Obama and obeisance to King Abdullah
President Obama met King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia at the G20 summit in London. He carried on in the now traditional Obama manner; that of a rube in the city, bowing so low to the king it appeared he was checking his shoelaces.
(greeting around the 50 second mark)
I do believe this is the first time a US President has ever bowed to a foreign head of state. (President Bush had bowed his head to the Pope upon meeting him, but that was to the Pope; the head of the worldwide Catholic church). Does the president even have a protocol officer? Does he just ignore his protocol staff? Is he above such mundane activities as protocol and diplomacy?
Do we merely chalk this up as ignorance? As a person meeting royalty for the first time and showing respect? If so, then why did he not greet the British Queen in the same manner instead of a quick head bob? Can it be because the protocol staff had informed him of the Queens desire for visitors to not bow upon greeting? If so, then why did the staff not inform him of King Abdullahs instructions: "Kissing hands is alien to our values and morals, and is not accepted by free and noble souls," Abdullah told a delegation from Baha, in southwest Saudi Arabia, which came to the royal palace to offer congratulations on his accession. "It also leads to bowing, which is a violation of God's law. The faithful bow to no one but God." This greeting, unintentionally placed Obama in the subservient role to Abdullah. Something a protocol officer should have anticipated and briefed against.
When I deployed to the MidEast in 1986 I received quite a bit of protocol instruction. A few observations. Placing a hand on your heart along with a slight bow is a sign of respect. This is usually done during greeting and greetings are met with long handshakes. The long handshakes, grasped elbows, even walking hand in hand by two males is common place in the Arab world. Seeing soldiers walking hand in hand is not uncommon. When President Bush behaved in this manner he was, and still is, roundly criticized for such familiar behavior. But, he at least was knowledgeable, had been briefed as to what conduct was expected and complied with it. He was in fact following the lead of his host, the King. Bowing, denotes subservience. Even in the Orient, the more subservient bow lower than the social higher.
I don't find sinister readings in this behavior, such as "secret Muslim" type thing. The presidents behavior is like it has been; boorish and ignorant. He lacks the experience in diplomacy to adequately conduct himself in world affairs and doesn't appear interested in acquiring it. His partial term as a US Senator provided inadequate training to prepare him for the behavior and diplomacy tools he needs. Governors, Senators, and even tycoons (such as Perot) would have met this challenge prior to assuming the mantle of the presidency. Obama has nothing but experience as a street organizer-poor background to deal with the world leaders on an equal footing.
With that said, I will digress a bit and state it doesn't matter whether it was President Bush or Obama. It is time for us to knock off the chumming up to the House of Saud. They are not are allies. They are not our friends. We pulled their butt out of the fire a couple of times (the latest when they were invaded by Iraq) and we pay them obscene amounts of money for their oil. This makes us consumers of their product. We can always drill on our own soil and render the Saudis as merely another country comprised of sand and nothing else.
Bonus question. What will the Mideast do when their oil is gone or the West no longer needs it? Is there much of a market for sand in that quantity?
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