Speech Reaction - UPDATED Posted by Michael Cohen

Couple of meta reactions:

The first 15 minutes of the speech in which Obama talked about the links between Islam and the United States - and the need to break down incorrect stereotypes between the two cultures - was very strong if not a bit repetitive. In some ways, it wasn't really new. it's the sort of rhetoric you might have heard from George W Bush. But coming from Barack Obama it had a level of credibility that no speech by an American President ever has before. The sentiments were not original, but they took on far greater significance because of the speaker.

But then the President perhaps tried to do too much; it bordered on Clintonism. He identified six areas of tension between the US and the Muslim world. I might have cut it down - and in particular I thought the last section on economic development and opportunity was underwhelming.

But the President's words on the Arab/Israeli conflict were magnificent. These two grafs were particularly good:

Palestinians must abandon violence. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and does not succeed. For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation. But it was not violence that won full and equal rights. It was a peaceful and determined insistence upon the ideals at the center of America's founding. This same story can be told by people from South Africa to South Asia; from Eastern Europe to Indonesia. It's a story with a simple truth: that violence is a dead end. It is a sign of neither courage nor power to shoot rockets at sleeping children, or to blow up old women on a bus. That is not how moral authority is claimed; that is how it is surrendered. . .  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

Good tough rhetoric, with real political markers laid for both sides. Israel stop the settlements; Hamas you want to seat at the table - stop the violence.

But on democracy, the President's words were a bit uneven. It felt like Obama was apologizing for the democracy promotion excesses of the Bush Administration, rather than laying out his own unique vision for the issue or making a strong call for political reform. He didn't lay down markers, he didn't name names, he didn't talk about the need for a political space for opposition groups. But perhaps I am quibbling, because he did say this:

America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments – provided they govern with respect for all their people.This last point is important because there are some who advocate for democracy only when they are out of power; once in power, they are ruthless in suppressing the rights of others. No matter where it takes hold, government of the people and by the people sets a single standard for all who hold power: you must maintain your power through consent, not coercion; you must respect the rights of minorities, and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy

Wow. If I'm reading this correctly, the President is saying that the United States will welcome ANY peaceful and law-abiding government.  For a speech given in Cairo that of course refers to Islamist parties. What's more he is telling Islamist parties, as long you play by democratic rules and treat democracy as more than just a route to power- but a system of government and a means of ensuring accountability -- you will have the support of the United States. And considering that members of Muslim Brotherhood were invited to the speech . . . well this does seem like kind of a big deal and a much needed corrective on the general US antipathy toward engaging with Islamist parties.

I can't say that I heard everything I would have liked to hear on democracy support, but this strikes me as a pretty impressive start on the President's part.

UPDATED - Over at the Plank, Larry Diamond offers a more substantive critique of the President's attention to democracy in his Cairo speech:

But much remains unsaid, or disappointingly vague. Ayman Nour, the Egyptian democracy advocate who was imprisoned for three years for having the temerity to challenge Egypt's modern pharaoh, Hosni Mubarak, in the 2005 presidential election, remarked after the speech: "It was actually better than we expected, but not as good as we hoped. ... His stance on democracy was very general, a bit weak, we hoped for more detail."

Democrats in Egypt and other Arab (and Muslim-majority) countries wanted to hear more. They wanted some specific criticism of authoritarian practices. They wanted Obama to call for the release of political prisoners and an end to the persecution (and torture) of regime opponents. Without violating his vow not to "impose" a system of government on another nation, Obama could much more clearly have aligned himself with Egyptians who are seeking such basic human rights as freedom of speech, freedom to organize, and an independent judiciary. These are the critical foundations for democratic progress, however gradual, throughout the region.

In a pre-trip interview, President Obama stressed that he did not want to be seen as "lecturing" other governments, or characterizing their leaderships. Perhaps he appealed in private to President Mubarak for progress on human rights. But if he was not prepared more explicitly to speak truth to power in this heart of the Arab world, it is reasonable to ask whether Cairo was the right place to give the speech.

