Jack & Jill Politics

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Evening Thread is up.

He done good.

my favorite part -

Man Interrupts Speech: "We Love You!"

another article
Analysis: Obama offers unclenched fist to Muslims

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

In Cairo, Praise for Obama's Remarks

By Howard Schneider
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, June 4, 2009 10:07 AM

CAIRO, June 4 -- The fact that Barack Obama chose Egypt as the location for Thursday's address to the Muslim world endeared him to the locals, who are always proud to host a foreigner and even prouder when it shows off their history.

The fact that he came to downtown Cairo, instead of heading to the Sinai beach resorts where diplomatic gatherings are often held, told them he was serious about connecting on a personal level.

And when he started sprinkling his speech with words from the Koran, and balanced support for Israel with a strong call for a Palestinian state, the deal was closed.

"I didn't expect him to go this far" in confronting the region's core problems, said Tarek Ali, 44, a driver for a government agency. "He really seems to want to move forward."

That initial conclusion seemed unanimous among the crowd of men gathered at a local coffee shop to watch Obama's Thursday speech.

Although Obama was blunt about the United States' "unbreakable bonds" with Israel, that statement was quickly followed with others about Palestinian "suffering" since Israel's founding in 1948 and the need to curb Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and establish a Palestinian state.

Acknowledging the negative stereotypes of Islam that took root in America after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Obama at the same time said Muslim nations needed to fix their own exaggerated views of the United States as a country bent on dominating them.

That balance, applied across a broad range of topics, left people feeling that the U.S. president with a Muslim father and middle name was sincere about finding a cooperative path. There was no shortage of suggestions about things the Arab and Muslim world needed to fix, but those who listened to the speech said they also sensed a clear appreciation for the culture and an acknowledgement of American mistakes.

"We know that the U.S. is close to Israel, but he also said that Israel uses too much force," said Salah Sharawy, 42. "He wants the whole world to move forward."

As the meaning of Obama's speech is parsed in the region, there will be plenty of attention paid to the likelihood -- or not -- that the United States will offer up new policies to help bring about the change he seeks. Traditional foes of the U.S., like Iran, focused on that question, and leaders in Tehran said they doubted much would change.

Ahmed Yousef, a spokesman for the Islamist Hamas movement, told al-Jazeera television in Gaza that the speech was reminiscent of Martin Luther King Jr. in its vision -- but that it would not make Hamas inclined to recognize Israel.

"What he said about Islam was great. What he said about Palestinian suffering and a Palestinian state is great," Yousef said. But "we have a lot of reservations."

In Cairo, however, the details of Obama's speech were almost less important than the official build-up and symbolism around it. After years in which the United States was linked here almost exclusively to violence in Muslim countries and support for Israel, suddenly the state broadcasting service was beaming uplifting scenes of the American and Egyptian flags flying side by side, and Obama's smiling face superimposed over graphics of the Pyramids and local landmarks. A small icon -- the Egyptian and American flags woven together in a yin and yang -- was kept on the screen throughout the morning.

"Egyptian people are very quick to forgive," said Mosad Ashour, a producer at a local television studio. "People insult us and even the next day, it is over."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

The images of the flags in a yin yang symbol makes me happy.

First take on the speech:

Obama's speech should be directed towards his fellow Americans rather muslims. It is Americans, after all, occupying two countries in the middle east....and with military bases on just about every Muslim country....

20 minutes into the speech and NOT ONE mention of the big elephant in the room: The illegal and inhumane Iraq war. In Iraq, we have killed 100Xs more than those that were killed on 9-11.

Oh, finally, touching on Iraq at 21st minute. He called it a war of choice. Interesting. Only imperial powers can choose to go to war....he's yet to mention the more than 1 Million dead Iraqis....nor did he address the fact that there are more than 4 Million Iraqis displaced.

And answering yourself is very strange. You can edit your posts.

AM2k9,

are you still a seminary student as according to your profile.....in the course of your studies, have you also studied the blood that has also been shed due to religious divisions which has probably killed more people than we will ever know......I wonder do you also look at the countless people all across the world who have been killed and persecuted; the forced migration and enslavement people have faced due to religion.

And I am not writing this in defense of American foreign policy...but I think it needs to be mentioned than in our imperfect world, many have felt the wrath over the very institutions of religion thought that you are presumably studying?

