When we at USDemocrazy think of summer, sun and sand, we are thinking VACATION! But then again we aren’t the President of the United States.
On Thursday, President Obama will seek to reach out to the Muslim world in a speech he will give in sunny, sandy Cairo, Egypt. We here at USDemocrazy are on the job (not on vacation), once again bringing to you the most poignant points and demonstrative discourse that we can find! Here we go…
Given the topic, we thought it might be interesting to see what Aljazeera.net the arab news and information site was saying about the visit. Senior Washington Correspondent Bob Reynolds states that
Obama is likely to declare peaceful intentions again in Cairo, analysts say, despite his escalation of the war in Afghanistan, continued drone strikes against al-Qaeda in Pakistan and growing tensions over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Analysists from every source are saying that this is going to be no walk in the park. Anthony Shadid at the Washington Post points out that
When President Obama delivers his address to the Middle East on Thursday from Cairo, he will face the legacy of names like Haditha, Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib
Margaret Coker and Ashraf Khalil at the Wallstreet Journal says Obama will have to tackle the “skeptics” head-on.
A challenge will be bridging the gaps with a large segment of the Muslim population that respects Mr. Obama’s Muslim roots and American values such as free speech and rule of law, but sees U.S. foreign policy as rewarding undemocratic regimes.
Thomas Friedman at the New York Times sees some real promise in the President’s speech on Thursday. The way Friedman sees it…
When young Arabs and Muslims see an American president who looks like them, has a name like theirs, has Muslims in his family and comes into their world and speaks the truth, it will be empowering and disturbing at the same time.
But Reza Aslan at the Daily Beast sees things very differently. Aslan says that Obama “blew it by picking Cairo” as his setting for his historic speech.
By choosing Cairo as the backdrop to his speech, Obama has in effect rewarded Egypt’s president for life, Hosni Mubarak, for his bloody, blatantly anti-democratic, and dictatorial rule.
So there’s the rundown. We’ve heard from the experts, but now we want to here from you!
