Anwar Alukan Dialog Obama-Negara Islam - TVA

Ketua Pembangkang Anwar Ibrahim mengalu-alukan usaha Presiden Amerika Syarikat Barack Hussein Obama merapatkan jurang dunia Islam dan Barat.

Dalam temubual secara langsung oleh British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Anwar berkata walaupun penyelesaian kepada kemelut Islam-Barat belum lagi kelihatan, namun rangka lawatan Obama adalah langkah permulaan merungkai konflik itu.

Anwar berkata ucapan Obama di univerisit Kaherah baru-baru ini mampu menganjak hubungan antara Amerika Syarikat dan Islam di rantau Timur Tengah. Apa yang perlu, katanya, adalah dialog berterusan dengan gerakan-gerakan Islam.

"Ucapan Barack Obama amat berani dan bermakna. saya tidak percaya ia boleh memuaskan semua pihak, bagaimanapun penting untuk kita lihat bahawa beliau dalam ucapannya merujuk kepada Hamas dan peranan gerakan itu, komitmen beliau untuk menarik keluar tentera Amerika Syarikat dari Iraq, serta penyelesaian kepada krisis Israel-Palestin," kata Anwar.

"Namun apa yang kritikal adalah bagaimana dunia Islam akan respon kepada seruan beliau: Hamas harus digalakkan untuk respon, Iran perlu digalakkan untuk menyertai siri-siri rundingan walau bagaimana sukar sekalipun, kerana ini peluang terbaik untuk dunia Islam melihat seorang Presiden Amerika Syarikat yang komited dan berani," kata Anwar.

Presiden pada 4 Jun lalu mengadakan rangka lawatan ke Timur Tengah bagi menganjurkan dialog persefahaman bersama gerakan-gerakan Islam serta kerajaan-kerajaan rantau itu.

Presiden kulit hitam pertama Amerika itu berkata perubahan mendadak yang dibawa oleh kemodenan dan kesejagatan menyebabkan ramai orang Islam memandang Barat sebagai musuh kepada tradisi Islam.

Bagi membuktikan keikhlasan lawatannya, Obama memetik al-Quran dan hadis sepanjang ucapan beliau. Obama juga mengelak dari menggunakan perkataan ekstremis Islam, menggantikannya dengan ekstremis ganas dan merujuk Palestin sebagai sebuah negara.

Anwar mengingatkan bahawa gerakan-gerakan ganas yang bercambah hari ini bertitik-tolak dari ketiadaan proses demokrasi yang jitu serta ruang reformasi yang ditutup oleh pemerintah-pemerintah kuku besi yang diantaranya diangkat sendiri oleh Amerika Syarikat.

"Isu Arab-Israel adalah penting. Tidak ramai yang berpuas hati dengan cara Presiden menangani kes Afghanistan, tetapi apa yang melegakan adalah komitmen beliau kepada agenda demokrasi - bahawa kerajaan yang memerintah haruslah kerajaan yang dibentuk secara sah, dan menghormati sentimen rakyat," katanya.

"Kita bagaimanapun perlu melihat kesan dari kenyataan Barack Obama ini, kerana kritikan terhadap pentadbiran beliau dan pentadbiran sebelumnya adalah tingkah-laku yang bercanggah - antara seruan mereka kepada demokrasi dan reformasi, dan dalam masa yang sama sokongan terhadap diktator dan rejim-rejim penindas di serata dunia," tegas Anwar.

Anwar berharap Obama meminta maaf diatas tindakan Amerika Syarikat mempertahan keganasan ke atas masyarakat Islam di Palestin, Iraq, dan Afghanistan, namun apa yang lebih utama sekarang ini adalah merealisasikan ucapannya kepada kenyataan.

"Barack Obama adalah Presiden Amerika Syarikat, beliau bukanlah jurucakap dunia Islam, tetapi untuk beliau tiba di persimpangan ini dengan kenyataan yang kuat, merayu kepada dialog bersama dunia Islam sebagai rakan yang berdiri sama tinggi dan duduk sama rendah bukan sahaja unik, tetapi juga tidak terjangka," kata Anwar.

