Letters: In leading by example, U.S. has a global impact

The grassroots protests taking place in North Africa and the Middle East appear related to the change that took place in the United States in 2008, when we elected Barack Obama to be our first African American president ("America's needless losses," Thursday).

In a free and fair democratic election, the American people elevated a member of a racial minority to the presidency of our nation. This was a sign to the rest of the world of our great respect for people who show an ability to lead, no matter what racial or ethnic background they come from. Sometimes we Americans forget what a momentous occasion this was, and how many people watched from around the world, as our experiment in democracy took another growth step.

Obviously, America is not the only nation that struggles to achieve peaceful integration of several racial and ethnic minorities. Obama's success - and the American people's respect for his success - have filled other, formerly oppressed people with hope that something similar could happen for them. We are seeing this hope spill out onto the streets of Cairo, Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers, Manama, and other cities.

Contrary to what Andrew J. Bacevich asserts, America does not need to sustain a pretense of global leadership. Ours is true leadership of the best kind: leadership by example. What we do need to sustain is faith in ourselves and in our own democratic ideals. Clearly, our leadership is having an impact.

Don Harting

Downingtown