Obama....Play down, Play up.......Victory before Principle.

      Barak Hussain Obama, came to Cairo and engaged the Muslim world. Less than six months ago, he was distancing himself from his Muslim forebears. He did so because an election had to be won. The Republicans were accusing him of being a Muslim and even Hillary was referring to him as BHO. His campaign, realised that if voters were convinced by these scurrilous attacks, the election would be lost. They decided to avoid any situation/ appearances that would give any credence to these accusations. Therefore he stayed away from Muslim-American functions and audiences, refusing even to send surrogates to events sponsored on his behalf by Muslim organisations. He accused the Republicans of "smear' and trying to discredit him by saying "maybe he's got Muslim connections.....Just making stuff up".

      Here is President Obama in Cairo, trying to convince his Muslim audiences that America is not an enemy of Islam. On this historic occasion, in the lion's den, he sought common ground between United States and the Islamic world, by using his personal history. He spoke of his Muslim family ties through his Kenyan, Muslim father and " generations of Muslims", of living in Indonesia and hearing the " call of the azaan" and of his pride when a Muslim was elected to Congress and using a Koran belonging to Thomas Jefferson to take the oath of office. '' I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed ", he said at Cairo University. " That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't'. This open embrace is already being hailed in the Muslim world, and has the potential to be a catalyst for change in relations. His message was that the United States and Islam "share common principles, principles of justice and progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings". It was a powerful message, and it must have been a surprise for Americans, especially Muslim Americans, as well as his audience in Egypt and eleswhere in the Muslim world.

      The speech was pointed and groundbreaking. He spoke to the fact that what is said in private must be said in public about Israel, the Palestinians, human rights, the conditrion of women, Iran and nuclear weapons, Iraq, Afghanistan and terrorism. Israel must stop its expansion into Palestinian territories and it must accept the two-state solution. The Palestinians must stop their violence against Israel and accept its right to exist. Human rights, women's rights and democracy must be instituted ( but America will not impose its principles). Iran must stop its nuclear weapons program. America will withdraw from Iraq and will not build bases their. Terrorism must be fought tirelessly and resolutely, until it is defeated. The war in Pakistan and Afdghanistan against al Qaeda and the Taliban will be pursued with full vigour and relentlessly

      Why did President Obama chose Cairo to deliver his message, this undemocratic, Muslim state with an aging autocratic ruler and little human rights? Less than 18% of the 1.5 billion Muslims live in the Middle East, where hatred of America is palpable, and where an entrenched elite rule with little real participation by the people. For just those reasons. Obama had to use this fulcrum, where, whatever happens influence the Muslim world. He had to deliver his message of reconcilation and cooperation, of respect and tolerance here or it would have been perceived as just another speech by an American president, more rhetoric than substance. He could have given the speech in his one-time home of Indonesia, with the largest Muslim population in the world and a burgeoning democracy, but that would have defeated the message and its purpose. He had to face this potentially hostile audience. He had to look them in the eyes and convince them that he was serious and that his message was real. 

      The message was succinct....clear and precise. The medium was engaging and accessible. The messenger was articulate, and his delivery resonated from Raleigh to Rabat to Riyadh to Rawalpindi. This was not Bush threatening fire and brimstone. This was an engaging and credible leader, who had given an interview to Arab television, who had visited Turkey, a majority Muslim nation in April and held a town-hall meeting there, who had visited the birthplace of Islam, Saudi Arabia and now he has delivered this historic speech in Cairo. This is a leader who came to this potential cauldron of hatred and was unafraid to tell it like it is. The out- of touch autocrats of the region may yet rue the day they allowed him in their midst.