“People have to realize that 9/11 was a REACTION” …no, Sir, 9/11 was an act of war. And worse, a deliberate killing of the innocent built around hatred not of what we have done in the world but what we are and what we represent.
I am curious…have you visited or traded with a ME country? Done business with one? Tourism and trade are all very good but you have two problems especially in ME coutries. First, few want our “tourism” because it causes “unhealthy cultural influences” on their little kingdoms and the minions they rule over. Having spent some time in the ME, I can count on one hand how many want any outside contact…it threatens the despotic hold they have on tribal minded subjects.

We have never invaded a country in order to make that nation conform to a certain way of life. We invaded to end wars, return normalcy, eject despotic invaders, and achieve strategic goals regarding our national interests and global interests. We have never kept an occupying force, and in regions where we kept a military presence, it was under the purview if restoring stability or preventing further malfeasance and in most cases, by invitation of the host nation. And in all cases we scaled down our presence or withdrew completely.
If you want to truly understand the “goodness of America” then you might compare our potential for destruction and misconduct to our historical sacrifice of American lives, money and time to do so much more good in the world. Are we perfect? Not by a longshot, but I see far more trying to come to live in the US than leaving to live is Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, Somalia etc etc
“If you were the leader of a country and the only country that has ever used nukes to kill people asked you to stop making nukes, would you trust them?” Yes, I would…since that nation used nukes only twice, over sixty years ago in a specific context, and since that time had no fewer than 8 instances where it might have employed nukes again but did not. Worse, if that nation used nukes willy-nilly as a means of subjugation, terror, and oppression. We earned the worlds trust because of our restraint. Take a look at the Soviet Union’s history.

Yes America has been attacked repeatedly...why? America has been involved in meddling in the politics of the region since WWI for the very least. Americans would not like middle eastern countries meddling in their internal affairs and doing things like trying to overthrow their govt. Americans would like react negatively or violently to say Iran invading and trying to get Americans to submit to shari'a law. People have to realize that 9/11 was a REACTION, it cannot be treated as an unprovoked attack if we are to wrap our heads around the problem. Islamic Fascism can be effectively fought, but not the way America is doing it now.America is giving islamic fascists a rally point, even the CIA admits to it. Isolationism is not the answer, and I am against isolationism. Trade and travel to countries prevents isolationism. America does not have to invade places and try to force them to conform to a certain way of life to avoid isolationism. Besides America is actually in a current state of isolationism...just ask any 10 average people to locate Afghanistan on a map and see if they can do it. America has a lot of potential and can project its goodness by example. If Americans would accept free market capitalism,freedom of the indivial, personal responsibility and and stop with the wealth envy, America will be a more prosperous nation and an example to other countries. Defend with brutal force if necessary and stay out of other people's internal affairs, for the most part it keeps getting America grief.Its not that you have to wait to be attacked, but wait to see if there's a threat. 3rd world countries with no standing armies or capabilities to reach America are not a threat. For instance let China and Japan handle N.Korea. Also, if there was an actual threat we would see the Mexican border closed and the illegal aliens encouraged to head home, but that is not what we see the Federal govt doing. As far as Japan goes, you've misunderstood what Im trying to say. Im not talking about bombing Japan being bad, look at the question again; If you were the leader of a country and the only country that has ever used nukes to kill people asked you to stop making nukes, would you trust them? I wouldn't. How about if someone that shot people in the past asking you to not arm yourself? Do you listen?

Sorry but truly my world views are solidly and unarguably locked in with hard cold truth and reality of the situation.

the US could mind its own business if the left had not stood in the way of every attempt to do ANYTHING for our countries self interest. If they had not stood in the way of exploiting domestic energy like nuclear,domestic oil and gas,and coal then we wouldn't need to deal with the middle east for our own "self interest". If a missle defense system was allowed to fully develop then we really wouldn't give a rats ass if n. korea developed an A-bomb to extort food from the world cause they can't feed their people. Iran would not be a problem because they would not have our oil revenue to build nukes. In fact the whole middle east could revert back to the giant cat litter box it was before oil.Greenie-weenies and liberals have stood in the way of too many things and chain reacted major world problems for the bennefit of some useless"snail-darter or a blackfooted red-nosed peckerwood".In my own hometown a hydro-electric dam project which would have created a water resovior,provided electric power and a recreational lake area was stoped after being 85% constructed because of a endangered snail said to be rare and living only here. After the $30 million(already spent) dam was demolished the snail was found to be in dozens of rivers around the country. The areas water needs were not met during droughts,the power needs were still serviced by dirty coal fired generator plants(which are soon to be "cap&traded" out of existance) and the area lost a possible fortune as a water recreational area. An area is dying all for the sake of a useless snail that is a pest in most rivers.Do me a favor and convince a liberal/greenie that to save the world he must dig a hole and compost himself..NOW!

