Moderates?????- Neil Hrab: A missed opportunity for Obama in Cairo
-
“For many years, Iran has defined itself in part by its opposition to my country, and there is in fact a tumultuous history between us. In the middle of the Cold War, the United States played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government. Since the Islamic Revolution, Iran has played a role in acts of hostage-taking and violence against U.S. troops and civilians. This history is well known. Rather than remain trapped in the past, I've made it clear to Iran's leaders and people that my country is prepared to move forward. The question now is not what Iran is against, but rather what future it wants to build.”
-President Barack Obama, June 4, 2009 speech in Cairo
Mr. President, I’m afraid you missed a good opportunity today.
By dismissing decades of U.S.-Iranian relations as simply “history” that you’d prefer not to dwell on, you lost a chance to remind your audience of a concrete example of how the US once tried to improve the lives of the people of Iran. Your speechwriters closed the door today on referencing the US’ efforts during the Second World War to help build Iran into a modern, democratic state. They did you and your audience wrong by closing that door. Hopefully you can correct this oversight in a future speech.
In Cairo, when you talked about Iran, you should have invoked a name that, even if Americans may have forgotten it, would have resonated with Iranians – that of Patrick J. Hurley.
- Sheldon Alberts: American Muslims ponder Obama's message from Egypt
-
On a grand stage in a historic Muslim capital, President Barack Obama sought Thursday to build common ground between America and the Islamic world by reaching deep into his own personal history.
He spoke of family ties to “generations of Muslims” through his Kenyan father, of waking as a boy in Indonesia to the “call of the azaan” – the Muslim call to prayer - and of his pride when America’s first Muslim member of Congress was sworn into office two years ago. For further symbolic import, he quoted several times from the Qur’an.
“I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed,” he said at Cairo University. “That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't.”
It was an open embrace of Islam already being hailed in parts of the Muslim world as a historic attempt at outreach, with the potential to be a catalyst for a sea change in relations.
But the president’s overriding message – that America and Islam “share common principles, principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings” – was just as novel for Americans, particularly Muslim Americans, as it was for Obama’s audience in Egypt.
4 comments:
the fact that previous efforts with Iran has been a complete and utter failure wouldn't dawn on your author would it.
It's time to distance ourselves from the blunders, and failures.
Show you ONE instance?
Off the top of my head... Malaysia
I should also mention, I i used to live around the corner from the east end mosque. We weren't aware of any muslims attacking christians, but we knew of (and saw) christians attacking the muslims.
Muslim bashing was pretty common in the area.
Bad Example.....Malaysia is a federal constitutional elective monarchy. The federal head of state of Malaysia is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commonly referred to as the King of Malaysia. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong is elected to a five-year term among the nine hereditary Sultans of the Malay states; the other four states, which have titular Governors, do not participate in the selection.[46]
Where did you cut and paste that drivel from?
Can you even bloody well think for yourself without cutting and pasting?
Malaysia is a Muslim country. You wanted a peaceful example and you got one.
Post a Comment