>>Arrogantly dismissing them, as some people above seem to want to do, simply won't do the job.<<

I shan't be lured into your slippery talk.

This is a person who believes Americans slaughtered a million civilians in Iraq. Maybe you do, too, but let's start with the assumption that Obama doesn't.

This is a person who believes that Obama insulted her intelligence by not discussing America's cruel history of enslaving Arabs.

This is what Obama said (can you suggest a way he would have better addressed her concerns without undermining his entire message? - he wasn't there to regurgitate the full litany of all grievances and grudges):

"I know, too, that Islam has always been a part of America's story. The first nation to recognize my country was Morocco. In signing the Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, our second President John Adams wrote, "The United States has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Muslims." And since our founding, American Muslims have enriched the United States. They have fought in our wars, served in government, stood for civil rights, started businesses, taught at our Universities, excelled in our sports arenas, won Nobel Prizes, built our tallest building, and lit the Olympic Torch. And when the first Muslim-American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the same Holy Koran that one of our Founding Fathers –- Thomas Jefferson –- kept in his personal library."

Then you so charmingly said:

"If the objective of the speech was to mend relations with the Muslims of the world and with the people of the Middle East, as we have been told it was, then the reactions of those people are an important indication of the success or lack of success of the speech.

If, on the other hand, the objective of the speech was to reinforce Americans' sense of smug superiority over the Muslims of the world and the people of the Middle East, and also Americans' "fuck you" attitude towards the feelings of the Muslims of the world and the people of the Middle East, then judging by some of the posts above, the speech would appear to have been a success. "


This is a person who wanted him to overtly demonize his hosts and declare before the world "that under Mubarak, Al-Azhar represents little more than a place where regular book burnings occur and where extremists can be taught how to sow sectarian discord against their Shia brothers and sisters."


What do you think Obama should have said? Can you please all and each of a billion people all of the time?

P.S. http://www.faithfreedom.org/Articles/SStephan/islamic_slavery.htm