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Barack Obama is Blind to his Blunders over Islam

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For the past week or so, the Middle East has been abuzz with speculation about Barack Obama's “historic address to the Muslim world” to be delivered in Cairo on Thursday. During his presidential campaign, Obama had promised to make such a move within his first 100 days at the White House.

 

In the event, the first 100 days came and went without Obama delivering on his promise. Nevertheless, he granted his first interview as President to Saudi television and, later, made a speech at the Turkish parliament in Ankara. On both occasions he highlighted the Islamic element of his background and solemnly declared that the “United States is not and will never be at war with Islam”.

 

Obama has aroused more curiosity in the Middle East than any previous U.S. leader, partly because of his Arabic-Islamic first and middle names. The choice of the date for Obama's address indicates his attention to detail. It coincides with the anniversary of the start of the first battle between Islam, under Prophet Muhammad, and Christendom in the shape of a Byzantine expeditionary force in AD629. The “address to Islam” also marks the 30th anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini's demise and the appointment of Ali Khamenei as the new “Supreme Guide of the Islamic ummah.” More importantly, it also coincides with the rebuilding of the Ka'abah, the stone at the heart of Mecca, which had been destroyed in a Muslim civil war.

 

Rich in symbolism, Obama's “address to Islam” is also full of political implications. Obama is the first major Western leader, after Bonaparte, to address Islam as a single bloc, thus adopting the traditional Islamic narrative of dividing the world according to religious beliefs. This ignores the rich and conflict-ridden diversity of the 57 Muslim-majority nations and fosters the illusion, peddled by people such as Osama bin Laden and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, that Islam is one and indivisible and should, one day, unite under a caliphate.

 

By adopting the key element of the Islamist narrative, that is to say the division of humanity into religious blocs, Mr. Obama also intends to send a signal to the Middle East's nascent democratic forces that Washington is abandoning with a vengeance George W. Bush's “freedom agenda.”

 

Mr. Bush's analysis had been simple, or as Mr. Obama suggests, simplistic: the 9/11 attacks were the result of decades of U.S. support for repressive regimes in the Middle East that had produced closed systems in which terror thrived. In an address to university students in Cairo in 2005, Condoleezza Rice explained the “Bush doctrine” in these terms: “For 60 years, the United States pursued stability at the expense of democracy in the Middle East – and we achieved neither. Now we are taking a different course.”

 

That different course transformed the U.S. from a supporter of the status quo to an active agent for change – including the use of force to remove two obnoxious regimes in Kabul and Baghdad. It also coerced traditional Arab states to adopt constitutions, hold elections, grant women the vote, ease pressure on the media, and allow greater space for debate and dissent.

 

Mr. Obama has started scrapping that policy in the name of “political realism,” the currently fashionable phrase in Washington. The “political realist” school could also be called the “let them stew in their juices” school. It argues that Arabs, and other Muslims, are not ready for democracy and may not even like it if they encountered it. Rather than trying to shock “traditional societies” out of their sleep of centuries, Western powers, especially America, should try to maintain stability.

 

In her recent visit to Cairo to prepare for Mr. Obama's visit, his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, made no mention of human rights, democratization and good governance. Vice-President Biden's visit to Lebanon, where a crucial election is due on June 7th, was designed to hammer home a similar message: Mr. Obama is more interested in the country's stability than the victory of democratic forces.

 

The problem is that the status quo in the Middle East was and remains unstable. Sixty years of “political realist” support for the regimes in the region produced five Arab-Israel wars, civil wars in Lebanon and Yemen, military coups d'état in eight Arab countries, the Islamic revolution in Iran, and two wars between U.S.-led international coalitions and Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

 

Richard Nixon tried to promote a new architecture of stability aimed at helping Washington's regional allies to maintain the status quo. Ultimately, this Nixon doctrine also failed because it ignored the region's explosive desire for change.

 

Is Mr Obama similarly hoping to build a bloc of Arab states led by Egypt and supported by Turkey and Israel? Or, as some Arabs fear, is he reaching out to Iran to resume its position as “the local gendarme”? The policy of “engaging Iran” cannot exclude a regional leadership position for the Khomeinist regime.

 

In trying to prove that he is not George Bush, Barack Obama has committed big mistakes on key issues of foreign policy. His Cairo address, and his “one-size-fits-all” Islam policy, is just the latest. It encourages Islamists and ruling despots, discourages the forces of reform and change and, ultimately, could produce greater resentment of the United States among peoples thirsting for freedom, human rights and decent governance.

