Obama's speech in Egypt

[tazber]

Posted: 6/4/09 at 7:39am

I hope this thread doesn't devolve into a morass of name-calling.

I am curious as to what everyone's thoughts are about the 6 points he covered.

My opinion, it's only one speech and I don't expect a lot of change to come from it. It was (as always) beautifully written. It detailed the issues we all already know about. No solutions were offered, but I think he came off as a person who truly wants to change course.

Iran will no doubt blast it as he singled them out more than once, and Hammas will of course accuse him of being a infidel even though he insisted on a two state solution.

So my conclusion is: well spoken, but ultimately dismissible by the Muslims around the world as lip-service.

Thoughts?
Full text

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/4/09 at 8:18am

It was a brilliant speech, very Talmudic in its construction: every point was underscored by its contradiction: on the one hand this, but on the other hand that. On the one hand, the US bond with Israel is unbreakable, but on the other hand the situation for the Palestinian people is intolerable. On the one hand the Palestinians must abandon violence, but on the other hand, the Israelis must abandon the settlements.

On the one hand Iran is entitled to peaceful nuclear power, but on the other hand to deny the Holocaust is baseless and ignorant. On the one hand I am here in Cairo today, but on the other hand I am in Buchenwald tomorrow.

It was a have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too speech, and that was the only kind of speech he could give. It's a game-changer, because no American president has done it before, but it's not a game-ender in any way--and he knows it.

The most impressive thing to me was that he made it clear that he understood the difference between Islam in Africa, Islam in the Near and Middle East and Islam in the Far East, which is refreshing, given that our last president couldn't even pronounce Sunni and Shi'ite, let alone understand that there is a difference between them.

Updated On: 6/4/09 at 08:18 AM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/4/09 at 10:20am

I listened to it this morning and thought it was great. A step in the right direction.

I live in a very conservative area and have already heard people rant it's "Another stop on the apologize to the world-tour" and "He'd be a great president of ISLAM" (Yes, they thought Islam was a country). It will be interesting to hear what the RNC (Rush, Newt & Cheney) have to say tonight on the talking head shows.

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 6/4/09 at 11:13am

Did he threaten to arrest anyone before they comitted a crime?