Obama's Outreach To Muslims Won't Achieve Its Goal

By David Satter

The decision by President Obama to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and open a dialogue with the Muslim world is unlikely to achieve its principal objective, which is to undermine the appeal of al-Qaida. The reason for this is that attacks like Sept. 11, 2001, spring from deep spiritual causes and are not the result of American political behavior.

In his interview with the Arabic television station, al Arabiya, Obama missed the moral dimension of the struggle with terrorism completely. He said that the U.S. has "not been perfect" in its dealings with the Arab world (who has?) and all too often started off by dictating.

At times, he said, we did not know all the factors that were involved in the area's conflicts. In other words, our actions have, in part, led to the hostility against us, but we are ready to improve. Why, as the victims of terrorism, it was up to us to improve was not explained.

Obama's remarks may change the image of America in the Muslim world temporarily. In the long run, however, his approach is self-defeating. First, it concedes the question of moral legitimacy and so implicitly justifies the murderous behavior that we are trying to restrain.

At the same time, by concentrating on America's image, it attaches far too much importance to the mood of the Arab street, rendering U.S. policy dependent on their judgment rather than ours. Finally, it disparages the achievements of the previous administration in strengthening American security, creating the dangerous impression that the Obama administration may not be committed to defending them.

It would have been much better if, in considering his approach to the Muslim world, Obama had taken into account the lessons of a hundred years of experience in combating totalitarianism, which show that fighting fanaticism with political concessions does not work but other methods can. Successful methods include military success and discrediting the school of thought of the fanatic at its most fundamental level.

All totalitarian movements treat their eventual triumph as inevitable. As a result, any military defeat fatally undermines their credibility. In 1983, the U.S. successfully invaded Grenada, an island of 100,000 people. The invasion was treated with ridicule by large sections of the Western public. But this was the first time that an established communist government had ever been overthrown. The communist defeat in Grenada was followed by defeats in Afghanistan and Eastern Europe and ultimately the collapse of the Soviet Union itself.

In recent months, we have witnessed major setbacks for al-Qaida in Iraq. Both the Bush administration and the terrorist leaders identified Iraq as the crucible of the world's struggle against Islamic terrorism. The apparent defeat of al-Qaida in Iraq, if it is followed up with unrelenting pressure, may trigger the same type of ideological chain reaction that doomed the Soviet Union by undermining the self confidence of the terrorists and the coherence of their alternative world.
Beside military success, defeating al-Qaida means discrediting fanaticism as a system of thought. All terrorist movements, even those that pretend to be "religious" are based on the absolutization of political goals, which become the focus of an entire moral and intellectual universe. This sanctification of politics gives terrorist groups their single-minded determination and atrocious cruelty. But it makes them vulnerable because it is unnatural and leaves them dependent on fantasies to justify their existence. The experience of Nazism and communism, the deprogramming of European terrorists and even the de-jihadization of religious extremists in Muslim countries shows that the faith of terrorists will break down when they are confronted with the falseness of their core beliefs.

Obama is trying to open a new chapter in our relations with the Muslim world. He seeks to do so, however, by pandering to that world's weaknesses rather than appealing to its strengths. There is nothing wrong with extending the hand of friendship but this should not be based on an effort to convince Muslims that the U.S. is not as bad as they think.

On the contrary, it should be done on the basis of complete frankness and the expectation that, in the final analysis, the Muslim world also has obligations to resist fanaticism and defend the benefits of civilization that we all share.

Obama reaches out to Muslim world

by AFP
After being sworn in as the 44th US President, Barack Obama used his inaugaration speech to pledge to seek a 'new way forward' with the Muslim world. But he also warned that the United States will defeat 'terror'.

In his speech upon taking office, Obama also echoed campaign promises for two key Muslim nations by saying the United States will "begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan."

Obama has vowed to hit the ground running on his first full day in the White House on Wednesday when the Senate, according to a Democratic leadership source, will vote on his choice of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, the chief US diplomat.

Faced with a set of daunting challenges across the Muslim world -- from the Palestinian territories to Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan -- Obama set a new tone and promised a fresh balance in using diplomatic, military and other forms of power.
Security in post 9/11 America, he pledged, will not come at the expense of abandoning the US ideals of liberty and the rule of law, which critics worldwide say the Bush administration trampled on in conducting its war on terror.

In a jab at the unilateral military force that Bush used to invade Iraq in 2003, Obama said previous American generations had defeated fascism and communism with "sturdy alliances and enduring convictions" besides resorting to armed intervention.

These generations knew that US "security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint," Obama said, alluding to the accusations of arrogance cast at the Bush administration.

His administration will be guided by such principles as it meet "those new threats that demand .... even greater cooperation and understanding between nations," Obama declared.

"We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan," he said.

During his long presidential campaign, Obama vowed to mend alliances, in particular with Europe, whose support he seeks to help stabilize Afghanistan where the Taliban has re-emerged as a threat after its ouster by US forces in 2001.

"With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat," he said.

He was referring to a "new approach" both he and Clinton have promised toward reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions by engaging diplomatically with the Shiite Muslim country.

"And for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you," he warned.

As a melting pot nation, "we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve," he said.

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect," he added.

He made no direct reference to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict which erupted anew on December 27 when Israel launched a three-week military offensive against the Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza only to stall in a shaky truce at the weekend.

Obama and Clinton have vowed to deal with this conflict immediately.

The Washington Post said Obama plans later Wednesday to name former Northern Ireland peacemaker George Mitchell as his new Middle East envoy.

Mitchell, 75, is the son of a Lebanese immigrant mother, and of an Irish father who when orphaned was adopted by a Lebanese family. The choice, if confirmed, appears set to appease Arab and other critics who contend Washington is biased in favor of Israel.