 

 

Amir Taheri is an Iranian-born conservative journalist and author based in Europe. His writings focus on the Middle East affairs and topics related to Islamist terrorism. 

 

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I find it very interesting

I find it very interesting that during his campaign prior to him becoming President, Obama refused to shed any light on his Muslim background and even stated his Muslim father was an atheist. What happend to all that? Now Obama says he was born a Muslim, lived in Muslim country, and father was a devout Muslim. He even implied USA is a Muslim nation in his speech where he proclaimed the USA has a large muslim population (yeah right Mr. Obama, the Muslim population in the USA is 3%, how is that large, or did you fail math class in Harvard? ) I think Obama is proof of all the articles Ali Sina, M Khan, and the apostates have been warning us about, when they explain about Muslim hippocrasy, because Obama speeches and actions are nothing but hippocrasy. Ali Sina is right, Obama is a hippocrat and a narccasist.


www.ahmedandsalim.com


Excerpt of Obama's interview

Excerpt of Obama's interview with Amnesty International in reference to political prisoners in Egypt and Jordan:
“Oh, well, there are thousands of political prisoners around the world,” said Obama, and added, “It is not our job to lecture on human rights.” Furthermore, he said, “Human rights are universal.”

Excerpt of Obama's speech in Saudi Arabia:
“There are cultural differences between us and the Muslim world, and we must understand these differences.” Besides, “There are many Muslims who live among us, and that makes us part of the Muslim world.”

Excerpt of Obama interview from BBC:
The free world “misunderstands” the Islamic culture of hatred and violence.

So Human Rights are being thrown out the door, then why all the commotion about Gitmo?

When did the USA become part of the Muslim world? So does this mean Sharia Law is coming next and he will scrap the constitution?

The free world misunderstands the Islamic culture of hatred and violence? WHAT'S TO UNDERSTAND, HATRED IS HATRED AND VIOLENCE IS VIOLENCE, call it for what it is.


I am not certain at all Obama

I am not certain at all Obama operates from blindness. This sure looks like a Manchurian President. Correct me if I am wrong: If Obama truly had converted from Islam to Christ, wouldn't this be the most heinous sin in Islam? Wouldn't there be a fatwa out on him?


To all right wing nuts. YES

To all right wing nuts.

YES WE CAN...


#5 NO YOU CAN'T!

#5 NO YOU CAN'T!


@5 Only a naive sucker gets

@5

Only a naive sucker gets taken in by a big, glossy marketing campaign with tacky catch-phrases, moved by mob-mentality, and not a single shred of real substance behind it.

Are you honestly admitting pride in being gullible enough to fall for Obama's "bait and switch" tactics, hook, line, and sinker? Repeating "Yes we can!" only makes you sound like a mindless robot, and not someone who is capable of independent thought. How about using your own words instead of regurgitating Obama's drivel for once?

If you can't see Obama's flaws yet, give it time and this fool will trump Bush in the idiocy department. Personally, I still can't believe so many Americans were such big suckers to vote in a Muslim-allied leader only 8 years after this type of scum knocked down their twin towers! it boggles the mind that so many gullible Americans found it vogue to criticize Bush (peer pressure maybe?) and then they hail Obama en masse!


@7 You must be one of those

@7

You must be one of those right wingers,who believe in hate mongering.They are always willing to start wars and when they have their butt kicked start blaming other people.
After a long time Americans have elected somebody with common sense who believes in science.Republican idiots brought U.S to the brink of disaster,just look at the economy.They have spent billions of dollars on unnecessary war in Iraq.
Just wait and see Obama will be one of the best US presidents in history.And right wingers will be out of power for long time to come.They will be spewing hatred as usual.


Jimmy Z wrote: I am not

Jimmy Z wrote:

I am not certain at all Obama operates from blindness. This sure looks like a Manchurian President.

Agree.


@8 ...Yes we can what? Raise

@8 ...Yes we can what? Raise the national debt until the country is bankrupt? Become a socialist country?

Yeah who are you kidding, the "right" has just as many minorities as the "left" does. Just because Obama has a Harvard degree and is articulate doesn't mean he has common sense. Obama is a politican plain and simple. In his few months as president he has outspend any president democrat or republican, he has no understanding of foreign affairs nor what he said as depicted in my excerpts above (notice these excerpts are from international news who have no care for republican or democrat), nor does he know economics or finance.

