THE TELEGRAPH: The President's plea for a new beginning will face formidable obstacles, says Con Coughlin
Short of declaring his intention to convert to Islam, it is difficult to imagine what more Barack Obama might have said during his speech yesterday to demonstrate his seriousness about healing the poisonous rift between the West and the Muslim world.
After invoking the traditional Muslim welcome – "Assalaamu alaykum" or "Peace be upon you" – the President proceeded to explain how, despite his being raised a Christian, his father's family came from generations of Muslims. He acknowledged the enormous debt Western civilisation owes to Islam, from the development of algebra to the elegant refinement of calligraphy, and stressed the Islamic faith's espousal of religious tolerance and racial equality. He reminded his audience at Cairo University that John Adams, one of America's founding fathers, wrote that "the United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquillity of Muslims".
Regarding the more contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the President articulated a very different set of objectives to those of the previous administration, which had regarded the forceful transformation of Iraq from Ba'athist dictatorship to Western-style democracy as a template to be replicated throughout the Muslim world. Mr Obama has no desire for American troops to be kept abroad a day longer than necessary. While conceding that Iraq was a far better place without Saddam Hussein – an admission he struggled to make during last year's presidential campaign – the president made it clear that he wants to leave Iraq to the Iraqis, and has no desire to establish a permanent presence in Afghanistan.
By any test, Mr Obama's attempt to reverse decades of mounting contempt, anger and violence within the Muslim world towards the West left no stone unturned. It was a skilful attempt to persuade his sceptical audience that America is not, and never will be, at war with Islam. But try telling that to the mullahs in Iran, or the leadership of the Taliban and al-Qaeda, or the millions of other Muslims who have no desire to be dissuaded from their visceral hatred of the West and all that it stands for. >>> By Con Coughlin | Thursday, June 04, 2009
