Obama's Vaunted Middle East Speech Not So Vaunted

I'm sure this is going to go over real well with the Islamists.

Once again, President Obama is playing apologist for the woes of the region, which has lagged the rest of the world despite sitting on top of one of the most precious natural resources that the world relies upon for its economic sustenance. All the revenues from oil have not meant a productive and stable society, but rather spawned Islamists who seek to overthrow existing monarchies and totalitarian regimes to institute Islamist states. Those regimes deflect the conflict onto Israel - and jihad.

Yet, the President wants the world to think that this is solely due to colonialism and it's our fault that we're concerned about the spread of Islam by the sword - imposing sharia as it goes?

Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile not only to America and Western countries, but also to human rights. This has bred more fear and mistrust.

So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end.

I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.

Apparently the President hasn't gotten the message about the misogynistic nature of Islam, where women are stoned and killed for being found in the presence of men who are unrelated to them. The President hasn't noted the multiple reports of girls' schools attacked by Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan who murder teachers and intimidate families to not allow their girls to learn and be educated.

This speech was designed with a specific audience in mind, so phrases like "As the Holy Koran tells us, "Be conscious of God and speak always the truth."" are meant for their ears, but it makes me wonder if the President would say "Holy Bible" when talking to a Christian or Jewish audience, even though the Bible is indeed holy to Christians and Jews. There are some phrases that can be avoided, but this President is imprecisely precise with his use of language, and throwing these code-words into the speech are only going to increase the fodder for the fringe wings of both parties - who do not see the President as legitimate and who subsumed his Muslim heritage so as to win the election.

Meanwhile, his talk about Darfur and Bosnia ignore the fact that the US has gone to war to save Muslims, and that in the case of Darfur, it was Muslims who were busy engaging in genocide and ethnic cleansing.

In Ankara, I made clear that America is not - and never will be - at war with Islam. We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security. Because we reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children. And it is my first duty as President to protect the American people.

American is not at war with Islam, but Islamists are at war with the US, and that's the crux of the whole relationship, which the President seeks to deemphasize.

The talk about the second major strain on American-Muslim relations is predictably the Arab-Israeli conflict, but here again, until the President recognizes that the Arab regimes and the Palestinians themselves have perpetuated the conflict for their own ends, and note the complete inability of Palestinian leaders, whether it was Arafat or Abbas to accept generous comprehensive peace deals (2000 at Camp David or in 2008), that the ongoing misery in Gaza is the fault of no one but the Palestinians and the extremists in their midst. Hamas is to blame for the ongoing mess in Gaza - Israel unilaterally withdrew in 2005. The Palestinian Authority has been in civil administrative control of much of the West Bank since Oslo was signed, and many of those areas are now no-go areas for Israeli Jews - they are Jew-free. Yet, that isn't enough. Abbas is a Holocaust denier, and refused to bother with a counterproposal to former Israeli Prime Minister's offer to provide nearly all of the West Bank to the Palestinians and a limited right of return. It wasn't enough.

Nothing short of the destruction of Israel will be enough for a Palestinian people that has been indoctrinated for generations that Israel's destruction will come and is a necessary predicate for forming a Palestinian state on its ruins.

No matter how many concessions are given, it will never be enough, and the Palestinian leaders are not brave enough to go for peace when it means that the Islamists and the extremists in their midst will murder them at the first opportunity.

As for the whole notion of settlements, I will remind everyone that Israel has repeatedly abandoned communities in the pursuit of peace. It could do so again, if there was a committed partner in peace, but the Palestinians are no such partner. Gaza shows the folly of providing land to those who do not want peace. Palestinians had the opportunity to turn Gaza into an economic and tourist destination. Instead, they turned it into an armed camp and base of operations for the rocket war against Israel.

So, when the President talks of concessions, what are the Palestinians going to concede in the name of peace? This is indeed a two-way street, but the way the President presents matters, it is up to the US to provide concessions and to demand concessions in pursuit of a peaceful accommodation with the Muslim world.