I don't think Obama will be remembered as the best president, of course only time will tell. It is too early in the game, people are just enthused now. If unemployment continues to rise, inflation continues to stagger, and eventually all the "fake money" in the market will have to be devalued because the USA does not have the gold securities to support all these billions of dollars, then the same liberals who chanted Yes we can, let's see where they are in 2012


ibnrushd wrote: @7 You must

ibnrushd wrote:

@7

You must be one of those right wingers,who believe in hate mongering.They are always willing to start wars and when they have their butt kicked start blaming other people.

Right-Wingers are hate mongers? Then I guess it's not left-wingers who promote identity-politics which further fouls the racial divide.

After a long time Americans have elected somebody with common sense who believes in science.Republican idiots brought U.S to the brink of disaster,just look at the economy.They have spent billions of dollars on unnecessary war in Iraq.

The Democrat idiot in the white house could also be jeoperdizing the safety of American citizens by being pals with the Islamic world.

Just wait and see Obama will be one of the best US presidents in history.And right wingers will be out of power for long time to come.They will be spewing hatred as usual.

Clarence Thomas an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and the second black person to serve in the Supreme Court is a republican, Colin Powell who served in the Reagan, The two Bushes, and the Clinton presidency is a republican, and then there Condoleeza Rice.

Typical left-winger crap! By the way did the democrats choose Barack Obama because of his merits or because he is black and beat the Clintons?

Before you show anymore of your idiocy by accusing me of being a right-winger and a racist, The Executice Director of the agency I work for is black, my supervisor is black, the little girl I work with is biracial, one of my friend's is black, and my mother is from Honduras. As for my political affiliation, I am neither a democrat nor a republican.


Colin Powell is a great man,

Colin Powell is a great man, he supports and voted for Obama.Republicans even tried to kick him out of the party.
Obama is a great leader and enjoys support of 70% Americans.
Eat your heart out.


70% percent of the Americans

70% percent of the Americans support Obama? According to who? The republicans tried to kick him out of the party? According to who? As far as I know the republicans criticized and questioned his party loyalty, they did not try to get rid of him because he is black.

Obama is a great leader? Then tell me why has he said nothing about the four Jihadists in New York and the one terrorist attack in Arkansas, in the meanwhile he has spoke about the killing of the abortion doctor, and has plenty of time to party at the white house?


Not only is Obama partying at

Not only is Obama partying at the white house, he is doing it on taxpayer money, while the rest of the country is an a recession.


Also the fact that you did

Also the fact that you did not answer my question about why did the democrats choose Obama and the fact that you are calling republicans racist shows how contempt you have for white people.


Why did the Democrats choose

Why did the Democrats choose Obama ?
What do you mean? Did he not win the Democratic primaries?
First of all i did not call anyone racist and Republicans are not all white people.
You must be hallucinating.


ibnrushd, In defense of

ibnrushd,

In defense of Marie, this is what you wrote:

You must be one of those right wingers,who believe in hate mongering.They are always willing to start wars and when they have their butt kicked start blaming other people.
After a long time Americans have elected somebody with common sense who believes in science.Republican idiots brought U.S to the brink of disaster,just look at the economy.They have spent billions of dollars on unnecessary war in Iraq.
Just wait and see Obama will be one of the best US presidents in history.And right wingers will be out of power for long time to come.They will be spewing hatred as usual.

So if you are not referring to Republicans as the hate mongering right wingers, who are you referring to?


Republican party is

Republican party is controlled by Neo cons that is a fact the moderates like Colin Powell are side lined.You must have missed Newt's staements recently.
There is lot of hate mongering going on against Christians,Hindus and Muslims on this site they are not all racist.


#18: So you don't think islam

#18: So you don't think islam is a murderous religion?


ibnrushd wrote: Why did the

ibnrushd wrote:

Why did the Democrats choose Obama ?
What do you mean? Did he not win the Democratic primaries?
First of all i did not call anyone racist and Republicans are not all white people.
You must be hallucinating.

Why did democrats choose Obama, because it is clear he had very little or no experience working in government. So why did the democrats vote him in if he had no experience?

Then what the hell did mean republicans are hatemongers?


Correction, Then what the

Correction, Then what the hell do you mean by republicans are hatemongers?


@19 I think all religions are

@19
I think all religions are equally useless.Hope one day they end up in museums.


