Speech Translation --Shadi Hamid reflects on Obama's speech & ME-American relations

[tpsbmam]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102633_pf.html

Obama declared that "the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding." He was speaking, of course, about the legacy of slavery and segregation. But he might as well have been talking about the burgeoning anger toward America felt by millions of frustrated Muslims around the world. And the conversation Obama tried to initiate -- contextualizing radicalism and seeking its source rather than merely denouncing it -- is the sort of conversation that could also lay the groundwork for a long-overdue reassessment of our approach to the Middle East.

Thus far, the national discourse on the question of Muslim anti-Americanism, and particularly the violence and terror perpetrated in the name of Islam, has been dominated by condemnation and denunciation. As it must be. Targeting innocents -- whether they are Israeli children on their way to school or the nearly 3,000 Americans who showed up to work one day and found it would be their last -- can never be excused. And we must unapologetically wage war on those who seek to destroy us.

....

We can call these people enemies and say they are lost to us. It would be easy, because these views are indeed reprehensible. Or we can articulate a new strategy, one which, without condoning violence, acknowledges their grievances and their very real sense of being wronged by history. We can seek to better understand why the Middle East has become a graveyard of shattered hopes and an open wound that threatens world security. And we can work to address the unacceptable fact that, while much of the rest of the world moves forward, many Arab and Muslim populations live in economic misery under brutal autocratic regimes -- many of which the U.S. supports with foreign aid.

But Obama is right that in order to address that anger and radicalism -- whether it comes from the young Muslim underclass or in a milder form from pastor Jeremiah Wright and others in the black community -- we must understand the context in which grievances came to be and target the conditions that continue to nurture those grievances.

On Tuesday, watching his speech from Jordan, I felt for the first time in a while that we could begin coming to terms with the past and accounting for the injustices committed against those at home, and those abroad, who are waiting to see what America will do next.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Hamid's words are wise ones

I am hoping that our next President is able to take on the problems of the Middle East like an adult--addressing the grievances without condoning the violence.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. in 2002, he gave a speech.

in 2008 he gave a speech that rang throughout the world.

Hell, Winston Churchill gave a speech that turned fear and despair, into hope and energy. For that one speech alone, he is remembered as the savior of queen and country.

unfortunately for Team Hill, she is unable to understand the power of words, unless it is phrased as spin and attack. Not only is she incapable of giving a similar uplifting talk, even if she read his beautiful words, she would turn them into something tainted, something false, something where you search for her hidden agenda.

To have an impact on someone in Jordan is amazing. but even more welcome is that his talk is bringing people together here in America.