Reaching Out to the Muslim World

President Barack Obama followed up the promise he made in his inaugural address - “To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect” - with an interview with Al Arabiya, an Arabic-language channel based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on January 26. The interview is significant not just for its content but also for the fact that it is the first interview he granted since taking office.

In the interview, the president said, “… my job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives. My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy. We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect. But if you look at the track record … America was not born as a colonial power, and that the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there's no reason why we can't restore that. And that I think is going to be an important task.”

In case anyone has any illusion about the enormity of the task, the president also said, “But ultimately, people are going to judge me not by my words but by my actions and my administration's actions. And I think that what you will see over the next several years is that I'm not going to agree with everything that some Muslim leader may say, or what's on a television station in the Arab world - but I think that what you'll see is somebody who is listening, who is respectful, and who is trying to promote the interests not just of the United States, but also ordinary people who right now are suffering from poverty and a lack of opportunity. I want to make sure that I'm speaking to them, as well.”

Since 9/11, we have become acutely aware of the critical role language plays in inflaming passions. Recognizing that, Obama said, “… the language we use matters. What we need to understand is, is that there are extremist organizations - whether Muslim or any other faith in the past - that will use faith as a justification for violence. We cannot paint with a broad brush a faith as a consequence of the violence that is done in that faith's name. And so you will I think see our administration be very clear in distinguishing between organizations like al Qaeda - that espouse violence, espouse terror and act on it - and people who may disagree with my administration and certain actions, or may have a particular viewpoint in terms of how their countries should develop. We can have legitimate disagreements but still be respectful. I cannot respect terrorist organizations that would kill innocent civilians and we will hunt them down. But to the broader Muslim world what we are going to be offering is a hand of friendship.”

On Iran: “I said during the campaign that it is very important for us to make sure that we are using all the tools of U.S. power, including diplomacy, in our relationship with Iran. Now, the Iranian people are a great people, and Persian civilization is a great civilization. Iran has acted in ways that's not conducive to peace and prosperity in the region: their threats against Israel; their pursuit of a nuclear weapon which could potentially set off an arms race in the region that would make everybody less safe; their support of terrorist organizations in the past - none of these things have been helpful. But I do think that it is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress. And we will over the next several months be laying out our general framework and approach. And as I said during my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us.”

This radical departure from the policies of the Bush administration - with-us-or-against-us Manichean view replaced with respect and inclusiveness - fills many of us with hope. Perhaps someday peace will reign between Palestinians and Israel and the world will rejoice in a two-state solution. Can hope triumph over history? Only a few weeks ago, such a possibility could not be imagined. Now the words have been spoken and who can say that they will not take wings on their own?

Not that everyone is thrilled. Many right-wingers are aghast that the president has a) given his first interview to an Arab news channel and b) he is reaching out to Muslims so early and so decisively in his presidency. Not continuing Bush’s belligerent attitude toward Iran has outraged them. Others think he is being naïve, that he is undermining the security of America by essentially declaring that the "war on terror" is over.

The predictable Fouad Ajami, writing in The Wall Street Journal, summed up his analysis of the president’s message to Muslims with these words: “Obama Tells Arabia’s Despots they’re safe.” This is a man who never fails to see a dark lining in a silver cloud.

In the president’s inaugural address are words that describe these people perfectly: “What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.”

Meanwhile, our hope has soared on the wings of the president’s promise to Muslims: America will respect those who may hold different views or who are disappointed by past American actions. Only those who use terror and violence to achieve their goals will be targeted by America. What a difference a cosmopolitan president can make!

The Inaugural Address

It was a somber speech. Barack Hussein Obama kept his feet firmly grounded on reality but also gazed boldly heavenward when he needed to. But as the inaugural address progressed, I began to get tense. Along with the passionate throng that had gathered at the Mall, we were all waiting for an excuse to burst into wild applause. But the easy applause lines didn’t come. The address was more for the head than the heart, and that took many of us by surprise.

Ah, surprise. We know that the 44th president is a skillful writer but who would have guessed that he also has a keen sense of suspense? While we were expecting Lincoln, he gave us Washington. Perhaps Barack Obama will one day surprise us with a thriller.

And yet, and yet … as the words began to sink in, not during their masterful delivery but afterwards, they gained in stature. Obama was wise not to attempt an address for the ages. We wanted to soar on the wings of his rhetoric but he reminded us that before we could soar, we had to let go of petty grievances and childish things. We wanted poetry but he gave us tough prose that, on reflection, appeared both sturdy and lyrical.

“We have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” Not exactly Kennedy but the austere words point to the new direction we must travel to thrive as a nation. “Greatness is never a given. It must be earned.” Again, not much originality there but in these tough times, brought about by runaway greed and unabashed narcissism, we needed the reminder just the same. "Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame."

“We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology’s wonders to raise health care’s quality and lower its cost … we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age.” Let's hope that he can pull it off, for without overhauling our current educational system and making science and technology the centerpieces of the new system, America's future is likely to be bleak.

The most emotional moment in the speech came for me when Obama said, “This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed – why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.” Echoes of Martin Luther King and a sense that his “Dream” may come true at last.