Dear Marie, Republicans have

Dear Marie,
Republicans have a strong religous base.They are holier than thou they hate atheists,agnostics and homosexuals.Not long ago they were against civil rights that is why there are very few blacks in Republican party.Peace


Dear Marie, Republicans have

Dear Marie,
Republicans have a strong religous base.They are holier than thou they hate atheists,agnostics and homosexuals.Not long ago they were against civil rights that is why there are very few blacks in Republican party.Peace

The Congressional Quarterly of June 26, 1964 (p. 1323) recorded that, in the Senate, only 69% of Democrats (46 for, 21 against) voted for the Civil Rights Act as compared to 82% of Republicans (27 for, 6 against). All southern Democratic senators voted against the Act. This includes the current senator from West Virginia and former KKK member Robert C. Bryd and former Tennessee senator Al Gore, Sr.

In the House of Representatives, 61% of Democrats (152 for, 96 against) voted for the Civil Rights Act; 92 of the 103 southern Democrats voted against it. Among Republicans, 80% (138 for, 34 against) voted for it.

on April 5, 1963 that, a group of eight Republican senators in March joined in introducing a series of 12 civil rights bills that would implement many of the recommendations made in the Civil Rights Commission report of 1961."

At the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson praised the Republicans for their "overwhelming" support. Roy Wilkins, then-NAACP chairman, awarded Republican Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights Award for his "remarkable civil rights leadership." Moreover, civil rights activist Andrew Young wrote in his book An Easy Burden that "The southern segregationists were all Democrats, and it was black Republicans... who could effectively influence the appointment of federal judges in the South" (p. 96). Young added that the best civil rights judges were Republicans appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower and that "these judges are among the many unsung heroes of the civil rights movement."

Also it was the republicans who abolished slavery.

I am not affiliated with the republican party so I don't know about any atheists, agnostics, and homosexuals( accept republicans are against gay marriage ), but I do know this: There are atheists and agnostics who are homophobes and racist ( it was not religious people who created the pseudo science of eugenics ). There are also racists and homophobes in the democratic party only they don't show because democrats are suppose to be "intelligent and enlightened".

The only reason I am not with the republican party is because of the whole loyalty issue and I am not with the democrat party because the people who control that party are full of crap.


@24 I am not a Republican or

@24 I am not a Republican or Democrat i am independent.I supported Reagan in the past.I could have supported McCain but when he picked Sara Palin as runniing mate just to please the Republican base that was too much for me.
So what is the loyalty issue that is keeping you from being a Republican?


Very interesting that he has

Very interesting that he has addressed Muslims as one. Maybe he is still Muslim at heart even though we hear to the contrary?


JimmyZ wrote. I am not

JimmyZ wrote.

I am not certain at all Obama operates from blindness. This sure looks like a Manchurian President. Correct me if I am wrong: If Obama truly had converted from Islam to Christ, wouldn’t this be the most heinous sin in Islam? Wouldn’t there be a fatwa out on him?

Yes there would be a fatwa against Obama. How can Muslims admire a man who left Islam and converted to Christanity, it doesn't add up...


ibnrushd, I'm not even an

ibnrushd, I'm not even an American so I'm giving my viewpoint as an outsider looking in. I say Obama is a bad president, for no other reason than the fact that he's a bad president. One doesn't even need to take the economy into account to see that this guy is bad news. One needs only to look at how he's dealing with despots and dictators in the Islamic world in order to comprehend the magnitude of this man's foolishness. He does not seem to grasp that what he is doing is going to have disastrous consequences on coming years and decades.

Obama thinks that he alone can solve the Middle East conflict and pacify the scourge of Islam that has plagued the world for the past 1400 years by using peaceful dialog and offering them tea and cookies. Please! Obama is so deluded by his own oratorical mumbo jumbo that he really believes his words and "kindness" are going to make a difference. Believe me, it won't, and the effects of what he's doing now may not be seen for over a decade, but mark my words, this man will prove to be anything but a good president after all the damage he causes is done.

If anything, Obama will be responsible for extending the Middle East conflicts even longer with his time-buying tactics; drawing these conflicts out even longer, because what he's doing will make not one iota of difference in the long run. And here's why: Muslims follow the Qur'an, not some black guy in a suit with the gift of the gab. So, unless Obama can figure out a way to rein supreme over the Qur'an, I don't see much changing, and he'll only prove himself to be a fool and a failure on the world stage.

