Word cloud of Obama’s Cairo speech:
transcript at http://bit.ly/cairospeech
What did you all think?
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abunoor 8:45 am on June 4, 2009 Permalink |
Obviously there is much good in the speech — as a speech. This may be my own limitation, but I just cannot get certain realites out of my mind when I read it. I cannot listen to a line about closing Guantanamo without thinking of the torture that occurred, those that are dead, the Uighurs, undeniably innocent and harmless, still languishing there…the buildup of a massive prison at Bagram in Afghanistan which from all appearances has worse conditions than Gitmo and will apparently serve the same purpose once it is closed.
When Obama talks about the injustice of Al Qaida killing innocents regardless of the grievance, I cannot help but agree….but I cannot help but notice that he cannot acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of innocents that his own country has killed, including under his own command.
When Obama talks about the historical reality of the Jewish people and their desire for a state, I cannot help but sympathize and I truly hope that all of us as Muslims can continue to try to spread an appreciation for that history among Muslims despite the fact that many pro-Israel voices seem determined to adopt hateful positions which deny the equal humanity of Palestinians and Muslims. Still, Obama can talk about Blackamericans not using violence to achieve freedom, but apparently the contradiction with his justification of the US using violence against Muslims to advance its own interests and protect its own civilians doesn’t even occur to him.
I don’t mean to be overly nitpicky, I’m just saying that when one attempts to go beyond flowery rhetoric and really say is this a vision that substantively we can share and work towards in the real world…it just becomes obvious immediately that even Obama does not really follow through on the substance of much of his claims at the end of the day.
aziz 9:08 am on June 4, 2009 Permalink |
well, I pretty much agree with you – though it should be noted that where America’s past actions fail to meet teh standardds of the present day speech, the speech itself becomes a record against which future actions can be judged. And the speech is titled “A New Beginning” – so sure lets not forget the past but we can and should look forward. Closing Gitmo is what is important, not the torture that went on there (and will not happen again), for example.
Rhetoric isnt just rhetoric – its now the official record. Obama is now accountable to himself. For example, i can now make a much stronger argument in my campaign to classify aerial bombardment as inhumane during war, like land mines or poison gas, because the collateral damage is similar – Obama’s own words you cite about killing innocents gives me much greater authority.
I think there was an unreasonable expectation that Obama would take office and throw the switch on reversing everything we dont like about everything. Real change takes time, for it to be lasting. And its up to us to point out what Obama himself probably genuinely doesnt realize needs to be changed.
being nitpicky is good.
Lawrence of Arabia 8:48 am on June 4, 2009 Permalink |
I think, coming from POTUS, we call that either irony or hypocrisy. Maybe when the American army isn’t spread over the entire globe, and isn’t waging several wars, we can then lecture someone [in this case, the Palestinians] about what a dead-end violence is. Until then, it seems we have a great deal of faith in the power of violence.
And surely, if I thought this passage ran entirely counter to American foreign policy, people throughout the Middle East were either laughing or angered by such shameless and self-serving rhetoric.
Lawrence of Arabia 9:09 am on June 4, 2009 Permalink |
On the positive side, I thought the criticism of our “liberal” allies (and obviously the biggest culprit here is France and the Netherlands) for using liberalism as a tool for attacking Islam, religious freedom and freedom of speech was right on target….and a long time coming.
I was also happy to see the U.S. back off from its democracy-crusade. I thought this speech set out a somewhat more reasonable and slightly less triumphalistic set of goals.
aziz 11:34 am on June 4, 2009 Permalink |
solid critique from The Angry Arab worth reading.
plimfix 11:53 am on June 4, 2009 Permalink |
Obama is a slick intelligent politician, and for once, perhaps a politician who actually believes in what he says. Whether his hopes will lead to concrete change remains to be seen, or whether his vision –even it it does come to fruition — is capable of delivering substantial political, economic, social and environmental justice, even in the US is a moot point. One thing I am sure of,. He’s not G W Bush.
thabet 12:16 am on June 5, 2009 Permalink |
I think pretty much agree what everything Abu Noor and LoA said, especially the bits on the use of violence (but collateral damage and illegal invasions of countries based on lies seems to be ok though) and his ‘unequivocal’ end to torture and Guantanamo (errr, except kidnapping still continues, Guantanamo is still open and people continue to die in it, and no one with who had the real responsibility for torture will be punished). I also thought his refusal to condemn Israeli violence while condemning Palestinian violence was very telling.
Having said that, at this moment in time, I don’t see the value in ‘fisking’ his speech. There was very little in the way of actual policies and so on and the speech was clearly designed to be an introduction to his presidency. As Aziz says, Obama is now accountable to his own words.