Obama's Speech: A Sceptic's Review

Obama acknowledges the cheers at his speech at Cairo University.

I guess it must be normal for any healthily sceptical person to view the buzz about Obama's speech 'to the Muslim world' with some cynicism. Why all the fuss? And what's with this 'Muslim world' business when the Muslim world is so diverse? Why speak in Cairo and not in Jakarta, the capital of the largest Muslim country in the world.

Whatever it was, I tuned into the CNN live broadcast, not least because I was also asked by one of the wire services to comment afterwards.

Anyway...I remain healthily sceptical. Which I think any intelligent person should be, because after all, it is just a speech and what matters is what happens afterwards, what is the follow-through.

Having said that, as a speech it was impressive. When was the last time we ever heard the President of the United States greet anyone with 'Assalamualaikum' without mangling it? Never. It so helps not to have a Texan accent when you have to sprinkle foreign words in your speech.

And sprinkle he did. He quoted from the Quran three times, he remembered to say 'Peace be upon him' after mentioning the Prophet Mohamed ( to great cheers), he pronounced most Arabic words pretty accurately with the exception of 'hijab'. which came out as 'hajib'. Hopefully that's not obscene in Arabic.

But generally he said most of the right things. He acknowledged that tensions have been building over a long time between the US and the Muslim world and this was not going to change overnight. But that there were commonalities between both worlds that can be used to create peace. He acknowledged Islam's contributions to knowledge, science, arts and many other areas on which Western civilisation was built but subtly mentioned that now it is the US that leads in progress. He made a point of stating how much a part Islam plays in American history; the first foreign country to recognise American independence was Morocco. (Boy, does he have good researchers to dig up that factoid!). Obama also acknowledged the contributions American Muslims have made to their country and nicely slipped in that the first Muslim Congressman, Keith Ellison, took his oath of office by swearing on a copy of the Quran originally owned by Thomas Jefferson. ( Clunk! Sound of some Malaysians fainting at the thought of a Quran owned by an infidel American President...)

In what was an acknowledgement of a major irritation for many Muslims, Obama swore to fight negative stereotypes of Muslims, presumably in the American media (hmmm...did Fox TV carry this speech? Let's start there, Barack!). But he said, Muslims must also forsake stereotypes they carry about Americans. Which are of course plentiful and just as idiotic and whimsical as Americans' stereotypes about Muslims. (No, he didn't say that...not the idiotic part).

In typical academic fashion, Obama had seven key messages to present to the Muslim world. First was to confront 'violent extremism'. It was interesting to note that the word 'terrorist' is now taboo in Obamaworld. It is now replaced with 'violent extremists', which presumably can be applied to anyone, Muslim or not. In doing this, he used Afghanistan to illustrate how he was dealing with extremists. The US did not go into Afghanistan by choice, he said, they went in by necessity to go after Al-Qaeda who are evil and dangerous. "These are not opinions, these are facts." he said. Pointing out that such violent extremists also kill thousands of Muslims, he said that the US will increase their commitment to fight them by pouring in billions for development in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He didn't say whether they would stop the drones bombing civilians in those places though.

Iraq, however, was a war of choice; by implication a bad one made by the Bush administration. The Obama administration is committed to pulling out of Iraq, once they are sure it can stand on its own, and leaving it to the Iraqis. US combat brigades are to be pulled out by August this year and all Americans should be out of there by 2012. Aha, an exit plan!

He also reiterated that torture will be forbidden for any prisoners and that Guantanamo will be closed by early 2010. We shall see....

Of course, there was no escaping the question of Palestine and Obama took the bull by the horns. Saying that the bonds the US has with Israel are unbreakable, Obama nevertheless expressed sympathy with the plight of the Palestinians, unable to live with dignity in their own land. He reiterated the need for a two-state solution and again repeated in no uncertain terms that Israel has to stop the settlements in the West Bank. In return, he called for Palestinian responsibility in stopping violence and recognition of Israel's right to exist. Whether Netanyahu or the Palestinian Authority or Hamas will listen to any of this is the real question. There needs to be some incentive somewhere to make them do this. But at least he said this out loud within shouting distance of Israel, and recognised the root causes of Palestinian unhappiness and suffering.

In talking about Iran and its nuclear programme, Obama actually acknowledged that the US played a role in overthrowing a democratically elected government in Iran way back in the 50s. But he reaffirmed (though I'm not sure when this was ever US policy) that the US seeks a world in which no nation has nuclear weapons. Presumably he means this includes the largest nuclear power in the world, the US itself, and the largest nuclear power in the Middle east, Israel. Otherwise, Iran is not going to believe him. Nuclear energy for peaceful purposes however, he said, is OK.

His fourth key message was about democracy. "Let me be clear," he said, "No system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other." Unlike previous administrations, "America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election." Really, I think that is one of the best things he said. It acknowledges that they used to presume to know what was best for everyone and did used to pick the outcome of peaceful elections.

Religious freedom was another key message, one that hopefully many Muslim and Muslim-majority governments will hear.

"Freedom of religion is central to the ability of peoples to live together. We must always examine the ways in which we protect it. For instance, in the United States, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for Muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. That is why I am committed to working with American Muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat.

"Likewise, it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit - for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. We cannot disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism." (This sounded like a dig at France...).

Related to this is the issue of women's rights. "I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous." Yup, no coincidence indeed.

And finally, in talking about economic development, we got a mention. "There need not be contradiction between development and tradition. Countries like Japan and South Korea grew their economies while maintaining distinct cultures. The same is true for the astonishing progress within Muslim-majority countries from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai. In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education." (And he pronounced KL correctly too!).

I have to say that overall it was a well-crafted speech which pushed all the right buttons. He said everything we wanted him to say and a bit more. The very fact that the President of the US was saying these things, albeit one who is already visually groundbreaking, is itself something. You just can't imagine Bush saying any of these things.

The challenge, as Obama himself ackowledged, is to translate what he says into action, to walk the talk. Until we see real action, I think I'll remain healthily sceptical.

For the full text of Obama's speech, please see this.