Then, there's the matter of nuclear Iran. The President glosses over the fact that the Islamic regime took power by not only overthrowing the government of the Shah, but holding Americans hostage for more than a year - an act of war that went unpunished. Since then, Iran has backed Hamas and Hizbullah, who have both engaged in mass casaulty attacks against the US and our allies. Indeed, Hizbullah started a devastating war in South Lebanon against Israel, and Iran continues down a path to nuclear weapons.

Ignoring the genocidal rhetoric by the regime - going back to its founding - is a major omission and undermines the urgency of dealing with a nuclearized Iran and its intentions to obtain nuclear weapons. We simply cannot trust this regime when it says that they intend to pursue nuclear technologies in order to build nuclear reactors solely, as the enrichment equipment isn't being built to merely provide electricity to Iranians, but to secure the means to annihilate Israel in fulfillment of ideological and theological aims.

So, when it boils down to it, this speech is all so many words that gloss over the realities of the region, and presents so much wishful thinking while putting demands on the Israelis to make still more concessions in pursuit of a peace process that lacks an actual partner in peace.

UPDATE:
Elder of Ziyon has additional analysis, and notes that Obama makes reference to Palestine as though it already exists.

This speech has so many issues, that it's going to take time to analyze the whole thing. It's a pandering mess that does little to advance American national interests and putting responsibility on those in the region for what has happened. It's an apologia in effect saying that the current situation is the result of colonial meddling, even though the current regimes have been in power largely uninterrupted since their founding in the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.

UPDATE:
Former Ambassador to the UN John Bolton notes the flawed premises on which the speech rests and that President Obama focused on tension with Muslim regimes in the Middle East all while ignoring the US close ties with the Saudi monarchy. I'd add that the US went to save Kuwait from Saddam Hussein's clutches in 1990 and US military bases situated in Qatar and our ongoing commitment to providing billions in aid to Egypt.

UPDATE:
MSNBC omits the entire section referring to Obama calling on Israel to cease settlement activities. Curious. Here's the FoxNews transcript (and the NYT also contains the relevant passages):

Now is the time for Palestinians to focus on what they can build. The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people. Hamas does have support among some Palestinians, but they also have responsibilities. To play a role in fulfilling Palestinian aspirations, and to unify the Palestinian people, Hamas must put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, and recognize Israel's right to exist.

At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop.

Israel must also live up to its obligations to ensure that Palestinians can live, and work, and develop their society. And just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel's security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank. Progress in the daily lives of the Palestinian people must be part of a road to peace, and Israel must take concrete steps to enable such progress.

Curious omission.

UPDATE:
Ed at Hot Air thinks this was a surprisingly good speech, and thinks the speech was on par with what President Bush has said previously. Of course, I disagreed with Bush on the mistaken notion about settlements being the impediment to peace as well.

Ed misses the point that selectively pointing out various historical events while ignoring certain other ones continues the longstanding problems in the region, and that it was the Arabs own fault for not creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel in 1948. They've had the opportunity to speak out against the calls to genocide and destruction of Israel, but have chosen not to. The historical references only add fuel to that fire - it's what the Arab audience wanted to hear, and this speech does little to change that.

UPDATE:
Peter Daou also notes Obama's acceptance of the hijab and the misogynistic attitudes of Muslims and finds the speech sorely lacking. In fact, he says that it exposes his naivete on how the Middle East works and ignores human rights and women's rights.

Most Presidents come into the White House with a limited understanding of how the region works, but this President is more naive than most. In fact, you could say that Obama hopes that his sheer force of personality is enough to change things. He's not offering a plan, only himself. Let's just say that the Iranians aren't exactly going to change their aspirations for nuclear weapons anytime soon.

America is deeply hated because the regimes sustain themselves because of the hatred - projecting it outwards towards Israel and the US rather than dwelling on the failings of the various regimes throughout the region.