Baseball bat: A foreign policy instrument for Barack Obama as he carries it while he talks-Part 2
The USA is unarguably the strongest country in the world with regard to defensive capabilities. Plus, it is engaged in wars on various fronts. Countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan have joined hands with it in their quest to eliminate the terrorists. For
carrying out the cleansing operations of the miscreants the powerful USA military is being used.
Similarly the Chinese view that USA as a country to be careful against in dealings while making sure it is not offended in any way.
Against this backdrop, the holding of the baseball bat by the US President is bound to give way to a sea of speculations.
The country which is known for announcing ultimatums and getting his allies to fight against the terrorists can least likely keep the people of the respective nations quiet after its president gives an impression of being too bossy in a phone call.
Certainly Obama never meant what is being made out of his photo now. He will be wondering as to what wrong he has committed that the political parties in Turkey doubt his intentions.
Obama was just carrying the bat as a symbol of how closely attached they are with baseball. The bat basically was signed by the home-run champion Henry Aaron which is another indication that the purpose of holding it was not what has been perceived by most
of the people in Turkey.
Perhaps the Turkish opposition parties are oblivious to the connotations the word baseball or for that matter its bat lead to. Before making grand conclusions, they need to look into what does baseball stand for in America.
The very sport which spreads love and peace and is a source of the connection of the whole nation can never mean anything related to aggression. Instead of considering the baseball bat as something like a rocket launcher and the one that means intimidation
and an indirect warning, it must be viewed otherwise.
As part of the US quest to elaborate to the whole world that they are a peace loving nation, the US president could not have thought of using anything other than a baseball bat.
All through his life Obama has grown up believing that baseball is their pastime and a sport which empirically reflects the unity of the states. Inspired by this if he lets the whole world be united and work for common goals just as the United States is
doing within itself and uses the baseball bat to communicate this message, there is hardly anything wrong with it.
Just as the ignorance of the law is no excuse, the people of those countries that have misinterpreted the baseball bat for not having enough knowledge about its history should be critiqued on this ground.
They must be disallowed from spreading bad connotations regarding baseball.
Who knows if Obama is on a mission to demystify the misconceptions about the USA and to remove the stigma attached with this country of being overly aggressive in world affairs.
The masses that have been fed by their governments on lies and false media reporting need to understand what the United States basically aims to foster.
For this, the baseball bat can act as a reflection of the sincerity in the purpose of the President.
The very objective of the USA of watching the whole world living in peace and economically sound, remains an untold story to most of the people in the world. Wars which are actually being fought for sincere purposes have plagued the image of the country.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Continued in Part 3
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