5 dias, 5 mensagens para Obama - day 1

Na véspera da tomada de posse de Barack Obama, partilho convosco as preocupações dos colaboradores do site "Open Democracy". Vou reproduzir cinco excelentes respostas às seguintes perguntas:

"About the Barack Obama administration, please tell us:

1. one thing you hope for

2. one thing you fear

3. one piece of advice you would give"

1. That President Obama can pave the way for peace in the middle east. It will be a very tough road, especially after Israel's brutal onslaught in Gaza which killed hundreds of children and carved hatred into millions of hearts. To achieve peace, he will need both to find a way - directly or indirectly - to talk to Hamas and convince of the need for a two-state solution; and to impose some sanity and restraint on Israel, whose brutality is seen as "state terrorism" by millions of Muslims in the region.

2. That he will be tamed and co-opted by the Washington establishment. That . "experts" will convince him that "this is the way we do things here, sir." That he will be forced to retreat from some of the revolutionary and much-needed steps he promised or hinted he would take, such as talking to Iran, the Taliban and Hamas. And that, as a result, the world will start to see him only as a lighter version of the George W Bush administration - a new Bush with a smiling face.

3. Mr President, please, please, do not give up your promise for change. You have vowed to follow a policy based on pragmatism, not ideology. Be very much aware that some people will sell their ideology to you in the cloak of pragmatism. Do not forget the suggestions and sentiments of the good people who supported you in your earliest days. Moreover, I know you are a modest and humble man, but let me still remind you of a piece of advice which every Ottoman sultan was publicly given during his inauguration ceremony: "Don't be arrogant, my sultan, God is greater than you."

Mustafa Akyol, journalist, Turkey