I'm not sure that Obama could have gone quite as far as Larry suggested, but the notion that he should have "aligned himself with Egyptians who are seeking such basic human rights as freedom of speech, freedom to organize, and an independent judiciary" is spot on. I really like what Obama said about the role of Islamists in the region's political future, but it's hard to quibble with Larry's argument. If Obama is not prepared to push the Egyptians harder on political reform - or make aid conditional - this speech could end up being seen as a missed opportunity.

Comments

[Zathras]

Well, sure. President Obama could have "aligned himself" with Egyptian political liberals -- a fairly small number of people in that country. He could have struck a pose. Then what?

That was one problem with giving this speech in Cairo, or indeed in any Arab capital. Power there is an either/or question -- either you have it or you don't. If you have it, and you think a free election might cause you to lose it, you're going to have a strong interest in putting up obstacles to a free election. Maybe that can change someday. The question is whether it can change in a time frame short enough to justify a major commitment of an American administration's time and effort.

In a way, it's like invading Iraq back in 2003. This would have been a peachy idea under the assumption that nothing that could go wrong, would go wrong: the government would not distintegrate, the neighbors would cooperate, the insurgency wouldn't develop, the remnants of the old regime would help build a better new regime. If nothing had gone wrong after Baghdad fell, the Iraq invasion would be remembered as a brilliant stroke of history rather than as the first stage in an epic fiasco that saw endless turmoil for Iraqis and everything blamed on the Americans.

Promoting democracy in Egypt might lead to a peaceful transition, no government reaction, no peaceful Islamists deciding not to be peaceful, no persecution of religious minorities, no turmoil producing suffering for Egyptians with everything blamed on the United States. Or, some of the things that could go wrong, might go wrong. America would have even less control over the situation than it did in Iraq. Obama could have dealt with this situation by giving his speech to Muslims from the capital of an actual Muslim democracy, an example of the kinds of things the more backward Arab political cultures will have to achieve for democracy there to be possible. A message from the American President in Indonesia would sound less like a lecture to Arabs, or least less like a lecture only from the United States.

Or he could have given the speech he did. Less than some had hoped for, more than they expected; maybe not the best first step, but a first step nonetheless.

[Dan Kervick]

Strange. I thought the initial section of the speech was the strongest part, and thought the part of the speech relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was almost certainly the weakest and lamest. The discussion of that conflict, at least where the Palestinians were discussed, was awkward, impossibly vague and indirect, and filled with embarrassingly detached and passive locutions. Obama seems unwilling to address the reality of the Palestinian situation in anything resembling frank and concrete terms. Apart from the pretty image of Jews, Christians and Muslims peacefully enjoying Jerusalem together, he offered almost nothing that could be considered even a dim, hazy view of what the the two-state solution he supposedly supports might look like.

The Palestinians we learn have "endured" something or other, and "suffered" something or other, and been "humiliated" by something or other, and been "dislocated" by some unnamed agency. They also have various indefinite "aspirations".

There is apparently a history here behind the participles, but the history, one gathers, is unmentionable. We are told it was "painful". The whole passage reads like an awkward visit to the home of a friend's parent, who alludes darkly and allusively over dinner to some unnamed diabolical events and family shame, but leaves everyone wondering, "What was that all about?"

The Palestinian displacement was in some way "brought by Israel's founding". I guess it was some kind of unintended side-effect or by-product. You would never know that that displacement has continued almost unabated since the long-ago founding, and is ongoing as we speak.

And can anybody tell me what is the concrete content of the following paragraph:

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.

That paragraph can be read in so many different ways as not to have been worth saying at all. For a speech that purported to be about moving forward by "saying openly the things we hold in our hearts, and that too often are said only behind closed doors", Obama passed the buck dreadfully here.

The analogy with American slavery was poorly thought out and inapposite. Surely people around the Middle East are scratching their heads about that one. For while it is true that violence didn't win African-Americans "full and equal rights", the world cannot have failed to notice that violence won American blacks their emancipation from slavery, and secured passage of the vital constitutional amendments which were a direct consequence of Union victory in a savagely violent civil war.

