Transcript (warning: PDF)
While I endorse the text of the speech, it seems like it was nothing that everyone doesn’t already know. Is there anything new here? Now that he has said it, will it make any difference?
With respect to Isreal/Palestine, I don’t think it will because too many people have a vested interest in an ongoing conflict.
Rob
This is gonna go GD before its done
Now two things.
First this is the time for Islamists to get their shit together, if they dont they are not gonna have another shot for a hundred years regarding a positive president. I dont really expect much out of them , as we are talking about over a billion plus individuals, any one or two can make huge ripples in the pond with the right rock.
But I want to see metrics for how far they to go, and what do we expect out of them before automatically telling them they should be seen and not heard.
This actually reminded me of a scene in Star Trek the undiscovered country. The klingon chick got a little huffy about racist attitudes, by imposing Human rights onto a non human sentient race.
This is the here and now and not some fictional universe, but Obama is doing essentiallly the same thing. Full flght democracy will not work everywhere and in some cases will not be wanted as they are happy enough with their present form of govt. I think its a nice turn of phrase and I took it to mean that O will support anyone who reaches for it, and has no personal intention of imposing anything, but these are the same people that get all bent out of shape because they dont like helicopters flying around, as they are under the pilots foot.
Now , in my personal opinion. People who want to find hope , will find hope in that speech. People who want the big bad America will probably twist his words or simply say ya fine, he says all the right things, but the next president, who knows ?
Declan
He also spoke about the positives of the Freedom of Religion, but I presume that there is a subset of folks on this planet who do not agree with that value or premise.
For those folks who feel that only their own particular religion is a source of strength for their community or culture, these assertions will fall on deaf ears.
The speech wasn’t really aimed at the Arabic speaking world.
Remember the old adage “all politics is local”.
Democrats will be very pleased by the speech. It sounds so happy and positive.
Arabs will not be pleased…It offers nothing new.
Not that an American president could offer anything new, anyway. The gap is just too wide.
Obama said," Gee, whiz, why should we fight each other?
Muslims are doing fine in the USA. We have 1200 freely-functioning mosques in America. And we let girls wear the hijab."
But of course, those 1200 mosques are built right next door to freely-functioning churches and synagogues. And those girls who wear the hijab are studying at secular public schools, which offer full equality to women.
The clash of civilizations continues…
So Democrats will be happy for a couple of years, because they tried something that sounds -to them- totally different than Bush ( axis of evil).
But to the Arab world, it didn’t sound so different. A man wearing a suit telling men who wear robes that they have to change their entire culture.
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Yeah, that’s not really what he said. The speech was full of concrete ideas on how to bridge the cultural gap and he laid out clear ideas on what America could do to build trust among Arab people.
Like he pointed out, Islamic religious extremists have killed more Muslims than any other religious group.
I disagree also that this was only for ‘local politiking’, he was clearly talking to the moderates in those Muslim countries as well. It’s all about isolating the religious wingnuts, in this country and around the world.
I also disagree with those saying it won’t make a difference to Arabs. I watched the speech live, and then went to a Q&A session with the US ambassador to Qatar. The Arabs in the audience had some complaints, but by and large they were effusive in their praise of Obama and the speech. The younger they were, the more excited they were (which is important in the Arab world, since so many Arab countries have a very large youth population.) People thought Obama was sincere, that he spoke to them with respect, and that he has good intentions (and the will to at least try to implement them). Not one Arab in 10 would say the same of Bush.
It is a lot better than an enemies list like Bush thought was a good idea. Give peace a chance.
Is there anything new here? Now that he has said it, will it make any difference?
Plenty new. Name me one attempt in the last 100 years by a US president, or leader of any Western nation, to directly address the Arab on his own soil, who recognized the cultural importance of the square foot he was adressing him from, and who did it with references to the Arab’s own new and distant culture. The Obama-lama spoke to Arabs in Arabic terms, appealing to Arabic cultural values and he did it in terms that would make certain paranoid Westerners nervous that, hey, this guy knows too much about Arabs & Islam to be one of us. I can’t recall ANY time a US president went the ME with his balls out and said, “Here’s mine, let’s see yours.” Unlike past leaders who backed Arabs into a corner and demand they give up their balls, Obama came in, had some tea & chitchat and said, “Hey, you tired of this shit yet? Cause I sure as hell am.”
**With respect to Isreal/Palestine, I don’t think it will because too many people have a vested interest in an ongoing conflict. **He’s given Israel the same warning I give my kids when they’re running amok, “I love you, but you’re gonna get it if you don’t knock that shit off.” I fear for BN if he calls that a bluff, and I fear for the Arab who reads that as an abandonment of our commitments to Israel.
I think so. The fact is that he’s a new and likeable guy just as much in the US as he is in the ME.
