CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Opinions abound on city the president-elect will pick for his speech
BEIRUT—President-elect Barack Obama says he plans to deliver a major speech in an Islamic capital aimed at improving America's image in the Muslim world.
But choosing the capital will be tricky. The Muslim world is vast and far-flung, governed in many instances by autocratic dictators and riddled with potential political pitfalls for a new president hailed not only at home but around the globe as an agent of change.
Any location would have to be large enough to carry weight with Muslims around the globe, ruling out smaller places such as Ouagadougou, capital of the West African nation of Burkina Faso, or Moroni in the tiny Indian Ocean island of Comoros.
It also would have to be safe, putting cities such as Baghdad, Kabul or Islamabad almost certainly off limits.
Otherwise, analysts can't agree on which capital would best fit the bill. Put a pin in the map of the Islamic world, and almost any site is a potentially controversial choice. >>> By Liz Sly, Tribune correspondent | December 10, 2008
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Obama Wants to 'Reboot America's Image'
WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama says he will try to "reboot America's image" among the world's Muslims and will follow tradition by using his entire name — Barack Hussein Obama — in his swearing-in ceremony.
The U.S. image globally has taken a deep hit during President George W. Bush's two terms in office, primarily because of opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, harsh interrogation of prisoners, the indefinite detention of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and mistreatment of inmates at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
Obama promised during his campaign that one of his top priorities would be to work to repair America's reputation worldwide, and that one element of that effort would be a speech delivered in a Muslim capital.
He pledged anew to give such a speech, though he declined to say whether it would happen during his first year in office.
"It's something I intend to follow through on," Obama said in an interview published Wednesday in the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. "We've got a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular. So we need to take advantage of that."
Obama said his message would be twofold: that his administration will be unyielding in stamping out terrorist extremism but also "unrelenting in our desire to create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership with countries."
"I think the world is ready for that message," he said in the interview, conducted Tuesday.
During the campaign, Obama repeatedly faced questions about whether he is a Muslim, particularly in whisper campaigns that noted his middle name, that his father is Kenyan, and that he lived for a time as a child in Indonesia. Obama is a practicing Christian.
Asked if he would drop his middle name during his inauguration on Jan. 20, the president-elect said he would not.
"The tradition is that they use all three names and I will follow the tradition, not trying to make a statement on way or another," he said. >>> By Jennifer Loven, ©AP | December 10, 2008
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