林德宜：拜登：美国最糟糕总统？

随著拜登总统任期在倒数，各种的独立分析开始审视他执政记录、成就和失败。

评估拜登影响力的一种方法就是检视美国人对其试图竞选连任的反应。在这方面，拜登被大部分美国人拒绝，认为他不应寻求连任。

这样的判断不仅是因为他认知衰退是所有人都看得见的，包括最坚定的民主党支持者。

而是因为他未能为美国人建立更美好的未来，进而可能对世界其他地区产生积极的连锁反应。拜登最被世界各地非美国人铭记的是他对加沙战争的处理。

拜登：“我是犹太复国主义者”

在加沙，及之后扩展到黎巴嫩的战争，大部分无辜民众继续遭受超越任何人可想像的残酷战争。记者、医生和护士、联合国和中立的非政府组织工作人员和志工，也是以色列屠杀狂潮的受害者，联合国人权事务高级专员沃克·蒂尔克在一份声明中表示，“这种前所未有的对平民的杀戮和伤害，违反了国际人道主义法的基本原则”。

拜登和他的国务卿安东尼布林肯不仅为以色列的焦土政策提供无条件的外交和军事支持，也成为加沙非法种族灭绝战争的共犯。他们也拒绝利用美国的影响力来促成和平解决方案。

世界从拜登和布林肯身上看到的是伪装、虚伪和双重标准言论，他们试图给人一种印象，他们反对以色列旨在集体惩罚巴勒斯坦人的军事行动，反对每天发生的暴行。可现实却大不同，身为美国总统，拜登为内塔尼亚胡提供保护，使其免受任何国际惩罚。拜登也负责提供大量武器和军事援助，没有这些武器和军事援助，以色列就不可能进行长期战争。

唯有美国的影响力和压力，可以促使以色列接受巴勒斯坦国——这是巴勒斯坦人民和包括亚洲在内的世界大多数国家的首要关切。拜登声称他赞成这一目标，但他的行动表明事实恰恰相反。

依据美国布朗大学一项对加沙战争费用研究显示，2023年10月至2024年10月，美国向以色列提供了179亿美元（约806亿令吉）的军事援助，创下单一年份的纪录。

西方媒体对类似报导往往忽略了指出，大部分这些美国的军事援助资金，都回到了为战争制造武器和军事装备的美国公司，这些战争也是美国及其代理人自上一次世界大战后煽动和制造的。

不要忘记，在哈马斯最初发起挑衅袭击一年后，以及以色列对加沙地带一家医院发动可怕的火箭袭击，造成数百名医务人员、患者和访客死亡时，拜登则跨越半个地球来到特拉维夫与以色列领导人会面并重申其对以色列的支持。拜登对加沙医院遭袭击后的行动和言论提醒人们，拜登在非美国人和非以色列人的生命问题上的道德缺陷和虚伪。

当时他说：“昨天加沙医院发生爆炸，我深感悲痛和愤怒，根据我所看到的情况，这似乎是其他人干的，而不是以色列。”

历史将如何记载拜登

身为总统，拜登试图让美国人相信他是一个和平、正派、正直和荣誉的人。然而，许多人会记得他是一位“非凡”的战争贩和一个严重缺乏其媒体机构所宣传的拥有积极性格特征之领导人。

还有另外两种方式来记载美国第46任总统拜登。其中之一是他最近的反转，因为他多次表示不会插手儿子因逃税和非法拥枪而被定罪的案件。然而，不久后他对儿子亨特拜登在2014年1月1日至2024年12月1日期间犯下的罪行给予全面、无条件的总统赦免，这在美国司法史上是前所未有的，因为这涵盖了拜登任期开始之前所犯的罪行。这给拜登的荣誉和正直留下了不可磨灭的污点，并为批评者提供了反驳拜登关于他在美国推进了有效和负责任的正义和民主说法的弹药。

记载拜登历史地位的另一种方式是对比2024年12月29日逝世的美国第39任总统卡特，卡特去世后美国人和非美国人纷纷表达了哀悼和悼念。最具影响力的阿拉伯媒体《阿拉伯新闻》如此评价：

巴勒斯坦人民本周失去了一名为他们斗争发声的捍卫者。美国第39任总统卡特于周日（2024年12月29日）去世，享年100岁。20世纪70年代，卡特在任时，在阿拉伯与以色列冲突课题上，突破了民主党和共和党传统上的外交政策路线，这对往后世界处理阿以课题时，带来了根本转变，把巴勒斯坦人困境作为处理方案的核心。

卡特的一生体现了美国梦，他对全球的奉献更超越了美国梦。他的一届总统任期（1977-1981）尽管在任期内经常受到批评，但他在外交上却取得了长久成果，最经典的就是促成以色列和埃及签署戴维营协议——这一成就让他卸任后很长一段时间里为他赢得了作为和平缔造者的尊重……。

卡特在2002年获得诺贝尔和平奖，以表彰了他的外交成就以及他对促进人类尊严与和平的毕生奉献。卡特一生都保持著正直的声誉，成为美国民众的“灯塔”。

卡特直言不讳的态度和谦虚的生活方式反映了他的信念：真正的伟大在于服务他人。尽管他的政治立场受到批评，但很少有人质疑他的诚意或对原则的承诺。

参阅https://www.arabnews.com/node/2584866

拜登原本有机会对美国和世界留下类似的正面影响。可惜，他不是卡特之流。

林德宜《拜登：美国最糟糕总统？》原文：Joe Biden: America’s Worst President?