There are an estimated 1 billion muslims in the world. That means that we have somewhere near two tenths of one percent of the worlds muslims living in this country. The population of Saudi Arabia is 27 million, Iran 70 million, 172 million in pakistan, 19 million in Syria. It is ridiculus to claim we are one of the largest muslim countries when even Morocco, which has just over 3 million people is a Muslim country with more muslims that we have.

Conservatives don't fake being liberal. It only works in the reverse. There's no question you're a left-wing kook. I don't know how anybody doubted it.

And concerning my vicious and ignorant nonsense, I'm completely serious. I despise psychotic, women-hating, oppressive dikheds, and the fact that these types of dictatorships exist in 2009 is simply amazing. Point in fact, we are better people than them, and our culture is more advanced and certainly more civilized.

...maybe you don’t understand the whole “secure the common defense” part. You don’t need to wait to be attacked in order to defend. And we have been attacked again and again, culminating with 9/11. As fact, the actions against Moroccan piracy, as covered in the Constitution; that whole “...grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.” thing sort of sets a precedence, don’t you think?
Historically, unless you are advocating total isolationism, which is hardly useful or even practical in today’s world, you project power. Sometime the projection is recognized and understood and conflict is avoided; other times it requires it’s full application. Considering our capability, what we could have done to the world and what we have done FOR the world are huge contrasts that are sadly lost in common view.
And regarding our actions against imperial Japan in 1945, ask anyone from Nanking, Manilla, Suchon, Burma, or the myriad of other “hosts” to the Japanese army what they would have done with the same capability. Ask the possible 1,000,000 casualties that would have been necessary to conquer Japan, what they might have done and consider the other billions of dollars needed.

Your world views are truly myopic.

See, for all the accusations about ME being a covert right-wing troll trying to stir up conservative outrage...

It seems far more likely that "stepcousin" is the one putting on the act. There's no WAY any actual human being could spew the kind of vicious and ignorant nonsense in his posts; it HAS to be a parody.

D.D. is entirely correct... it DOES keep getting funnier!

Ron Paul's son Rand to run for Congress....

www.randpaul2010.com

Indonesia is by far the country with the highest Muslim population. Pakistan comes next, then probably Bangladesh. America doesn't even come close.

Looks like you've answered nothing and avoided any hint of substance.Looks like you have your TV soundbyte regurgitations down though. I'll go ahead and educate you a bit;

"Well, considering the rest of the western nations are populated by passive weaklings, it's our duty to police the world's savages, whether the problem is in the Middle East, South & Central America, or southern Asia. ("Team America: World Police" is a great movie....watch and learn)."

Please... if you will, point out where it says this or anything remotely like this (world policing)in the U.S constitution, which is the rule of law. If it doesn't say such, then why are you advocating lawlessness in America? Do you hate America and want it to decend into anarchy? Where does America get the cash to police the planet with 10 trillion dollar debt?

Your childish foreign policy adeventurism/paternalism ideas have failed already and are driving America into bankruptcy by the way. Rome and the Soviets tried the whole empire/police the world thing...are you well read enough to know how nicely that worked out for them?

"Until we kickstart evolution again by teaching our superior culture to these silly apes"

Ah yes, one of the reasons why we'll probably see another terrorist attack on the U.S. If you want to fight islamic fascism(which I know I do) why do you want to guarantee recruitment numbers to Al Queda with this attitude? Do you realize that what you are saying is that Islamic fascists should be able to come over here and force shari'a law onto Americans? I don't think Americans deserve that kind of treatment. Do you really think all the world sees American culture as being superior? How would Americans react if Islamic fascists came over here to try and force shari'a law on Americans.

I have no idea why you would type that much in order for me to make you look so stupid. Why do people like yourself make it so painfully easy for people like myself to point out the ways in which some humans suffer from chronic stupidity.Tell you what, hit the books, educate yourself,come back when you're actually ready to deal with a person like myself. Because right now its not looking very good for you kiddo. Tell you what else, read my last question and try to apply the concepts of reading and comprehension. Take a 2nd swing at the YES OR NO question and see if you can do a little better....right? Of course right.

