From the Sydney Morning Herald:
IF ELECTED, Barack Obama will visit a major Islamic capital during the first 12 months of his presidency, as part of his strategy to more actively engage with the Middle East, his national security adviser, Greg Craig, revealed Wednesday.
A visit to a Muslim country within one year of taking office is not exactly a trailblazing approach to Middle East peace. I guess Obama thinks his very presence in the Muslim world will act as a curative. But that’s not the most disconcerting aspect of the story:
The visit would underscore the new approach that the Obama administration plans to bring the Middle East, including engagement with America’s enemies as well as its friends.
What’s so off about Obama’s obsession with talking to our enemies is that these days the U.S. only considers someone an enemy once they’ve proven themselves dangerous and incapable of persuasion. We’re not in the nineteenth century. The U.S. doesn’t get hot-headed and stubborn over negotiable problems. Today, any half-failed state can charge us usurious rates for fuel, steal our intellectual property, and undermine our every last UN Security Council effort–and still have George Bush call them a vital partner in peace and prosperity. Ours is the broadest definition of ally in the history of geopolitical interaction. But for Obama, we’re still too uncooperative. Apparently only by asking for input from rabid anti-Americans, anti-Semites, and delusional death merchants can America fulfill its obligation to the world community and find a lasting global peace.