"Tetapi saya lebih prihatin dengan bagaimana dunia Islam akan menyahut seruan Obama itu. Osama bin Laden tidak mewakili sentimen Muslimin. Majoriti mahukan keamanan, keselamatan dan penghormatan. Saya percaya Hamas boleh diyakinkan untuk menyahut seruan Obama itu, tetapi Hamas tidak yakin kerana terdapatnya sikap berat-sebelah Amerika Syarikat dan perlindungan dan pengiktirafan kepada pengganas rejim Israel," kata Anwar.

"Namun sekiranya Obama boleh menyakinkan Hamas untuk sekurang-kurangnya duduk berunding, maka tentunya itu salah progres yang besar. Walaupun penyelesaian masih jauh, sekurang-kurangnya ia telah bermula," tegas Anwar.

TVA

'I screwed up,' Obama admits after Daschle withdrawal

An embarrassed President Barack Obama admitted Tuesday "I screwed up" after his political soul mate and pick to lead health reform Tom Daschle withdrew in a storm over personal tax issues.

On Obama's worst day in the White House so far, he also lost another nominee -- Nancy Killefer, who he had named as government budget watchdog, and termed one of his most "important" appointments -- also over tax issues.

The twin bombshells overshadowed Obama's bid to showcase his economic stimulus plan in a flurry of television interviews and reflected the potential traps he has set for himself by promising a new era of ethical government.

"I don't want to send a message to the American people that there are two sets of standards, one for powerful people, and one for ordinary folks who are working every day and paying their taxes," Obama said in an interview with CNN.

"I think this was a mistake. I think I screwed up. And, you know, I take responsibility for it and we're going to make sure we fix it so it doesn't happen again," he said.

Obama had hoped to pile pressure on senators debating his massive stimulus plan, but the distractions scuppered the media offensive as he was forced to face down ethics questions instead.

Earlier, Obama said he accepted the decision by Daschle, one of his earliest supporters, with regret after the former senate majority leader decided he could not escape a row over his payment of 128,000 dollars in back taxes plus some 12,000 dollars in interest.

Daschle said did not want to be a distraction for Obama's ambitious plans to reform healthcare.

"Lives and livelihoods are at stake," he said in a White House statement, even as many of his former Senate colleagues said the row may have blown over and he would likely have been confirmed.

The White House denied that it had any role in the decision, or that he was pushed to decline the post of secretary of health and human services and White House health czar.

"The decision was made by senator Daschle," said spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Daschle's demise came hours after Obama's nominee for White House budget czar Killefer withdrew her nomination, reportedly over her failure to pay past unemployment taxes for household help.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner had earlier survived a controversy over his own unpaid taxes though his confirmation was delayed. He was eventually sworn in last week.

Obama tried to keep the focus on the economy as he named Republican Senator Judd Gregg as his commerce secretary.

"Our economy is shrinking, unemployment rolls are growing, businesses and families can't get credit, and small businesses can't secure the loans they need to create jobs and get their products to market," Obama said.

"With the stakes this high, we cannot afford to get trapped in the same old partisan gridlock."

The Senate meanwhile took up debate in earnest on the stimulus bill, with Democratic leaders promising to give Republican amendments a full airing.

Republicans complain they were shut out in the House of Representatives, and did not offer Obama a single vote when the package was passed last week.

Obama's political strategist David Axelrod was on Capitol Hill Tuesday to lobby senators, and raised the prospect of small changes to the bill.

"We want as many votes for this package as we can possibly get -- Republican, Democrat, but the key obviously is to pass it," he said.

"I think he's very pleased with the direction in which we're moving. Obviously there are going to be nips and tucks along the way."

But Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell dug in for much bigger changes to the legislation.

"Everybody agrees that there ought to be a stimulus package, the question is, how big and what do we spend it on?" he said.

"The House bill is an embarrassment, the Senate bill on the floor is not markedly better, our goal will be to pare it down and to target it right at the problem."

The maneuverings on the stimulus bill are consuming the Obama administration so the focus on difficult confirmation fights are an unwelcome distraction.

Other Obama nominees like Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Attorney General Eric Holder have sailed through confirmation votes despite early ethics questions.

Sumber: MSN