Obama could walk on stage, fart, turn around and walk off the stage and the media would still give him "stellar marks", so that's not exaqctly much of a prediction. It's like predicting that the sun will rise in the morning.

"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding."

Jimmy Carter and the US Senate brought us the Camp David Accords, a peace treaty between us, Israel, and Egypt, which requires the USA to give Egypt and Israel $2 billion each a year for peace between them(around $60 billion, so far). Why no mention of, or concern for, the $900 million we are giving fatah and hamas outside any treaty obligation, or the $3 billion annually we give the other countries surrounding Israel? I guess it's not the $5+ billion we give the arabs surrounding Israel that bothers you, just the $2 billion that goes to Israel.

I have only heard bits and pieces of the speech thus far, but I haven't found anything horrible from what I have heard. The question that I have is.... How would the speech have been received/promoted if it was Bush instead of Obama delivering it. I realize that Obama is a better speaker than Bush, so I'm not talking about the delivery of the speech. I'm talking about the content. The American media tore into Bush every chance they had both here and abroad, so I doubt that he would have "ever" been given the platform to make such a speech.

The one thing that I really question about the "address to the Muslims", is why? Why a speech addressed to Muslims of the world? Is he next going to give a speech to the Jews, Christians, Budists...?

Now back to Washington and cut some spending.

The President has THREE wars on his hands right now: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the economy. All of which cannot be won under his policies.
This speech will mean nothing to me in a week. Honestly, what did it accomplish?

Or, an even simpler answer: That's not what Obama said, and you should quit getting all your 'news' filtered through right-wing hysteria sites.

Obama said, "if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we’d be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world." Since we have over 2 million Muslim Americans, that seems an entirely reasonable statement.

But of course, "reason" and "facts" don't get in the way of the right-wing hysteria machine.... (chuckle)

Keep growing. When it thickens, keep it trimm, and I bet it will look great!

If our troops are occupiers it is our government's fault. To be put into a hostile environment and then have your hands tied so you can't do the job you need to do in time of war is insane and we end up "babysitting"

T-Shirt Doc is right...we WILL be there for a while but only because we weren't allowed to do the job that needed to be done. SWIFT and DECISIVE action is what was needed...instead here we are... another vietnam.

His speeech is in sharp contrast as to how the world could be, as to how it actually is!

I was not affected directly other than the same horror that most felt on 9/11. I lost fellow Americans but other than my love for the USA, I wasn't related to them. I will never be willing to have a new beginning with Islam. Why should I? When a child that lost their parent, a woman who lost her husband/best friend, parents who lost their child/chilren are ready for a new beginning, let me know. I "may" consider it then.

I am not an Obama fan, but this is a great speech. I hate seeing him missuse this quote from Jefferson though. "I hope that our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us that the less we use our power the greater it will be." He certainly does not follow this in the US. He believes that the more the federal government uses its power, the greater it is and Jefferson was speaking about the federal government using it's power less in the US, not overseas.

With the apologzing and "Can't we just get along?" It is like Oprah is runnin his foregin policy!

Wht you people need to realize is that America IS WEAK. Our economy is collapsing -- it will probably not last the summer. Our military is engaged in two no-win wars & is stretched to its limit or, probably, beyond. Our government is becoming more fascist/socialist/communist (depending on who you talk to) each day. Our federal government is approaching $100 trillion in debt and is bankrupt. Several of our state governments are on the verge of bankruptcy too.

Morally? We've been bankrupt for decades.

The United States is dead. It is time to recognize that fact & start building something to take its place.

Where does America get the authority to have jurisdiction over Iran and its weapons? Does Iran therefore have authority, jurisdiction and say so over America's weapons? If you were the leader of a country trying to arm itself and the only country that ever used a nuke to actually kill people asked you to stop making nukes....would you trust them? Particularly with the underhandedness they shown your country in the past? yes or no?

osamabama is just over there getting his instructions on how to further destroy amerika from the inside.

I said it before and I still believe it, he's a stinking non-citizen muslim. no I don't have proof but actions sure do speak awfully loud.

welkome kommards to the United Socialist States of Amerika the largest stinking muslim center of the world.

