Posted on 06/05/2009 2:28:09 AM PDT by Prov1322
No wonder extremist leaders were nervous ahead of Barack Obama’s landmark address in Cairo, frantically firing off warnings to Muslims not to fall for his words.
For years the likes of Osama bin Laden have claimed to speak on behalf of oppressed Muslim communities as they perverted the message of Islam and exploited the conflicts in the Middle East to stoke fear and violence.
But Mr Obama took them on, not with threats to “smoke them out” or warnings that “you are with us or against us”, but with eloquence, authority, a deep grasp of Muslim history and an understanding of Muslim grievances.
Opening with a broad smile and the Muslim greeting of “Assalum Alaykum” (peace be upon you), Mr Obama drew on his family ties to Islam (mentioning his middle name Hussein) and his respect for Islamic civilisation to present himself as a credible interlocutor eager to end the “cycle of suspicion and discord”.
Rarely, if ever, has an American leader drawn so much applause from an audience in the Muslim world, or dared to quote the Koran so often (the only glitch in Mr Obama’s speech, and it was minor, was to refer to the Muslim headscarf, which he defended, as a hajib, rather than a hijab). The audience, selected by the US to include friends and foes of America, gave Mr Obama a standing ovation.
Throughout the speech his message was the US was neither weak nor looking to appease its enemies but would act with fairness and on the basis of mutual respect.
Yes, the US has made mistakes, he said, acknowledging it had played a role in the 1953 coup in Iran that overthrew a democratically elected government. But he insisted that “we must not be prisoners” of the past.
If there was a magic list of words his audience wanted to hear, he delivered it. He spoke of the pain of colonialism, the suffering of Palestinians under occupation (their situation was “intolerable”), and the need for Israel to stop expanding settlements.
He underlined the US’s resolve to withdraw from Iraq and, eventually Afghanistan, without leaving “military bases”, countering deeply held suspicions in the region. And he highlighted a continued commitment to “democracy” and the rule of law, even as he warned that no country should impose its model of governance on another.
But he stated bluntly the US bond with Israel was “unbreakable” and called on Palestinians and Arab governments to contribute to the search for peace and choose “progress” over the “self-defeating” policies of the past.
With the change of tone from the Bush years, and the gracious delivery – the word “terrorism” did not even feature – Mr Obama has started turning the page on eight years in which the “war on terror” was perceived by Muslims as an attack on Islam.
Even before the speech, there were signs that thanks to his personal appeal, the US’s battered image in the Arab world was starting to improve. There were also hints that in Iran, for example, Mr Obama was perceived by the regime as more threatening than George W. Bush because of his ability to present a more moderate face of America.
But the speech also poses risks for Mr Obama. While he addressed masterfully the conflicting pressures the US faces in the region, he will find translating them into coherent policies far more challenging, if not impossible.
Mr Obama called for a joint effort to create a world where extremists no longer threatened Americans, US troops returned home, Israelis and Palestinians lived in secure states of their own, and nuclear energy was used only for peaceful purposes. It is an ambitious vision that would transform the Middle East, but it raises expectations far beyond the US’s ability to deliver.
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Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Yeah, no cowboy here, that's for sure...just a terrorist-appeasing, America-hating "citizen-of-the-world".
Zero's Apology Tour to the Muhammadans continues on...
He's muslim, so it's no shock that he understands muslims.
Next time please post a barf alert.
Thanks.
Hey, it was implied in the title!
Note to Mr. Khalaf: Obama just lost the whole thing right there.
Cheers!
I wonder if he could quote as much from the Old and New Testaments?
So, George Bush faced reality and spoke the truth. Obama, sigh, dreams on and speaks of the impossible! Don't ya know, it's all about making them "feel good".
That says it all.
Obama’s efforts in this regard may have been well-intentioned, but they were delivered from ignorance and a superficial personal exposure to Islam, NOT from the position of an historical scholar familiar with the bloody record of this intolerant death cult and the deeper implications of the Koran and Haddiths.
It is no accident that Islam has continued to breed “extremist”, "radical” cults from its very inception, whether Almoravids, or Assassins, Wahhabists or Talibanistas.
