Ahmed Mohamed and Abdulrahman al-Awlaki
By Margaret Kimberley
September 26, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - "BAR"-
“Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should
inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America
great.”Those words came from president
Obama’s twitter account after a 14-year old Texan named Ahmed
Mohamed became world famous. The high school student brought his
homemade clock to school but was later escorted out in handcuffs
after a teacher reported that he had a bomb. Racism, Islamophobia,
draconian “zero tolerance” policies, and base ignorance all played a
role in the disgraceful turn of events.
When social media turned Mohamed’s name into a
household word the president weighed-in with his words of support.
But unlike other individuals who felt genuine empathy or outrage
about this case, the presidential tweet came with doses of hypocrisy
and opportunism. Obama is no protector of the rights of Muslim
teens, as Abdulrahman al-Awlaki’s family can attest.
Abdulrahman and his father Anwar were murdered on
the president’ orders in 2011. Both American citizens, they ran
afoul of the never ending “war on terror” and Obama’s political
ambitions in the year before his re-election campaign.
“Racism,
Islamophobia, draconian “zero tolerance” policies, and base
ignorance all played a role.”
In the absence of legislation, judicial precedent
or any case law, Barack Obama declared that he had the right to
assassinate anyone in the world, including American citizens like
the Awlakis. Anwar al-Awlaki was
never even charged with a crime. Like his predecessors,
Obama makes a mockery of principles such as the right to trial when
his agenda finds democracy too inconvenient. His
acolytes love to point out that the president once taught
constitutional law. That fact doesn’t count for much in reality but
neither do any of the claims that justify continuing a war of terror
against the Muslim world.
The Obama administration made quite a big show of
announcing the “kill list” policy which ended the Awlakis lives. The
New York Times was happily used as the
messenger when the administration eagerly revealed the inner
workings of the assassination decision making process. There was
precious little outrage about the president of the United States
acting like a mafia boss, even after Anwar al-Awlaki was rubbed out
like a rival gangster. When his son was killed in another drone
strike two weeks later the White House pretended it had all been a
mistake and tried to cover their crime by claiming that the 16-year
old was 21.
Needless to say there were teenage victims of the
United States and NATO in Libya in 2011. That was not just a bad
year for the Awlakis, but for millions of people first in Libya and
then Syria who had the misfortune of being on the wrong side of the
regime change line.
“His policies
against the Muslim world are even more ruthless than those of his
much more reviled predecessor George W. Bush.”
These aggressions should not be forgotten because
the president decided to jump on the #istandwithahmed bandwagon. He
may have Ramadan Iftar dinners at the White House or speak Arabic
words at the opportune moment, but his policies against the Muslim
world are even more ruthless than those of his much more reviled
predecessor George W. Bush.
The president cannot be let off the hook because
of a social media post. He bears a great deal of responsibility for
the continued animus against Muslim people. By criminalizing an
entire region he gives credence to the belief that its people are
criminals and unworthy of being thought of as human beings. If the
Awlakis can be killed, if Syrians and Libyans can have their
countries torn asunder and Pakistanis and Afghans can be victims of
drone strikes on presidential whims, then a precocious teenager can
be hauled off by the police.
Obama has
always gotten too much credit and too little scorn because he is
disliked by racist, dead ender Republicans. Of course, if Fox news
and Sarah Palin criticize the president’s response to the Ahmed
Mohamed case he is again seen as the bulwark of enlightenment when
he is in fact just the more effective evil.
Ahmed was released without being arrested and no
charges were filed against him. He has been embraced by people all
over the world and the White House is not alone in rolling out the
red carpet of welcome. But the effects of the traumatic experience
have apparently not left him. His father reported that his son has
lost his appetite and isn’t sleeping well. Ahmed added that the
family is now “torn and confused” by their experience.
There are thousands of Ahmeds all over the
country, reliving the terror of interactions with police. There are
Ahmeds in the Middle East and north Africa who have survived
America’s attempts to take their lives. Unfortunately that will all
be forgotten when Obama gets his photo opportunity with this
teenager. He is lucky to live in Texas and not Syria. In this
country the president isn’t trying to kill him.
Margaret Kimberley's
Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted
elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at
http://freedomrider.blogspot.com.
Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail
at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.