Obama Mideast Watch: Prez Reach-Out to Muslims
What a day in America. Not only an African-American for the first time takes the oath of office as president, but he begins the historic swearing-in ceremony with the words, “I, Barack HUSSEIN Obama…”
With all of its imperfections, today is a day that the U.S. can be proud of its strong, inclusive society, such that a mere eight years after the 9/11, anti-Muslim backlash among some in the country, a man whose Muslim origins are celebrated in his middle name has become America's leader. And then Obama's inaugural address, though focused on the enormous domestic challenges the U.S. faces, made an unprecedented reach-out to the Muslim world.
Here's where Obama touched directly or indirectly on the Middle East in his first speech as 44th president of the United States:
We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.
Obama is specifically reaching out and providing assurances of change to all the nations and people of the world who have become angry, disillusioned or confused by America's bending of moral principles, through Guantanamo prison and other dubious policies, in pursuing the war against terrorists.
Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint. Obama is acknowledging that military force alone cannot make American secure, and that success will require not unilateral bullying but maintaining and building healthy alliances based on common values. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet.
Obama is re-committing himself to withdrawing American troops from Iraq, redoubling the fight against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and exploring cooperation with Iran as a way of de-fusing the dangerous crisis over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken. You cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you. For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus--and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth.
Obama is essentially addressing Osama bin Laden and the anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world that al-Qaeda seeks to tap into. He is strongly defending American values and ideals, holding them up to the Muslim world as worthy of emulation rather than scorn, and warning terrorists will be held accountable for their moral crimes.
To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history. But that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.
Obama is making an unprecedented out-reach to the Muslim world. He is recognizing America's troubled relations with the Middle East and making a promise to Muslims to put them on a better basis. He is also indirectly warning regimes such as those in Iran and Syria against sowing conflict and stoking anti-American sentiment. But in a reversal of Bush's regime-change policies, he is offering to extend a hand if they are ready to loosen their authoritarian grips and focus on building their countries.
All in all, strong signals of a change of direction for the U.S. in the Middle East. Now we'll wait to see what policies and actions follow the lofty rhetoric.
--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo
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1
Good analysis as always, Scott. I hope that Obama makes historic moves that reshape not only the Presidency but American politics in general, especially with regards to smaller interests, such as lobbyists, influencing foreign policy and fueling, essentially, the network of terrorists who we are at war with of which he speaks.
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I especially liked the following excerpts:
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"And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account -- to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day -- because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government."
Great, now we can see exactly how much money is being funneled to Israel and why, right? It will certainly help us redeem America's image.
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"To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy."
Why address this indirectly to Syria and Iran? Why not Israel, our old buddy, that has effectively destroyed 50 UN and 21 medical facilities; sewage systems; displaced over 100,000 people; left 400,000 people without running water; damaged or destroyed 17,000 civilian homes; killed at least 1,300 Palestinians; some still being pulled dead from the rubble and over 400 of them children; and used illegal weapons like white phosphorous, depleted uranium, and inert metal shells on civilians, causing long-term damage like inevitable cancer or death to the 7,000+ wounded after already causing a humanitarian crisis from an inhumane military blockade that was starving women and children, almost 50% of which are now exhibiting mental defects from malnutritioned growth. Should we not judge them by their destruction? What have they built for others with clean hands?
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And with the 7 million dollars of US aid per day being funneled to Israel, more than any other country in the world, taxpayers will be glad to stop paying for genocide. If Obama is true to his word, he will address Israel with not love for the money its lobbyist line his pockets or the votes he garners through them, but with the tough love every family would give a murderous son or daughter. First stop: the media.
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/ -
2
We shall know soon if Obama want to bring billions of world Christians and Moslems together or be held back by followers of other religions which numerically wont even register as dot in world population graph and they still have strong desire to be meddlesome between big boys affairs without any justification to back it up, we need some commonsense from Mr. Obama!
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3
Ah, such the love fest.