If anybody actually believes Obama will keep Iran from building nuclear bombs by sending in UN weapons inspectors, they're high on meth. Ask Clinton how well that panned out for him with UN inspectors checking out Saddam's arsenal .... basically eight straight years of lockouts.

I disagree with you. But defend your right to think that way! I wish we hadn't gone there, but we are there. And it still remains that many are glad we came. I don't understand why our being in Iraq has been so demonized when we then turn right around and throw our soldiers into Afghanistan, when the real problem is currently in Pakistan. But then, should we be in Pakistan either? If there weren't nukes there, would we care? Petraus says Al Qaeda is in Pakistan. Should we be doing any of this as long as our own borders are open?

I'm libertarian also, but we are there. What are we gonna do about it? This constantly bemoaning our presence in Iraq is kinda like "where were you during the Bush years" question that keeps going round and round, no point to it.

Meanwhile, back to the original subject, does anyone REALLY think that playing nice is going to make Muslims hate us any less? Aren't we infidels no matter what? And how will they really view this speech.

'Glad the age of swagger and bullying is over'? You mean that they are glad no one in the Western world has the gonads to come pimpslap them when they get out of line? Diplomacy works so well, like that time Jimmy Carter persuaded the Iranaians to let the Embassy staff go. Or the time Clinton launched missles into the desert to send a 'strong message' to the Taliban. That kind of diplomacy? Yeah,'cause those guys in the Middle East respond so well to apologies and smooching of rear ends. Wonder if they ever differentiate the bullies from the peacemakers when they blow up police stations or attack markets? I'm guessing, not so much. At least if they attack us again, I hope they stop to ask who was for them and who was against them. They're reasonable guys, aren't they?

Obama mentioned Muslim contributions to the world, "It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed."


Do yourself a favor, search wikipedia for, "algebra", "magnetic compass", "astrolabe", "pens", and "printing". You will find that muslims invented none of those, yet take credit for all of those. I cringed when I heard him say a muslim "built our tallest building." The only reason that is true is because the previous tallest buildings were destroyed by 19 muslims.

He was correct to say Morocco was the first nation to recognize the USA with the Treaty of Tripoli. What was the purpose of that treaty, friendships and recognition? No, it was to stop the Moroccans from pirating our ships and enslaving the crews.

His whole speech was built on a foundation of lies. Necessarily, his conclusions are wrong. Islam is not a religion of peace and tolerance. How many churches are in Saudi Arabia ? Zero. Before Islam, there were probably hundreds of churches. What happened to them ? The peaceful, tolerant religion of Islam happened to them.

First off let me say that I am not a fan of the Big B.O. and have only read the first 3 pages so far and will have to finish my comment later, but I found the speech as it stands so far quite good. A few red flags went up on the radar but a good speech none the less.

Now saying that, if history is a good indicator, Barack's rhetoric usually doesn't meet to the expectations of his actions, and when they do it's usually bad for America.

So if the first 3 pages are a good indication of the speech, well done, but we can't "RULE" by speeches alone.

We need executive action.

Why on earth would you call yourself a priest of the truth when so often you avoid it or just tell part of it? China wanted to defend itself against threat from the Mongols long ago, what did they do? Build a wall that you can see from space with out even half the technology America currently has. Where is America's wall with Mexico if indeed there is a threat? Aren't there CIA guys that acknowledge the idea of a terrorist attack coming through Mexico?

Neal in a round about way what you are saying is that if Iran,Iraq,Pakistan or Syria one day decide that they are going to come into America and build permanent military bases, tell Americans to change their culture to a middle eastern one, try to overthrow America's government, give money to corrupt oppresive military officials,impose colonialism and in the process redraw America's international boundaries to maybe include Mexico, and bomb parts of America without the governments' approval, citing maybe that its in Syria's 'national security interest' to bomb parts of America, then Americans should sit back and do absolutely nothing about it or even be upset? In fact maybe in your mind judging from what you are saying here, then Americans would be bold to even ask for an apology if they were treated this way. Then you have the nerve to call other people weak when by your logic you would have Americans be treated this way and not get upset ? Neal please pick up a Michael Scheuer book and start trying to figure things out. If the middle east were doing over here what America and the west has been doing in that region since WWI, I should hope Americans would have the cojones to be angry and want to do something about it.Please stop telling only half the story, it makes you sound government educated. Acknowledging the truth has nothing to do with being weak or apologetic, and America can still defend itself with force. You're simply wrong on this one. Only a liberal/leftist would want to tell people how to live by the force of a gun as we see Chairman Teleprompter doing and as we saw Komrad Bush do.

