◼ Forgive President Obama if he seemed a bit shell-shocked during his brief statement Wednesday on the murderous attack against an American consulate in Libya. In June 2009, he had grand plans for harmony between East and West. In a celebrated speech delivered in Cairo, Obama spoke earnestly about the need for the West and the Muslim world to look past old hostilities and suspicions. - Washington Examiner Editorial
And then on Tuesday night, his grand vision came crashing down.
...When he laid out his vision in Cairo, Obama spoke of himself as uniquely qualified to bring about rapprochement. "I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed," he said. "That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't."
...On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, Americans have seen what all this has accomplished: exactly nothing. Despite his promises, and all of his promise as an American president with family ties to the Islamic faith, Obama has utterly failed to change the Muslim world. He has done nothing to alter Arabs' and Muslims' negative views of Americans. He has made no progress whatsoever toward peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
There is nothing wrong with a president mouthing sweet nothings to the Islamic world. But there also comes a point when Americans must recognize them for the nothings they are.