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Even on a day when a new President takes his place on the world stage, we find the dead-enders and haters huddled about the garbage-pail fire on the burnt out street corner; muttering under their breath about how they would like to stick it to their enemies.
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Just remember boys, it wasn't just Osama bin-Laden & Co. who the new President was speaking to. That honor also goes to HAMAS and Hizballah, the Taliban, Moqtadr al Sadr, the Taliban, and all the rest of those extreme haters.
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Just continue to keep those fists clenched and like the angry young man of poet W.M. Joel's verse you will also find yourselves burying your head in the sand. -
4
Sand? There's no sand in Tehran unless it's imported. Nor in NYC.
Israel has plenty of sand though, and camels!
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There's no clenched fists here, Jacob. Just messengers of truth. We all know what's inevitable, we just have to suffer without the ignorance of bliss.
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5
dyslexic am i: meant to type "bliss of ignorance"
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6
I HOPE your analysis is correct Scott, but waiting for change is NO guarantee of it. Healthy democracies require an active engaged citizenry that holds leaders accountable........
MY FIRST email/FAX/snail mail to...
Dear President Obama and Vice President Biden,
“HOPE has two children. The first is ANGER at the way things are. The second is COURAGE to DO SOMETHING about it.”-St. Augustine...
As a person of Hope for Change I encourage you to focus on the ways to broker true security for Israel; through justice for Palestinians...
Justice requires and End to the Occupation and equal human rights for all...
The way to achieve it is through a self-determined, democratic and contiguous Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza...
Jerusalem can indeed become a shining city on a hill when it is shared and also becomes the International Capital of the World...
My hope for change is that security, peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land, and the entire Middle East will not lie in militarism and nuclear weapons, but in Justice and Mercy which equates to Equal Human Rights for all.........
As we begin the 9th year of The UN's Decade of Creating a Culture of NONVIOLENCE for all the Children of the World, may the US become the change to make that real!
...My hope is that in 2009, The Wall will fall and that Change must begin when walls fall in hearts and minds....
...Vanunu's Message to Hillary Clinton re: The APARTHEID Wall...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Omq-QG7isA&eurl =http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content& task=view&id=1168&Itemid=214
.........Just weeks after his FREEDOM OF SPEECH TRIAL began the whistle blower of Israel's underground WMD Facility sent this message to Senator Clinton and USA Christians re: The Apartheid Wall and The Bombs. Excerpted from “30 Minutes with Vanunu” freely streaming @ WeAreWideAwake.........
“You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.”-John 8:32
Eileen Fleming, Founder WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author “Keep Hope Alive”
“Memoirs of a Nice Irish American ‘Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory”
Producer “30 Minutes With Vanunu” -
7
Wait and see?
Healthy democracies thrive on dissent and require an engaged citizenry.
My FIRST email/FAX/snail mail to the Obama White House...
Dear President Obama and Vice President Biden,
"HOPE has two children. The first is ANGER at the way things are. The second is COURAGE to DO SOMETHING about it."-St. Augustine...
As a person of Hope for Change I encourage you to focus on the ways to broker true security for Israel; through justice for Palestinians...
Justice requires an End to the Occupation and equal human rights for all...
The way to achieve it is through a self-determined, democratic and contiguous Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza...
Jerusalem can indeed become a shining city on a hill when it is shared and also becomes the International Capital of the World...
My hope for change is that security, peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land, and the entire Middle East will not lie in militarism and nuclear weapons, but in Justice and Mercy which equates to Equal Human Rights for all....
...As we begin the 9th year of The UN's Decade of Creating a Culture of NONVIOLENCE for all the Children of the World, may the US become the change to make that real!...
My hope is that in 2009, The Wall will fall and that Change must begin when walls fall in hearts and minds..........
Vanunu's Message to Hillary Clinton re: The Wall
[You tube link on homepage WAWA].........Just weeks after his FREEDOM OF SPEECH TRIAL began the whistle blower of Israel's underground WMD Facility sent this message to Senator Clinton and USA Christians re: The Apartheid Wall and The Bombs. Excerpted from "30 Minutes with Vanunu" freely streaming @ WeAreWideAwake.........