As the clock runs down on Biden's presidency, independent analysis has emerged to examine his record of office, his achievements and failures.

One way of assessing Biden's impact is through American feedback following his attempt to run for another term of office. He was rejected by large segments of the American citizenry as unworthy of being reelected.

This judgement was not only because of his cognitive decline visible to all, including the most die-hard Democratic party supporters.

It was also because of his failure to build a better future for Americans which, in turn, could have had positive ripple effects on the rest of the world.

What Biden will be most remembered for by non-Americans around the world is his handling of the war in Gaza.

Biden: “I am a Zionist”

In Gaza. and its spillover war in Lebanon, a largely innocent population continues to be subject to the horrors of war beyond anyone’s imagination. Journalists, doctors and nurses, United Nations and neutral NGO workers and volunteers have also been victims of Israel’s killing spree, leading UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk to say in a statement that "this unprecedented level of killing, and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law".

Biden and his Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, have not only been complicit in the illegal and genocidal war in Gaza by providing Israel with unconditional diplomatic and military support for a scorched earth policy. They have also refused to use the clout of the US to bring about a peace settlement.

What the world has seen from Biden and Blinken has been pretense, hypocrisy and double talk to give the impression that they have objected to Israeli military action aimed at the collective punishment of the Palestinians. And that they are opposed to the atrocities taking place on a daily basis.

The reality has been different. As president, Biden provided Netanyahu with protection and impunity from any international punishment. He has also been responsible for channelling enormous amounts of weaponry and military assistance without which Israel would find it impossible to engage in a prolonged war.

It is US influence and pressure that can push Israel to accept a Palestinian state - the primary concern of the Palestinian population and most countries of the world, including in Asia. It is an objective that Biden claims he is in favour of but which his actions indicate to the contrary.

According to the Costs of War project at Brown University, the United States provided $17.9billion in military aid to Israel from October 2023 to October 2024, a record for a single year.

Western media reports on this have conveniently omitted to point out that most of this military assistance money has gone back to American companies that make weapons and military equipment for the wars which the US and its proxies have instigated and sustained since the last world war.

Not to be forgotten is that a year after the initial Hamas provocative attack, and immediately following Israel's horrific rocket attack on a Gaza strip hospital that killed hundreds of medical staff, patients and visitors, Biden traveled halfway around the world to Tel Aviv to meet with Netanyahu and reiterate his unwavering support for Israel. His supplicatory action and words on the hospital attack carnage serves as a reminder of Biden's moral failings and void when it comes to non American and non Israeli lives.

“I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion of the hospital in Gaza yesterday, and based on what I’ve seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you.” 

How Will History Remember Biden’s Presidency

As President, Biden has tried to impress on Americans that he is a man of peace, decency, integrity and honour. However many will remember him as a war merchant extraordinary and a leader woefully deficient in the positive character attributes that his media machine has advertised.

There are two other ways to remember Joe Biden, the 46th US president. One is his recent flip flop after repeatedly pronouncing that he would not stand in the way of his son's conviction on tax and gun charges. The full and unconditional presidential pardon he granted for crimes that Hunter Biden committed between January 1, 2014 and December 1, 2024 is unprecedented in US judicial history as it covers offences committed well before Biden's term of office began. It has left an indelible stain on Biden's honor and integrity, and provided critics with ammunition to refute Biden's claim that he has advanced effective and accountable justice and democracy in America.

The other way to remember Biden's place in history is by the outpouring of tributes and eulogies from Americans and non-Americans remembering Jimmy Carter following his death. The influential Arab media leader, Arab News, had this commendation:

The Palestinian people have this week lost one of the most outspoken champions of their cause. Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the US, died on Sunday at the age of 100. Carter will be remembered as a man of integrity and courage. His readiness to move away from the more orthodox foreign policy line adopted by both Democrats and Republicans back in the 1970s over the Arab-Israeli conflict triggered fundamental shifts in how the world later approached that conflict, with the plight of the Palestinians as its core.

Carter’s life embodied the American dream, while transcending it through his dedication to global service. His one term as president (1977-1981), even though he was often criticized during his tenure, yielded lasting diplomatic triumphs, most notably the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt — an achievement that earned him respect as a peacemaker long after he left office….

His 2002 Nobel Peace Prize recognized his diplomatic achievements and his lifelong dedication to advancing human dignity and peace. Throughout his life, Carter maintained a reputation for integrity that stood as a beacon in American public life.

His plainspoken manner and modest lifestyle reflected his belief that true greatness lies in serving others. Even as he faced criticism for his political positions, few questioned his sincerity or commitment to his principles.See https://www.arabnews.com/node/2584866

Biden had the opportunity to leave a similar positive impact on America and the world. Unfortunately he was not made of the same stuff as Jimmy Carter.