Violence, terror, intolerance, slavery, persecution and oppression are encoded in the “religious” writings of their mad prophet and his successors.
Unless the west can escape from the illusion that Islam is just another legitimate eastern religion like Buddhism, etc. and realize that it is a worse form of aggressive social and moral oppression than anything seen in the history of mankind, we will follow the Christians of the first millennium who lived in Egypt, North Africa, Asia Minor, etc, into the mental and moral darkness of this evil cult.
A guest on Laura Ingraham's show proved Obama has a shocking LACK of understanding of Muslim history.
Anybody checked Drudge...he’s on target this morning with the title “Peace in our time”, a photo of armed jihadists, and a link to this article. Of course, how many of Drudge readers will make the connection to Chamberlain’s quote, that’s hard to say.
Obama has no grasp of anything and nada, nothing of a deep grasp of Muslim history, he is a naive narcissist. Mark Levin’s show last night was a deep grasp of ME/Muslim history, especially as pertaining to Israel, Jordon, SA, Syria...worth a listen.
(For years the likes of Osama bin Laden have claimed to speak on behalf of oppressed Muslim communities as they perverted the message of Islam)
Claimed to speak for? According to millions of them he and his type do speak for them.
What makes you claim he is peverting the religion? When 100’s no 1000’s of mullahs and inmams around the globe daily call for the slaugther of the infidels. If that is the religion being preahed and followed then it is not a perversion it is the reality.
I wonder if he could quote as much from the Old and New Testaments?
I'm sure his speech writers would google something.
Are you talk about the first (who didn't try to remake the ME as a democracy) or are you talking about W.? W. had such a skewed vision of reality that he managed to destroy the GOP, damage America and then hand it to the RATS.
W. was the biggest mistake the Republicans ever made. Better than Zero, sure, but certainly don't want the likes of him around again. Obama is what he is, but W. was the real disaster for America by paving the way for "The One".
Drudge has it right. This idiotic tour of Bozo's resembles Chamberlain's stupid appeasement talk with Hitler. There is one big difference. Hitler and Chamberlain actually talked things out and Chamberlain got what he thought was a peace agreement, signed, from Hitler. Bozo didn't negotiate anything, all he did was what he always does: Ran his mouth with I, I, I being the most used word in his speech and no agreement what so ever was reached.
That makes Bozo even more gulible than Chamberlain. I can't make up my mind if Bozo is an evil genius or just dumber than a box of rocks. Either way he is bad for the US and we need to impeach him ASAP.
0bama can’t crack his own nuts...
He is effectively destroying the strength and influence of America on the world stage with is Apology Tour and his appeasement of dictators of all stripes.
His straw man arguments have become his stock in trade and the MSM leaves them unchallenged.
It’s time to take back the country.
... but would act with fairness and on the basis of mutual respect.
As Islam does not, and has never shown respect for non-Muslims, where will "mutual" come into play?
FP: Tell us a bit about Muhammed's sex life as documented by Islamic sources.
Botros: This is a very embarrassing topic for me to discuss; and I only do so out of my love for Muslims—though I know it is painful for them to hear. Yet such is how healing begins, through initial pain and suffering. In short, according to Islam's scriptures, Muhammad was, well, a pervert: he used to suck on the tongues of young boys and girls; he dressed in women's clothing (and received "revelations" in this state); he had at least 66 "wives"; Allah supposedly sent him special "revelations" allowing him to have sex with his step-daughter-in-law, Zainab, and to have more wives than the rest of Muslims; he constantly dwelt and obsessed over sex—his first question to a "talking donkey" was if the latter "liked sex"—and he painted a very lurid and lusty picture of paradise, where, according to some top Muslim interpreters, Muslims will be "busy deflowering virgins" all day; and he had sex with a dead woman. There is more, but why dwell on such shameful things?
I'll crack Islam's code for you. It is a demonically inspired lie that enslaves millions upon millions of people.
***W. was the biggest mistake the Republicans ever made.***
Isn’t that the truth.
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