I'm not denying that there have been [pointless] religious wars that have killed many people. Personally, I stand with those who are being persecuted in our world today, Palestinians, Darful, Congo among others....For the past 100+ plus years American U.S policy has been imperialist, racist and oppressive in nature. From Puerto Rico, Philippines, Korea, Panama, Guatemala, Chile, Hawaii, Nicaragua, Cuba, Guam, Dominican Republic (twice), Brazil, Iran, Honduras, Mexico, Haiti (twice), Lebanon, Vietnam, Angola, Iraq (twice), Afghanistan.....all of these are countries we have either invaded and occupied or participated in some sort of political coup to benefit American interests (read the interests of American Corporations). In my many years of study, I've come to the realization that with the exception of the two War Worlds, America has never invaded or occupied a country where the population was overwhelmingly WHITE and Christian (the Balkans war may be an exception because there are a lot of muslims in the former Yugoslavia). All these wars and interventions were carried out by the U.S government and the American armed forces which include White, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians.....

I give you that many have been killed in religious wars.....however, I can tell you that the Bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by our very Christian President Harry Truman, killed more in two days than those who were killed during the Crusades. By the way, when referring to the Crusades as "religious" wars, it's good to keep in mind that recent scholarship has revealed that the economic interests were more of a factor than the religious interests.

I'd recommend you read Chalmers Johnson's Blowback triology
Richard T. Hughes's Myths Americans Live By
Noam Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival
Eduardo Galeano's Open Veins of Latin America

ALL true and obvious.
Same you hear from afro-americans about the afro-american problem.

the folks on the Morning Shmoe (joe scarborough) were raving about the speech and even Joe himself pushed back on Liz Cheney's rabid psychopathic ravings.

Even Pat Buchannon thought it was a great speech and Ed Rollins on CNN said "This may well be Obama's 'I Have A Dream'"

Why does every fvcking speech PBO makes have to be his "I Have a Dream." Come on white people, he will always be a Black man first to you all, right? How about comparing the President to say, another President?

This author makes some excellent points although I had to highlight his comment......"Passages will be taken out of context, and sentences twisted beyond recognition." Also, I did not know Morocco was the first country to publically recognize the U.S. and if I heard it before, it never sunk in.


"Some Early Thoughts on Obama’s Speech
Posted by Christopher Preble

I listened live to the president’s Cairo speech this morning on my ride into work. I know that it will be parsed and dissected. Passages will be taken out of context, and sentences twisted beyond recognition. At times, it sounded like a state of the union address, with a litany of promises intended to appeal to particular interest groups.

That said, I thought the president hit the essential points without overpromising. He did not ignore that which divides the United States from the world at large, and many Muslims in particular, nor was he afraid to address squarely the lies and distortions — including the implication that 9/11 never happened, or was not the product of al Qaeda — that have made the situation worse than it should be. He stressed the common interests that should draw people to support U.S. policies rather than oppose them: these include our opposition to the use of violence against innocents; our support for democracy and self-government; and our hostility toward racial, ethnic or religious intolerance. All good.

Two particular comments jumped out at me (the speech text can be found here):

1. The president clearly stated his goals for the U.S. military presence in Iraq. He pledged to “honor our agreement with Iraq’s democratically-elected government to remove combat troops from Iraqi cities by July,” “the removal of our combat brigades by next August,” and “to remove all our troops from Iraq by 2012.”

This might not seem like much. As noted, it is the established policy of the U.S. government and the Iraqi government under the status of forces agreement. Some recent comments by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey, however, implied that U.S. troops might remain in Iraq for a decade. I’m glad that the president cleared up the confusion.

2. President Obama wisely connected U.S. policy in the 21st century to its founding principles from the earliest days to remind his audience — or perhaps to teach them for the very first time — that the United States was not now, nor ever has been, at war with Islam, or with any other religion. George Washington affirmed the importance of religious equality in his letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island. President Obama quoted John Adams, who saw no reason why the United States could not enjoy good relations with Morocco, the first country to recognize the United States. When signing the Treaty of Tripoli, Adams wrote, “The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims.”

But the president also drew on the Founders to convey a broader message. They believed that the new nation should advance human rights and the cause of liberty by its example, not by military force. Some of our recent leaders seem to have forgotten that, and a few pundits have actually scorned the suggestion. The president wisely cast his lot with the earlier generation, quoting Thomas Jefferson who said “I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be.”

It is a good quote. I use it in my book, too."

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/06/04/some-...