There is a “battle” for the hearts and minds of the Middle East that doesn’t have to be fought with lawyers, guns, or money. Obama is playing that card and can be quite effective (his name sure adds a ton of credibility to what he says).
Also, it’s no coincidence that OBL also released a message to the Middle East at the same time. He is fighting for the hearts and minds as well.
This is the information part of the war. President Obama can fight it better than anyone.
Teddy Roosevelt? 1910, so it makes your criteria by one year.
I agree. The response from Muslims was generally positive, some effusively so. My take is they look at this as a cause for cautious, yet hopeful optimism.
I believe BN will take Obama’s speech as seriously as it serves his political purposes, and dismiss the balance. …and then redouble his efforts in ensuring the expansion of the illegal settlements.
I read the whole speech just now and it fills me with great optimism. First of all, isn’t it great to finally have a president who can speak clearly and eloquently??
I agree that perhaps some of these things sound too optimistic, but without risk there is no gain. This kind of egalitarian outreach to Muslims is something that only Obama could do, being the half black son of a Muslim but the Christian president of a largely Christian nation. To have yet another old white man dictate to the Muslims would have been a mistake no matter what he said or how sincere he is: there is simply too much bad blood over the past 8 years to easily have them trust us. But Obama has credibility both from his actions (closing down Guantanamo) and his background. And the fact that he can string together a couple hundred words without sounding like a moron helps too 
Some of these problems will be hard to deal with, as Obama by himself will not be able to affect change on some of these Muslim majority countries without help from their obstinate leaders, and certainly the whole Palestinian issue is rife with pitfalls and people seeking to derail the peace process. That will take boots on the ground to change; no amount of speeches will break the parties of their violent momentum.
Great speech Mr. President. Now lets see how the right wing will spin it (he spoke Arabic! He’s a closet Muslim! He apologized for America, the naive weakling!). I’m sure they’ll dissect every line from this speech within the next few days and make Obama sound like the second coming of Lenin and Chamberlain rolled into one :rolleyes:
This article argues that jihadism is not actually based in the Muslim world’s poverty (many if not most of the terrorists come from the upper classes), but in a sense of humiliated pride, in the Islamic world’s comparatively recent history of being colonized and dominated by the West, and the obvious contempt so many Westerners show for Islam. If so, then Obama’s speech is the right approach: Mend fences by telling them we appreciate the brilliance of their civilization and culture. Best way to marginalize the radicals.
It reminded me a lot more of Bush’s second Inagural, where he said the same thing. Ditto with the way both Bush and Obama praised the historic acheivements of Arab culture.
The speech was very good IMO and had some fairly blunt talk, but at the end of the day, actions will count way more than rhetoric.
It’s good to say that the alliance with Isreal is “unbreakable,” and that the Palestianians must live up to their obligations … but if you start demanding new, unilateral concessions from Isreal before the PA has lived up to their end of the last bargain, the rhetoric and actions don’t match.
Similarly, it’s good to speak of democracy and human rights and religious freedom … but when you choose to honor Egypt as being the state where you give that speech it’s gotta make the true Arab reformers wonder if you aren’t, like so many other US presidents, talking but not walking Middle-East democracy. We need to find ways to make rhetoric match policy.
And of course, while we all want to believe that the Islamic world will embrace the tolerant, cosmopolitan version of the religion and not the militant brand, ultimately that’s going to be a choice they make, not us. We can make speeches and even enact policy to encourage the outcome we prefer, but we cannot make them love or even tolerate us.
To what concessions are you referring? If it is the removal of Israeli settlements, that hardly seems like making a concession.
What country did you have in mind? I assume Egypt was chosen simply because it has the largest Arab population.
To the OP: it’s useful rhetoric, but the proof will be in the pudding. If Obama can successfully sway the moderates in Iran to his cause, defang Hamas/Hezbollah, and help put enough pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to make a two state solution a possibility, it’ll count for a hell of a lot more than just words.
I’ll also be interesting to see how Obama can interface with the rising tide of modified Islamism that’s more pluralistic and accepting of women.
On a rather basic point of word usage:
That’s the denotation of concession.
Talk is cheap.
It can get you elected President of the United States of America. Not too shabby.
Maybe actual settlement removal would be, but what Obama’s asking for is for there to be a halt in any further settlement growth. I guess you could define that as a concession, just as I could say “Stop stealing $20 out of my wallet every Thursday” is asking for one as well.
Time will tell. It was a good speech…but, in the end, it will be Obama’s actions that will determine how things go. I don’t envy him…he is going to have to walk a tight rope between Muslim expectations (moderate and radical), the various factions and political realities in Israel, expectations of The World™ (a.k.a. Europe), and the various view points of the relevant parties here in the US, including those of his own base.
Frankly, I think it’s hopelessly impossible…but I most fervently wish him all the luck in the world and hope he can somehow pull off a miracle. Sadly, I’m not going to hold my breath, however.
-XT