...Al-Arabiya?
I had to laugh when I first heard about this one. Rush and company will surely have plenty to say about it in the next few weeks I'm sure. Overall though, I think it was a great idea. If reports saying that the Muslim world still doesn't know what to think about Obama are true, then his getting in there right away and saying things that signal he wont dictate the terms of negotiations, as some have done, and will listen rather than preach... who knows if it will work, but its worth a try.
You can watch part one of the interview HERE, and part two HERE.
(I can’t find a link to the second part of the interview that doesn’t have parts where its speeds up and slows down like an off speed turntable. If you can, put one in a comment and I’ll edit it in.)
The interview is pretty damn interesting I must say. I particularly liked Obama's response regarding a more holistic approach to the region, rather than just a myopic focus on Isreal/Palestine and our own problems in the region. President Obama does seem to ramble and repeat himself a little in the middle, but he hits hard on the idea of changing the paradigm of our diplomacy with Middle Eastern nations to one of,"mutual respect and mutual interest."
I'm looking forward to seeing more interviews like this one. The next highlight that sticks out to me is when he frames how a plan forward in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict should be judged on how it effects the future prosperity and safety of both Israeli and Palestinian youth and focus on the future. Too often, all you hear is how we're going to stop the fighting and what the next reprisal will be. I'm not sure if its possible, but it is at least trying a different tact.
With how things have been going the last few years, I can say I had nearly forgotten myself that we used to be regarded fairly well in much of the Muslim world. Hoping doesn't even begin to describe how much I yearn to see the eagerness that the interviewer seems to have, to give Obama a chance to start over with the majority in the Muslim world, repeat itself as the Obama administration tries to build diplomatic bridges with nations the Bush administration so alienated in that part of the world.
I fear that the financial collapse across the world will only strengthen the hands of the wicked, who will lay further blame upon the West in what will assuredly lead to already feeble economies across the region having an even harder time keeping up with population growth and inflationary pressures on the costs of the staples of life. As much as I believe in Obama… I foresee the same answer I’ve given too all my friends lately, when asked about the economic outlook, being the outlook in our situation in regards to the areas of the world we have had problems with in the last few years… its just going to get worse before it gets better.
We’re not going to see lasting change in any of these countries until their people are lifted out of poverty and come to realize the benefits to becoming a member of the global community. Its no wonder that, assuming the interviewer is correct, Al-Qaeda would be nervous though, as this seems to be exactly what President Barack Obama intends to do. He echoed one of my favorite parts of his inauguration speech, stressing that leaders and groups are best judged by what they build.
It makes one wonder how things would look in the world now had someone with Obama’s foresight been in power at the end of the Soviet Afghan war a generation ago. If we had cared a fraction as much about the people of Afghanistan as we did about embarrassing the Soviets…