The shameless pandering, apologizing, genuflecting and Israel-bashing that President Obama chose as his hallmark in Middle East relations has all been for naught. One might have thought that to many in the Middle East, such groveling from a “leader of the free world” would be good news; after all, could it not mean that this country is now on “their” side?
The soul of the Arab, the Bedouin, respects above all strength, bravery, and loyalty whether it is from a brother Arab or an enemy. A person lacking in even one of those areas is considered not only unworthy, but dishonored by the fiercely independent Bedouin. Our beloved John Wayne said more than once in his movies, “Never apologize; it’s a sign of weakness.” We grew up with John Wayne and people like him who expressed the American philosophy over and over until it was part of us. We could express an apology for some stupid thing we did, but never for what and who we are. Americans know all of this. Someone else might not. And that someone else obviously does not speak for us. The Bedouins know this, but it will not keep them from taking advantage of us however they can. Trying to construct a mosque or a cultural center near ground zero is only a first step. By using the name CORDOBA, they are telling the rest of the world that they now own us. It is like building a monument to the 19 murderers on the graves of their victims. As long as we express weakness, however we do it, we can expect more and greater insults to our nation and who we are.
HJS
Obama Makes Little Headway among Arabic-speaking Muslims
by Daniel PipesMay 29, 2010Cross-posted from National Review Online
The soul of the Arab, the Bedouin, respects above all strength, bravery, and loyalty whether it is from a brother Arab or an enemy. A person lacking in even one of those areas is considered not only unworthy, but dishonored by the fiercely independent Bedouin. Our beloved John Wayne said more than once in his movies, “Never apologize; it’s a sign of weakness.” We grew up with John Wayne and people like him who expressed the American philosophy over and over until it was part of us. We could express an apology for some stupid thing we did, but never for what and who we are. Americans know all of this. Someone else might not. And that someone else obviously does not speak for us. The Bedouins know this, but it will not keep them from taking advantage of us however they can. Trying to construct a mosque or a cultural center near ground zero is only a first step. By using the name CORDOBA, they are telling the rest of the world that they now own us. It is like building a monument to the 19 murderers on the graves of their victims. As long as we express weakness, however we do it, we can expect more and greater insults to our nation and who we are.
HJS
Obama Makes Little Headway among Arabic-speaking Muslims
by Daniel PipesMay 29, 2010Cross-posted from National Review Online
Barack Obama entered with high hopes of improving the U.S. image among Muslims worldwide, hauling out his middle name, giving his first interview as president to Al-Arabiya television, quoting hadith, giving major speeches in Istanbul and Cairo, and talking ceaselessly of "respect" for Muslims. Where has this got him?
The Gallup Poll conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults aged 15 and older in each of Mauritania, Algeria, Egypt, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, and Iraq (a curious collection of places). It asked the same question once in 2008, twice in 2009, and now for the first of two times in 2010: "Do you approve or disapprove of the job performance of the leadership of the United States?" The margin of error ranges from ±3.1 percent to ±3.9 percent.
Gallup's results show something of a wash: Obama does distinctly better than George W. Bush in Mauritania (going from 44 to 69 percent) and Egypt (6 to 19 percent). He improves on Bush just over the margin of error in Algeria (going from 25 to 30 percent). He improves on Bush within the margin of error in the Palestinian Territories (from 13 to 16 percent). The two are tied in Lebanon (at 25 percent). And Obama does worse than Bush in Iraq (going from 35 to 30 percent).
Also noteworthy is that Obama's current standing has declined among all six of the populations from what it was in mid-2009. The smallest drop (3 percent) was in Iraq and the largest (18 percent) in Egypt.
Comments: (1) These polls register a highly unimpressive showing for someone who placed so much emphasis on improving U.S. standing among Muslims. (2) The graph of Arabic-speakers' attitudes toward Obama differs from that of Americans' views: the former went up and then down, while the latter went down and then flattened out. That said, both at present share a downward trend.
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