Also, like many Americans, you fail to see the bigger picture. The Iraq war was started be Sadaam in 1990 when he invaded Kuwait. Further to that, Islam has been at war with the rest of the world since the 7th century. Do you honestly think the war that resumed in 2003 is the be-all and end-all of Islamic aggression? There's a world outside of America, you know! Islam has been waging war on it long before the USA ever existed. Look at the bigger picture, my friend.


ibnrushd wrote: @24 I am not

ibnrushd wrote:

@24 I am not a Republican or Democrat i am independent.I supported Reagan in the past.I could have supported McCain but when he picked Sara Palin as runniing mate just to please the Republican base that was too much for me.
So what is the loyalty issue that is keeping you from being a Republican?

Nah Palin was picked in an attempt to draw women voters.

I am not really an ideologue and I believe there are corrupt officials in the republican party. Plus I am a moderate when it comes to some issues.


Jeraldo wrote: Also, like

Jeraldo wrote:

Also, like many Americans, you fail to see the bigger picture. The Iraq war was started be Sadaam in 1990 when he invaded Kuwait. Further to that, Islam has been at war with the rest of the world since the 7th century. Do you honestly think the war that resumed in 2003 is the be-all and end-all of Islamic aggression? There’s a world outside of America, you know! Islam has been waging war on it long before the USA ever existed. Look at the bigger picture, my friend.

I heard parts of Obama's speech. I couldn't hear the rest of it because I got pissed at the things he said and I almost got upset. Last night I was listening to a radio talk when a woman whose husband was going off to iraq called the show crying in tears because of Obama's speech.


#30 oBAMA NEEDS TO READ MORE

#30 oBAMA NEEDS TO READ MORE AND STOP LYING ABOUT ISLAM. WAS HE THERE WHEN THE FOUR LITTLE CHRISTIANS GIRLS WERE BEHEADED BY SOME WARRIOR OF ALLAH. LITTLE GIRLSW GOING TO SCHOOL. HOW CAN HE LIE SO MUCH AND PRAISE ISALAM FOR EGYPT. PHARAOAH WAS NOT A MUSLIM NOR ARE COPTS. hOW CAN MUSLIMS CLAIM EGYPT.

uNTIL MUSLIMS RETURN MEDINA TO JEWS, PALESTINAIANS NEED TO BACK OFF AND GO BACK TO JORDAN.

mUHAMMAD NEVER WENT TO JERUSALEM, BUT IN HIS DREAMS WHILE IN BED WITH AISHA. ACCORDING TO HADITHS. THE DOME OF THE ROCK, WAS BUILT OVER THE TEMPLE OF HEROD WHO BUILT HIS OVER THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON WHICH WAS DESTROYED BY THE ROMAN ARMIES IN 70 CE. THE PALIS CAME FROM JORDAN. jORDAN KILLED MAny Palis for trying to take over. None of the Arabs care for Palis. Palis are useful idiots, a people who refuse to aLLOW PaLIS WOMEN TO MARRY A BLACK MUSLIMS MAN. A PALI WOMAN WAS HONOR KILLED FOR MARRYING THE BLACK MUSLIM. IN OHIO A PALESTIANIAN GIRL WAS HONOR KILLED FOR DATING A HIGH SCHOOL HONOR STUDENT WHO WAS BLACK. RELIGIOUS BULLYING EXPOSES ALL OF THESE RACIST ACTS ALREADY KNOWN IN THE iSLAMIC WORLD. bLACK MUSLIMS WILL NOT GO TO PARADISE BECAUSE ALLAH SAID SO. tABARI HADITHS SAID Allah created Africans black to be slaves to whites and arab are white. After blacks die they go to hellfire. Islam is a lie as the true god never said there was a hellfire. HELLFIRE IS A LIE FROM ROMAN CHRISTIANITY.


Amir Taheri raised some very

Amir Taheri raised some very interesting points. Especially about the Bush'policy. That aimed for CHANGE, democratization. Oh, I so fervently hope that Iraq will hold on to democracy! Already many towns have elected councils, I heard. There are more independent newspaper, albeit still heavily under pressure. But change comes slowly. Choosing change en democratization over "some illusionary stability" I would hope is the best policy then.

With Jeraldo I like to see the big picture, both Worldwide and in History. He is right; Islam was on and off at war with the outside world for 1400 years.

I see the Islamic division of the world in 2 parts and we can play along. We can say: It is in a way Islam against the Inter-Faith-Democratic-Union or so, fictional name. The IFDU only wants equality with Islam, NOT


Sorry, wrong button. NOT

Sorry, wrong button.

NOT dominance, whereas Islam may or may not be out for dominance. In Islamic countries it certainly dominates now.