Obama is no Fonzie

By Greg Sheridan,The Australian

Fonzie was tough,Obama…. not so much

IT may seem rather unkind to express some serious doubts about US President Barack Obama just now. He is wowing the UN with talk of nuclear disarmament. He is mesmerising the Group of 20 with talk of global recovery. He is leading a policy review that talks of winning in Afghanistan and he will not send more troops in response to the request of the US military commander in Afghanistan,Stanley McChrystal,without deeper talks.

He has stirred hearts in the Middle East with talk of peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And from October 1 he will be talking directly with the Iranians in pursuit of his talk of stopping Tehran from getting nuclear weapons. It’s a lot of very impressive talk. And yet,and yet…

Machiavelli said for a prince it is better to be feared than to be loved.

For much of his presidency,most of the world feared George W. Bush. For a brief,shining moment after the 9/11 terrorist attacks,America’s enemies feared Bush,while almost all the rest of the world loved him.

That is the perfect situation for any US president. It can’t be sustained,of course,and Bush squandered the love part of the equation much more quickly and much more comprehensively than he should have. But he never lost the fear bit.

Here’s my worry about Obama. Lots of people love him and he is indeed very lovable. But I wonder if anyone at all,anywhere in the world,really fears him.

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