Yes Islamic Fascism exists and must be fought, but America is not trying to solve the problem, but making it worse while helping Al Queda keep its numbers up by being a scapegoat.

Don't get me wrong, I think Obama is taking our nation in the wrong direction when it comes to the economy.

However, I am not sure what is objectionable in this speech. I can only think that the individuals who are so put off by his words, truly think we are at war with Islam.

Appealing to the moderate and secular Muslims seems like the right strategy for the middle east.

The speech was good but actions speak louder than words. I'll wait and see what he does rather than get excited about what he says.

Most Iraqis are glad we came there?
where did you get that from? our propaganda machine? i think most iraqi's are glad that saddam is gone, but most don't want a military occupation of the homeland to get it done.

...that Obama has made a good speech filled with true and correct statements of both fact and principle.

They can't stand the fact that the age of swagger and bullying is OVER, and that a smarter approach is more effective than theirs.

They can't stand the fact that the simpleminded "Islam is the enemy" mantra has been discredited and cast aside.

They can't stand the fact that admitting America's mistakes is an act of strength, not weakness. They can't stand the idea of America actually practicing what we preach.

And they really, REALLY can't stand the fact that nobody's listening to their failed idiocy and whining any more.

This... this is why I come here. It's just so much FUN to watch!

Obama always inserts a personal story line, or two, to demonstrate his unique bridge of understanding in the world's diversity, problems and oppositions. He often uses the tactic of picking the scabs off our sordid past to reveal our need to pander for forgiveness in the face of the world's leaders.
It is inexcusable for a POTUS to promote his personal story line above that of his country.
He assumes the world adores him and maybe many do. But that assumption is the invitation to challenge his weakness.

Here's the truth of it.

If America follows a traditional conservative/Republican foreign policy of no nation building and not getting involved in the internal affairs of other nations(what Bush preached in 2000), how exactly is this weakness or being apologetic?

If Iraq had invaded the U.S during the civil war, would Americans have united to fight against a common enemy?

Given the history of colonialism in the middle east and the west forcibly drawing political lines in that region and trying to tell those people how to live for decades...do you think they would resent America for it?

Would Americans resent the middle east if they were in America trying to force shari'a law on Americans?

If you allow a people to take some personal responsibility for their region of the world is this to be considered weakness?

Would Americans want an apology from the middle east if that region of the world had historically imposed colonialism on America or tried to overthrow America's govt?

Here are the ultimate questions....what was the result of the British trying to forcibly impose colonialism on America? How did the founding fathers react? How'd it work out for the British?

Does Neal realize that 9/11 was a REACTION to years of failed American foreign policy in the region?

If America is defending itself and fighting a 'war on terror' why on earth can the border not be closed and illegal aliens kicked out?

Do you think by todays standards and definitions of terrorim that the British would have considered the founding fathers during the revolutionary war to be terrorists?

People let's go ahead and see through Neal's Roman Empire Republican failed foreign policy naievety this morning...dig deep traditional conservatives we know the answers to these questions. Reject neo-con big govt,world police and let's save this country from Bush/Obama fascism. Always remember no sealed border means no war on terror....there's just no 2 ways about that to the logical thinker.

The speech itself was quite 'eloquent' and surprisingly, encompassed issues I truly didn't think he would cover.
For that,I applaud him (and his speech writers.)

One thing that really got my ire up was when a young Arabic woman had the audacity to say they wanted more than words, they wanted to see action on our part. Well EXCUSE me...what about the action or more to the point, NON action of the muslims in the US who don't condemn the actions of radical extremists? Their silence implies they agree with these nutjobs.

Congrats to Obama's speech writer and the teleprompter. Wonder if anyone asked Obama to repeat anything he said if he would even know what he talked about.

You say: "Apologize for defending ourselves"

True dat! I mean, Iraq did attack us first, right?

No way can I tolerate actually hearing his crap.

What is it he's apologizing for? Most Iraqis are glad we came there.

I turned on the TV this morning and the first thing I saw was The Leader, and right when I saw him he said: "Islam has a rich tradition of tolerance".

I immediately CLICKED off the TV. The whole thing happened in about 5 seconds.