"You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free."
-John 8:32Eileen Fleming, Founder WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "Keep Hope Alive"
"Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu" -
8
Have i been banned and censored by Time/CNN?
I x-posted my first letter to the Obama White House which is posted @ January 21, 2009 WAWA Blog and WAWA =WeAreAideAwake and is a .org. -
9
ops! i am not dyslexic-just a careless speller:
WAWA=WeAreWideAwakeI suppose it was because of the Vanunu YOU TUBE link to his Message to Hillary Clinton and USA Christians re: The Apartheid Wall was the reason the other posts were unacceptable?
That 1:19 minute soundbite is posted on the homepage WeAreWideAwake.
Thanks for being engaged.
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10
Did you know that during the last 48 hours Israel didn't shoot a single bullet in Gaza and Hamas shot on Israel in 4 occasions? I am sure you don't know and don't even want to know and international media didn't show it to you. But that exactly what happened during the last 8 years (actually during the last 100 years). Arabs are shooting on Israel and when Israel retaliate we see all the anti semites and anti Israeli rats are going out of their holes.
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11
Eileenfleming
Why do you compare Israel to apartheid?
I don't remember that black South Africans planted bombs and shoot white South Africans nor they wanted to throw white South Africans to the sea.
Can't you understand that Palestinians and some Arab countries just want to kill Israelis?
Don't you understand that this was the situation before 1967 when the occupation began?
Don't you understand that during the last 3 years there was no occupation in Gaza and still terror continued?
What do you think Israelis should expect after they will go out of the West Bank? Will there be a quiet period or they will shoot at us again? -
12
What's there to like about Israel? unilaterally wage wars every few years and unilaterally declare ceasefire after killing more civilians than combatants and then complains why the other side wont capitulate, when former US president and south Africa nobel laureates compare Israel actions to apartheid regime, who we are to dispute such personalities!
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13
Arabs are Semites too, Israelis branch of it can invent any definition they want in Hebrew language but leave English definition alone, we can decide by ourselves "what" suppose to mean "what", major bummer!
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14
oh i am so sorry for the repeated posts above...
RE: Israel and Apartheid...
"An apartheid society is much more than just a ‘settler colony'. It involves specific forms of oppression that actively strip the original inhabitants of any rights at all, whereas civilian members of the invader caste are given all kinds of sumptuous privileges."
...MUCH MORE published WAWA Blog September 2 and 3, 2007
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15
RE: The 'disengagement'
In 2005, in "KEEP HOPE ALIVE" I wrote...
9/11/05 AND THE GULFPORT BLUES......regarding the aftermath of the “disengagement,” the bottom line was more settlers, more walls, and more corruption in the PA...
........what a farce the so-called disengagement in Gaza was. The Israeli government still controls all access to Gaza by land, sea, and air...in the past year, 12,800 new settlers have moved into the West Bank--50 percent more settlers than were evacuated........
...This is no withdrawal, this is BS! Until Palestinians have control of Gaza's borders and a guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank, it is not a withdrawal; it's just BS propaganda!
........The corruption in the PA government and hot tempers from those under occupation are a powder keg that's getting ready to blow!
........What's it going to take to wake the world up to the fact that most of our problems with radical Islamist fundamentalist militants leads us back to the conflict in Israel and Palestine? All roads do indeed lead to Jerusalem.
...........What's it going to take before the International community gets it together and insists, in unity, upon the upholding of international law as the rule we all live by? And that includes Israel and America, too, for both ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I wonder, what's the point of signing on, but then not doing it?
...........What's it going to take to wake up the legions of blind U.S. Christian Zionists to their indifference to the misery of their sisters and brothers in Israel and Palestine? Their blind allegiance to the Israeli government has allowed our best friend in the world to become a big bully.
..........What's it going to take to break through the ignorance that hard-earned U.S. tax dollars are being used to continue the occupation and apartheid wall?.......
THE REST:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1048&Itemid=206
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