Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on June 4, 2009

Pres. Obama and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, right, during arrival ceremony at King Khalid International Airport in Saudi Arabia

Pres. Barack Obama has made yet another speech in a long, long line of Obama speeches… this week, in Cairo.

But as lofty and cotton-candy-sweet the words are in this speech, he isn’t being well-received by everyone and is being exposed, both here and abroad, for his inexperience and naiveté. His ignorance of the Arab world’s view, of America’s history, is astounding.

Let Women Wear the Hijab: The Emptiness of Obama’s Cairo Speech
By David Daou | Huffington Post
June 3, 2009

I know many will gush over President Obama’s Cairo speech and I’m likely swimming against the tide of the media and my fellow Democrats and progressives. But reading the transcript, I was struck by two things:

1. Aside from a few platitudes, it is disappointingly weak on human rights and specifically women’s rights.

2. It betrays a naiveté, perhaps feigned, about how the Arab world works.

I sometimes preface my posts by explaining that my Mideast perspective is that of an American-Lebanese-Christian-Jew who grew up in Muslim West Beirut at the height (or should I say depth) of the Lebanese civil war. The tumultuous and bloody intersection of religions and geopolitical interests is painfully real to me.

Yes, Obama is targeting the Arab ‘street’ and global public opinion – but to the corrupt regimes that dominate that region of the world, his oration means virtually nothing. Repression and suppression will go on uninterrupted. And to those whose abiding hatred of Israel (and thus America) is absolute, Obama’s words will be seen as empty and hypocritical…

With women being stoned, raped, abused, battered, mutilated, and slaughtered on a daily basis across the globe, violence that is so often perpetrated in the name of religion, the most our president can speak about is protecting their right to wear the hijab? I would have been much more heartened if the preponderance of the speech had been about how in the 21st century, we CANNOT tolerate the pervasive abuse of our mothers and sisters and daughters.

From Politico:

…The speech – delivered in Egypt, where the political opposition can be jailed, beaten or outlawed — is a major test of Obama’s ability to translate his appealing rhetoric into real change at what he acknowledged is “a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world.”

But conservative former U.S. Ambassador to United Nations John Bolton said he considered that one of several “flawed premises” upon which the speech was built, noting America’s longstanding alliance with Saudi Arabia as sign that it’s not all tension between the U.S. and Arab allies.

“This is another Obama blame America first moment,” Bolton said.

Bolton also criticized Obama for what he called “a very hard line against Israeli settlements.”

“When you criticize your strongest ally in an environment like that, it is intended to send a message to that ally,” he said.

From Michelle Malkin:

Despite all his supposedly frank talk, Obama insists on hiding behind the euphemism “violent extremism.” It’s not only the “t-word” — terrorism — that failed to pass from his lips. It’s the j-word — jihad, violent jihad — that Obama will not acknowledge. He clings to the myth that only a “tiny minority” of “extremists” subscribe to the deadly Koran-inspired mission to force infidels to submit. He refuses to acknowledge and confront the violent jihadi virus around the world and on American soil.

From Ed Morrissey, Hot Air: Obama’s Cairo speech: Surprisingly good

…Most of the rest of the speech was standard boilerplate, heavy on the compatibility of Islam and America and historical examples going back to our founding. Obama didn’t mention the Barbary Pirates, but he did note that the US has over 1200 mosques and claimed that almost 8 million Muslims live in the US. That number is the subject of dispute; CAIR claims 8 million, but the CIA and other surveys put it at less than 2 million. For the purposes of this audience, Obama used the highest number, apparently to make the biggest impression.

Did it work? Schneider says it only received light applause at the end, so perhaps Obama told a few too many hard truths for Egyptian tastes — which is why we questioned that decision. On the whole, though, Obama defended American positions on Israel and Afghanistan with more strength than he does here at home.

Of course, the big question will be whether this does anything at all for our standing in the Muslim world. Frankly, I doubt it; this may wind up eroding Obama’s standing instead. Still, a much better effort than I’d feared…

Pres. Barack Obama speaking at Cairo University, Egypt | June 4, 2009

Additional reading about Obama in Cairo:
Hot Air: Krauthammer on Obama’s speech: “Abstract, vapid, and self-absorbed” and Cairo: Tough crowd
The Black Informant: Insult Islam? No. Insult history? Yes.
Michelle Malkin: Obama’s Wahhabi bling-bling and Rainbows and unicorns and a world without the j-word and
America the 57-state caliphate?!
Soccer Dad: Both sides not
The Lonely Conservative: The Cairo Speech
Robert Davi, Big Hollywood: Burnt Offering: President Obama Addresses the Islamic World
Debbie Schlussel: Obama Trip Irony: Yesterday v. Today
All American Blogger: Obama’s Speech in Cairo: 6,000 Words and What Some are Already Saying
Reuters UK: Iran says Obama “sweet talk” not enough for Muslims
Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: Breakfast in Egypt
DaTech Guy’s Blog: Obama’s Nixon China speech and Some Obama Cairo Speech Oddities…
Jim Blazsik: Obamarama happens! Let’s enjoy the President’s trip
John Romano, Big Hollywood: Obama in Egypt
Fire Andrea Mitchell: Barack HUSSEIN Obama’s speech to Muslims in Cairo – Quoting the Quran instead of the Bible
Pundit & Pundette: Cairo speech: Obama serves a super-sized bowl of pablum to the Muslim world and Obama: no empathy for women?
New York Post: OBAMA BUTTERS THEM UP IN CAIRO
‘Okie’ on the Lam: King President Barack Hussein Obama — Apologizing, Prostrating America Before The World
Jim Blazsik: Barack Gets Rebuffed on Saudi Welcome Line?

Categories: Government, International Relations, Media & Communication, National Security, Religious Views, Social and Political Climate
Tags: Cairo, Cairo University, Christianity, Egypt, Islam, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Muslim, Obama, political, politics, POTUS, president, Saudi Arabia, speech