Obama has weirdly decided that he doesn't want to talk about terrorism anymore, and instead leans his appeal on the generic concept of violence. As a result, the blowing up of an old lady on a bus and the armed defense of one's home against a soldier who is stealing one's land and invading one's country are grotesquely smeared together as equally "wrong" acts or "resistance through violence and killing". Apparently, Palestinians are uniquely lacking in the rights guaranteed to all people under international law, and must be thoroughly pacified and unmanned before progress can be made.

For what it's worth, I thought the section on democracy and rights struck the appropriate tone. No US agendas or "visions" were offered, but there was a general defense of the duty to secure the rights of women and minorities, allow free expression, and extend opportunity and prosperity to all. It was just right.

[cheap Jordan shoes]

Great article. Some stuff on here i never even knew about. We wholesale cheap jordan shoes, you can come here to air jordan shoes and true religion jeans for free shipping.

[sesli chat]

Very interesting thank you..

[ghghg]

CHEAP rs gold
MY lotro gold
CHEAPEST aion gold

[rolex replicas]

I have to agree with the comment.

[seslichat seslisohbet]

Thank you very much..

[replica rolex]

The Palestinian displacement was in some way "brought by Israel's founding". I guess it was some kind of unintended side-effect or by-product. You would never know that that displacement has continued almost unabated since the long-ago founding, and is ongoing as we speak. rolex replica
Rolex Watches
Tag Heuer Watches

[cheap coach handbags]

Thank you for your sharing! I like i very much!

[cheap coach bags]

Great comments! You are so nice, man! You never know how much i like'em!

[cheap coach purses]

Yes, that's cool. The device is amazing! Waiting for your next one!

[Seslisohbet]

sen thak

[hot katrins]

Worklight (as I understand it, and I Sesli sohbet am not any form of Forum
Sesli sohbet
Sesli chat
Sesli sohbet expert here), is Sesli sohbet posited on Secure Widgets. As security 'though the layers" is going to be an issue with widgets, you know, I think they may be on to something. Seslinefes The next thing that people don't often realise, bykarizma is that while consumer widgets are "cool", enterprise widgets actually save money (you know, in a way that can be measured).

[SesliChat]

Worklight (as I understand it, and I seslisohbet am not any form of Video Klip
sesli sohbet, Sesli Chat, videoklip, seslisohbet And Sesli Chat
sesli sohbet expert here), is seslisohbet posited on Secure Widgets. As security 'though the layers" is going to be an issue with widgets, you know, I think they may be on to something. The next thing that people don't often realise, sesli sohbet is that while consumer widgets are "cool", enterprise widgets actually save money (you know, in a way that can be measured).

[sesli sohbet]

For what it's worth, I thought the section on democracy and rights struck the appropriate tone. No US agendas or "visions" were offered, but there was a general defense of the duty to secure the rights of women and minorities, allow free expression, and extend opportunity and prosperity to all. It was just right.
seslisohbet
seslichat

[FFXIV Gil]

Are you fighting in Final Fantasy XIV for FFXIV Gil or Final Fantasy XIV Gil?
Can you suffer yourself being called newbie in FFXIV Gil game?
Are you seeking unofficial Buy FFXIV Gil cheats or Final Fantasy XIV guides in order to make Final Fantasy XIV Gil faster?
Can you get millions of Cheap FFXIV Gil in one day?
Even if you know how to farm Buy Final Fantasy XIV Gil you have to prepare enough Final Fantasy XIV Power Leveling first to buy height class Final Fantasy XIV Items, to upgrade your Final Fantasy XIV characters.
FF14 Gil Then why not Buy FFXIV Gil from us?
In Final Fantasy XIV it's the fastest way FF14 Gil,for you to get rich. We are online 24 hours a day ready and 7 days one week to power up your FFXIV Gil accounts with FFXIV Gil. Here is the best place for the Final Fantasy XIV Online players to buy your Final Fantasy XIV Gil.
We are the professional website in FFXIV GIL sale.FFXIV GIL here,We are professional FFXIV Power Leveling online. We update price every single day to make sure we are the lowest in the market.(we don't compare price with scam sites which uses unbelievable low price to deceive.)
Our slogan:Cheapest price, Fastest delivery, Best service! Final Fantasy XIV GIL
In the 2 years we are in this field , FFXIV GILbuilt many business with tens of thousands of customers. They are very satisfied with our service.So if you want to get a log of Cheap FFXIV Gil ,no doubt ,come to our website to buy. Our customer service is ready for you on line now!(WWW,GM MMO,COM Sell FFXIV Gil)

