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Washington: In a landmark speech reaching out to
the Islamic world, US President Barack Obama on June 4,
2009 called for a new beginning between the United
States and Muslims, saying both sides should overcome
the cycle of suspicion and discord, and religious
beliefs across the world were not inimical or exclusive
to each other.
Obama's eloquent address in Cairo, Egypt, home to the
historic Al Azhar and Cairo University, contained
quotations from the Koran, rich references to Islam's
contribution to civilization, and his own personal
connection to the faith. Beyond that, he also outlined
the source of the fear and mistrust between the two
sides, including 9/11, while warning that violent
extremists have exploited these tensions ''in a small
but potent minority of Muslims.''
Among the key contentious issues and geography
identified by Obama were the festering
Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Iraq (which he suggested
was needlessly invaded), US differences with Iran and
indeed much of the world over possession of nuclear
weapons, Af-Pak (home to the perpetrators of 9/11), and
differing perceptions between the west and the Islamic
world on democracy and women's rights.
But he conspicuously excluded any reference to the
Kashmir issue in the Indian sub-continent, home of the
largest concentration of Muslims in the world, likely to
the dismay of Pakistan and its separatist proxies who
have made it a cause, and the delight of Indian
nationalists who believe it is a domestic or regional
concern.
Outlining the more recent events that led to the growing
rift between the US and the Islamic world, Obama
reminded the world that the perpetrators of 9/11 were
hiding in the Af-Pak region, forcing U.S to come after
them. Al Qaeda was not only unrepentant but was even now
planning to expand their reach and kill on a mass scale.
''Make no mistake: we do not want to keep our troops in
Afghanistan.
It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and
women. It is costly and politically difficult to
continue this conflict. We would gladly bring every
single one of our troops home if we could be confident
that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan
and Pakistan determined to kill as many Americans as
they possibly can. But that is not yet the case,'' Obama
said, echoing the general Indian sentiment about
lowering its guard against acts of terrorism. The US
President said ''America is not - and never will be - at
war with Islam.
We will, however, relentlessly confront violent
extremists who pose a grave threat to our security.''
The US President also touched on the revived debate
about nuclear weapons, saying he understood those who
protest that some countries have weapons that others do
not. ''No single nation should pick and choose which
nations hold nuclear weapons. That is why I strongly
reaffirmed America's commitment to seek a world in which
no nations hold nuclear weapons,'' he said, indicating
that he would push ahead with advancing the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty. Earlier, in reaching out to
the Islamic world, Obama proffered his own personal
experience, relating ''I am a Christian, but my father
came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of
Muslims. As a boy, I spent several years in Indonesia
and heard the call of the azaan at the break of dawn and
the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago
communities where many found dignity and peace in their
Muslim faith.'' ''So I have known Islam on three con
tinents 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.''
Obama said he considered it part of his responsibility
as President of the United States to fight against
negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear, but
that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of
America. ''Just as Muslims do not fit a crude
stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a
self-interested empire,'' he said, offering a thesis
that is seldom accepted in the Islamic world.
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