Munich redux

44 gave a 17 minute interview last night to Hisham Melhem of Al Arabiya TV last evening. Reaction in the mainstream media was generally muted and mildly positive. The AP story failed to comment on the portion of the interview that dealt with 44's promise to make a major speech in an Islamic nation within the first 100 days of his term.

Q Tell me, time is running out, any decision on from where you will be visiting the Muslim world?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm not going to break the news right here.
Q Afghanistan?
THE PRESIDENT: But maybe next time. But it is something that is going to be important. I want people to recognize, though, that we are going to be making a series of initiatives. Sending George Mitchell to the Middle East is fulfilling my campaign promise that we're not going to wait until the end of my administration to deal with Palestinian and Israeli peace, we're going to start now. It may take a long time to do, but we're going to do it now. We're going to follow through on our commitment for me to address the Muslim world from a Muslim capital.

By my calculation, 44 has until the end of April to fulfill that campaign promise.

Here is another snippet of the interview that opens a window into 44's mind:

THE PRESIDENT: I think it is possible for us to see a Palestinian state -- I'm not going to put a time frame on it -- that is contiguous, that allows freedom of movement for its people, that allows for trade with other countries, that allows the creation of businesses and commerce so that people have a better life.
And, look, I think anybody who has studied the region recognizes that the situation for the ordinary Palestinian in many cases has not improved. And the bottom line in all these talks and all these conversations is, is a child in the Palestinian Territories going to be better off? Do they have a future for themselves? And is the child in Israel going to feel confident about his or her safety and security? And if we can keep our focus on making their lives better and look forward, and not simply think about all the conflicts and tragedies of the past, then I think that we have an opportunity to make real progress.

And again:

Q They[Zawahiri and bin Laden] seem very nervous, exactly. Now, tell me why they should be more nervous?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think that when you look at the rhetoric that they've been using against me before I even took office --
Q I know, I know.
THE PRESIDENT: -- what that tells me is that their ideas are bankrupt. There's no actions that they've taken that say a child in the Muslim world is getting a better education because of them, or has better health care because of them.

Here 44 is taking the line that the Arab-Israeli conflict is about the Palestinians wanting a place to conduct business and trade and that the jihadists will fail to gain support because they aren't building schools and clinics for the people of Afghanistan. The counter argument to that point of view is that the Arab/Palestinian point of view is a tribalist one that is fighting for the annihilation of Israel and the West because they are infidels and non-believers. 44 is adopting a Kumbaya vision of the world as a place that will operate in harmony if we just sit down peacefully and talk. This is in spite of all the historical evidence to the contrary. Bin Laden doesn't want clinics and schools unless they are run by Sharia law. If a westerner shows up, no matter if he is Christian, Jew or atheist, he will sooner or later be killed. If the Palestinians merely wanted to live in peace with the Israelis, they could have been doing so 60 years ago. Instead, they insist through their leaders and their actions that they seek the elimination of the Jewish state so they can continue to live a hand to mouth subsistence existence as they have for thousands of years. Their wealthy Arab "brothers" in the oil producing states understand this, which is why they have never offered the Palestinians even temporary refuge. They will produce money to fund terrorism, but not a dime for economic betterment.

44's approach seems to parallel that of Neville Chamberlain as he negotiated away the freedom of Czechoslovakia with Adolf Hitler in the name of "peace in our time."