Can't believe there's no thread on this. I didn't see it, I'm about to read the transcript but you can only get so much from that, does anyone who did catch it live care to weigh in??
Seemed like a good start. Not too long on details, but useful in striking a new chord. Quoting the Koran was a nice touch (did Clinton or Bush make a habit of that?). The one weak part was the vague platitudes about Israel and the holocaust. A repeat of his call for stopping settlements would have been nice.
Great speech. A lot of Hillary dead-enders (PUMA, etc.) are wailing about Obama's lack of forcefulness on women's rights in the Islamic world, but I think we learned from the last eight years that telling people we want as our allies that they're a bunch of backwards donkey-buggers is not the way to go. Baby steps, baby steps...
I think he pretty well covered that when he said that the US does not accept the continued Israeli settlement of the West Bank.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BlqLwCKkeY"]YouTube - President Obama Speaks to the Muslim World from Cairo, Egypt[/ame]
I guess all his kissy kissy, nicey nicey to the Muslims are NOT winning over the thugs. I could have sworn that all the hatred form these guys was going to stop, once Barack started making nice. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090604/tpl-iran-s-khamenei-says-us-deeply-hated-b04fc5e.html
To the contrary, mid east dictators and kings have been coddled for too long, including by the Bush admin (except saddam, of course). Basic human rights should not be sacrificed on the alter of politicl or economic expediency.
Really? Then your listening skills really blow. No one, least of all Obama, ever said anything remotely like this. Just more weak sauce from a guy running out of bullets.
If you think that's what he is trying to do, then you really haven't been paying attention. the idea is not to change the mind of the thugs, it's to isolate the thugs, which will diminsh their power.
Agreed in principle, but as I said you don't get anywhere by telling your hosts that their house smells like farts and root beer. Obama has the unenviable task of rebuilding trust and respect in the Muslim world after 8 years of "don't like it - here's another bunker buster!! BWAHAHAHAHAH!!!"
I guess all the invady-vady, killy-killy in an oil-rich muslim nation that had nothing to do with 9/11 has NOTHING to do with creating more thugs. I could have sworn torturing Arabs detainees, secret renditions and creating an extra-legal prison in Cuba would have stopped all that hatred once Bush and Cheney started talking all mean and Eastwoody. >BlowMe smiley face<
I just don't agree with this characterization of the bush years. I think the Iraq war put Bush in a position in which even though he should have been more aggressive on the human rights front in the middle east, he couldn't be. I think the Bush years are more accurately characterized as the Iraq war, diplomatic nonsense with IRan, and the coddling of other tyrants in the middle east. Including the Sauds and PAkistan.
Really? Wow, you're as profoundly stupid as someone who likes to have someone take a crap on their chest during sex.
first, I don't think you understand sarcasm. second, the crap on the chest thing is just a fetish - don't knock it 'til you try it
I thought it was a pretty good speech, but he lost me on this part: "Freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together. We must always examine the ways in which people protect it. For instance, in the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That's why I'm committed to work with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat."What rules on charitable giving is he talking about?
He's like ITN's mentally challenged little brother. The difference between him and ITN is that Steamer isn't fake.
Weird, that part wasn't in the original text I read on Yahoo's news page. I saw some clips on CNN later that included that, and thought it was from a different speech. Anyway, I agree that he covered it well.
Obama spent a great deal of the 6,000 word "Cairo Speech" quoting the Koran with special positive spin on Islam, i.e., “religion of peace,” despite the last seven years of hard evidence to the contrary. Yeah a few jihadis (Muslim fundamentalists) are making life difficult for the entire legacy of Islam and every legitimately peaceful Musim but have the peaceful Imams - who Obama refers to in his "religion of peace" allegory - stopped preaching Sharia law in Muslim madrassas schools to its youth that teaches them to kill Christians as the infidel? Until that happens I'm not buying this “religion of peace” bull, whether Obama is selling it or Al Qaeda. In just the last few weeks here in this nation we have had several instances of terrorism; May 20 terrorism arrests in New York of men having connections to Jaish-e-Mohammed; June 1 terrorism arrests in Little Rock of Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, after the shootings at the Army-Navy Career Center in a shopping center (sadly William Long, 24, of Conway, died, and Quinton Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, was wounded); and most recently Osama bin Laden just yesterday issuing yet another fatwah of jihad against America. Religion of peace? If the members of Islam want this “religion of peace” rhetoric to stick it is they that have work to do; changing their Sharia Law to peaceful instruction, changing their educational madrassas to advance peace, and riding herd on the youth that have turned to terrorism and jihad. Just because Islam's favorite son gives a Cairo speech fools nobody.
Another impressive speech of Barack Obama. Kudos! Btw: Here's a "Spiegel" comment to this topic. http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,628547,00.html