[Cheap jerseys]

duty to secure the rights of women and minorities

[tree]

PDF作成
Word PDF変換
Excel PDF変換
画像 PDF変換
PPT PDF変換
テキスト PDF変換
CHM PDF変換
DjVu PDF変換
RTF PDF変換

[christian louboutin SALE]

Valuable information and excellent design you got here! I would like to thank you for sharing your thoughts and time into the stuff you post!! Thumbs up
Is tethering against the Terms of Service of mobile phone companies? Which ones allow it?

[Impotence causes]

Sometimes we humans do not appreciate the true importance of good reading, especially me I have the habit of reading every night before bed, helps me achieve sleep, I feel that reading can help the successful development and learning new things, congratulations, I hope you keep writing and making new contributions.

[qvod]

很难有发展前途做人体艺术美，看的眼光不同，人也不同
务的受人体艺术是确是很难
做人体艺术这项工作了女so you him
其实有空还不如去看看人体艺术有意思，再不然也可以去浏览下有不错的人体艺术指导，难道看到的古惑仔全集系列要去
short haircutssms jokesshort hairstylessdog groomerswhy

[By_Karizma]

Sales of Oh, thank you for sharing! Sesli Sohbet I'm in the midst Dos seslisehir Equis grew a whopping 17% last seslinerede year according to Beer seslivatan Marketing Insights (a benchmark Forum group for retail.
Also to note - their nenerede advertising budget also grew substantially: up to $8.5 million last year compared to a $5.6 million seslidunya from the year before!

[Sohbet Arkadaslik]

Speech Reach nice post updated...

[Sesli Sohbet]

Zafer sana sancem :)

[wholesale replica handbags]

i am glad to study your opinion. m41414 Keepall 55, m41416 Keepall 50, m41522 Speedy 40, m41528 Speedy 25, 219704, m40249 artsy mm, m40259 artsy gm, M45257 Messenger Bag, M40156 Neverfull MM, m40144 Tivoli GM

[bedava film izle]

thansk ı m may good nay makele good nyt admin

[Cheap Oakley Sunglasses]

Oakley defined sport performance sunglasses. Today, along with athletes like Lance Armstrong and Brian Lopes, we continue to redefine it.

[aarom]

oral print dress and Christian Louboutin pumps. The model stood for photos, waving at fans and giving the thumbs up. She was then handed her elegant looking fragrance to pose with.Heidi is married to English soul singer Seal;christian louboutin UK sale and the couple are well known for renewing their vows once a year. They have four children. Heidi also hosts and produces Project Runway.. Los Angeles, California - 30.11.201

or help. She has been so Gu me, I cannot come out." She looks like a drowning man struggling to get rid of a tangled mess of aquatic plants.We two people had to be at a loss what to do to bring her home. She was very cooperative, a road was compliant with us, but we who have no way to stop her, she kept saying, tone is very smooth, no big ups and downs. But the voice everfount. On the train, get o

hat clothes are not, nor understands makeup. ButChristian Louboutin Galaxy I just thought, face a little color are not, stage lights down will not look good. The bar on the bar has a did not know who the lipstick. Very old, dirty, a bit dry. What can not be said to color. I secretly it painted. But I was too hard, I do not know how, put the lipstick broke. I felt very confused, quickly took the broken part quietly back, sc

ly the shoes were left. These #7 pair of ruby slippers are said to be in mint condition since they were used for "pretty" shots in the movie, such as the one above.This is expected to be the last pair Christian Louboutin Peep-toesthat will go up for auction and is expected to sell for $2-3 million. Interestingly enough, I wonder who the recipient will be. One of my guesses is Oprah Winfrey. "For a quarter of a century, O