MAX BOOT: THE END of Obama’s “New Beginning” « CommentaryMagazine
By MB Snow at September 16, 2012 | 12:48 am | Print
Max Boot | @MaxBoot, 09.15.2012 –
It seems so so long since President Obama’s famous Cairo speech.
On June 4, 2009, speaking at Cairo University, the president, who still has not visited America’s most stalwart ally in the region, Israel, told his listeners that he was turning the page on the acrimony that had previously defined relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world: “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.”
To show how serious he was, he accepted on behalf of America a generous measure of blame for strained relations with Muslim countries, saying, “The attacks of September 11, 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…. And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.”
via The End of Obama’s “New Beginning” « Commentary Magazine.
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