Thanks to C-SPAN, I was able to watch and listen to President Obama’s much-anticipated speech in its entirety, and the White House was also unusually Johnny-on-the-spot in making the full text available.  I will be taking some time this morning to make some coherent remarks on specific points but in general the speech was very good.  It was delivered well, did not overly submit to the pressures that might be on the President when speaking to a Muslim audience in one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.  It addressed areas of conflict without revoking America’s right to act in its own interests, and called upon a greater degree of mutual tolerance. 

But in some areas, specifically the section in which Obama addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his requirements of Israel – the harshly worded demand that Israel abandon settlements – have been paths already explored by Israel, paths have too often been settings in which groups like Hamas and the PLO to ambush and punish Israel for its goodwill.

Also, Obama’s statements about the course of American policy really does not stray too much from the policies of his predecessor or even presidents before George W. Bush.  Most pundits – left and right – will see this as a good thing, as do I, with the probable exception of isolationists such as Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul.

Obama’s statements on the issue of promoting women’s rights received healthy applause in Cairo, but would not be as well-received in Riyadh, Islamabad, or Amman.  Still, the issue of women’s rights is one that could lay at the heart of enabling Islam’s moderation.

With that being said, the speech was as important as billed.  It’s influence will be dependent largely on his ability to follow through on promises made about American actions, but its complete vision will not be realized until the world can be rid of the threats posed by Islamic extremism.

(Obama could have made a stronger point by at least suggesting that the Muslim world reject in whole the concept of jihad, in all of its forms.  In fact, as Michelle Malkin suggests, even using the word jihad would have been a way of reminding his audience that the source of violence against the West lies within their own religion.) 

The eyes of moderate Islam will be focused on Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to show them that a partnership with America will not be one made in vain.  That is a topic I will be writing about in greater length in the near future.

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