On the heels of the bin Laden hit, President Obama is ready to once again speak to the natives:
For President Obama, the killing of Osama bin Laden is more than a milestone in America’s decade-long battle against terrorism. It is a chance to recast his response to the upheaval in the Arab world after a frustrating stretch in which the stalemate in Libya, the murky power struggle in Yemen and the brutal crackdown in Syria have dimmed the glow of the Egyptian revolution.
Administration officials said the president was eager to use Bin Laden’s death as a way to articulate a unified theory about the popular uprisings from Tunisia to Bahrain — movements that have common threads but also disparate features, and have often drawn sharply different responses from the United States.
The first sign of this “reset” could come as early as next week, when Mr. Obama plans to give a speech on the Middle East in which he will seek to put Bin Laden’s death in the context of the region’s broader political transformation. The message, said one of his deputy national security advisers, Benjamin J. Rhodes, will be that “Bin Laden is the past; what’s happening in the region is the future.”
From everything I’ve read and seen, the issue of bin Laden’s death and the Arab Spring are entirely unrelated, and the latter has little if anything to do with the United States. It is an inward-facing, localized expression of unrest in a region where America’s intentions are deeply mistrusted.
The temptation to exploit this opportunity is understandable, as is the idea of some magical “reset” button that can be pressed, wiping away the last century of history. But the core truth of the matter is that the endemic oppression, corruption and economic malaise of the Arab Middle East is not our problem to fix. A second “Cairo Speech” may sound pretty and even statesmanlike, but it will amount to very little.
For a guy who claimed he “doesn’t need to spike the football,” He sure seems to be taking quite a few spins in the infield, doesn’t he?
If I wasn’t so lazy, I’d photoshop a banner reading “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” over his head in a picture from that recent “honor me, troops!” trip he made to Campbell.
Just to accentuate the point, you know.
Dear Leader speaks. We masses merely are there to gaze and adore the awesomeness of his awesomeness. Surprised you dare speak critically of The One. Racist. [/sarcasm]
Well let’s haul King CanutAboma in his throne down to the edge of the Arab Sea. He’ll command the tide not to come in. Dang me if the tide doesn’t still keep coming!
But then The Man That Shot Osama Bin Laden is going to keep on spikin’ that ball.
Great Goggly Moogly, this guy is like the cyclist winning the first stage of the Tour de France. The yellow jersey looks great, and celebrate while you can, but in the big picture it don’t mean shi_ til yer wearing it on the last podium.
If I were him I’d worry about the discontinuity of the message as perceived by the “Arab world” – Egypt – we throw a 30 year ally to the dogs, Libya we take the lead, then back off, Bahrain we’re silent, Yemen we provide arms, Syria – hear no evil see no evil speak no evil, Iran? “we will not let them acquire nuclear weapons. OK, we will not let them acquire nukes by themselves. Perfectly acceptable to get help from the Norks and Pakis”.
Awesome awesomeness indeed.
Instead of reaching out to Muslims, illegal aliens, etc., I’d like to see him reach out to Americans who believe in Constitutional government. Fat chance of that ever happening.
… may sound pretty and even statesmanlike, but it will amount to very little.
And thus, the entire presidency and character of P.BO is described.
+100 Well said.
But to the hopers & changers, “He [is]so deadly, in fact, that his enemies [will] go blind from over-exposure to pure awesomeness!… Legend tells of [his] legendary warrior[ship] whose kung fu skills [are] the stuff of legend.
You’ve just got to believe!
What else can anyone expect from one whose entire existence is predicated on appearance over substance?
As the barmaid said in “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress”, on hearing the maiden speech of “Mort the Wart” as the new Warden of Luna:
“Talks purty, don’t he?”