iraq as the Republican senator during the regime of President George Bush. Foreign policy failure should not rest with the Defence Secretary. The US foreign policy is dictated by the White House. Obama has no other option but to reverse his foreign policy in line with neo-conservatives. Let the State Department handle the US foreign policy.

The writer is a retired diplomat. amjad.21@gmail.com