Obama's Cairo Speech
Reader comment on item: Islam in Obama's Cairo Speech

Submitted by Edward Cline (United States), Jul 6, 2009 at 19:11

Dear Doctor Pipes:

I read your very detailed and thorough critique of Obama's Cairo speech, which was a noteworthy exercise in verisimilitude, and a dangerous one, as well. Frankly, I do not think Obama has America's best interests in mind. Else, why, for exmaple, would he wish to reach a tentative agreement with Putin's Russia on a mutual reduction of nuclear arms? Russia is still a dictatorship. In point of fact, he is drawn more to tyrants and establishing friendly relationships with them (Chavez, Castro, King Abdullah), than he is to our nominal allies. His comments about Honduras are another case in point.

However, I took special exception to this excerpt from his Cairo speech, as well, and wrote about it in my Rule of Reason commentary, "Obama Submits." Here is the link, if you wish to read it. http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/2009/06/obama-submits.htm

"America and Islam are not exclusive and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles—principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings." Islamists are divided on this topic. To take two well-known American converts to Islam: Robert Crane argues for the compatibility of American and Islamic values while H. Rap Brown argues for their incompatibility. No surprise that Obama chooses the former version.

Best regards, Edward Cline

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