Obama identified the values on which our success depends – honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism. One gets an earful of these values at any political gathering; what made Obama’s list stand out was the inclusion of one that we rarely hear: curiosity. Obama’s predecessor was know for his lack of it, which probably contributed most to his disastrous eight years, and so its inclusion was bracing as well as instructive.

The inaugural address scored a significant first: the use of the word Muslim. “For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers … To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect …” Muslims are no longer strangers in America or to America. They are as much a contributor to the nation's patchwork heritage as any other. And certainly a genuine reaching out to the Muslim world will be good for America, Muslims and the world.

If there is one snippet from Obama's address that may be quoted years from now (as "With malice toward none ..." for Lincoln, "The only thing we have to fear ..." for Roosevelt, "Ask not ..." for Kennedy), it will probably be this: "We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."

Tomorrow the inaugural address will recede into the background. Tomorrow we will begin focusing on how Obama goes about changing America, and the world, for the better. The 44th president gave us a speech of substance to prepare us for the difficult choices ahead, without diminishing the goodwill we have for him. A wise president indeed.

Obama, Thoreau and the Inaugural Address

Anticipation for Barack Obama’s inaugural address mounts.

The nation is in the grip of a terrifying recession. Americans are losing their jobs right and left. There is no clear exit strategy for the disastrous war in Iraq. The government is bailing out non-performing industries that may cost future generations their future. Layoffs, bankruptcies and Ponzi schemes dominate the news. The winter of despair stalks the land.

Against this backdrop, can mere words perform miracles?

History teaches that they can. Think Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy. Uniting a nation torn by a brutal civil war, putting America back to work by conquering fear, passing the torch to a new generation of Americans – the words of these presidents nourished the soul and renewed the American spirit.

Barack Obama must deliver the goods when he addresses the nation on January 20. We are looking for hope and inspiration, not numbers and statistics. Facts and plans can come later; what we want now is to see the light beyond the darkness that surround us.

While Obama will probably evoke Lincoln in his speech, another American he should consult is Thoreau. The Bard of Walden was no Utopian. He made allowances for life’s idiosyncrasies and yet taught us how to lead lives of dignity and fulfillment.

Hard, honest and meaningful work (unlike, say, the work of speculators and money managers) was central to Thoreau’s vision of life. “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.” With millions of people losing their life-savings to Wall Street greed and cruelty, we need to be reminded that “goodness is the only investment that never fails.” Obama has promised dramatic changes in the status quo but he should also tell us that ultimately “things do not change: we change,” that “what lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.”

Thoreau spoke uncomfortable truths with clarity and grace. His words were tough, true, lyrical and soaring, a synthesis impossible save for a few. While telling us unflinchingly of what lay beneath our feet, Thoreau also made us look up at the stars. His is a supremely difficult act to emulate but that’s what the 44th president of the United States must do in his inaugural address if we are to rise above our current crises and become a beacon to the world.

“As President, I am giving up smoking for good!”

(I hope Barack Obama will deliver a speech like this after taking office as the 44th president of the United States. He will inspire millions of smokers around the world to give up nicotine addiction).

My fellow Americans,

As you know, I have inherited a long and daunting list of crisis that will severely test me and my cabinet in the days to come.

But there is one personal challenge I have decided to confront that I expect will give my presidency a head start.

Those who have read my memoir, Dreams from My Father, may recall my fondness for smoking. I begin several sentences with “I lit a cigarette,” whether describing my experience as a community organizer in Chicago or visiting relatives in Kenya.

In photographs taken in 1980 by a fellow student when I was a freshman at Occidental College in Los Angeles, you can see me, a 20-year-old, with a cigarette in my hand. In another, I am puffing dreamily on it.

It is a fact. I have been lighting up since my teenage years and have continued to do so for years. I found cigarettes soothing in stressful times, even though I was aware of the damage it was doing to my lungs. Nicotine is intoxicating. It is, as my young friends may say, cool, a mark of social sophistication.

But now I am the president of the United States of America. I have a moral responsibility to set an example for you and for people around the world, particularly the young.

I am giving up smoking for good. No occasional falling off the wagon, no puffing in private. No more smoking, period.

I am not a superman. I do not underestimate the difficulty involved. Giving up smoking requires formidable will power. But as thousands of you in America and around the world prove everyday, it can be done. Smoking is behavior and we know that behavior can be changed for personal and common good.

Today, as in every day of the year, 4,000 of our kids between the ages of 12 and 17 will start smoking. Worldwide, about 100,000 people start smoking everyday, most of them kids.

Smoking kills over 1,200 Americans everyday, about 450,000 a year. Around the world, the toll exceeds 5.5 million a year.

Beyond lives cut short, there are other prices we pay as a society. The annual direct healthcare expense and productivity loss traced to smoking are estimated at about $100 billion each in America.

As president, I will take measures to reduce the power of Big Tobacco. Because it is a lethal product, I will subject cigarettes to more taxes than ordinary products. I will use the power of my office to exclude it from the guidelines of Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trades and from all future US bilateral and regional trade agreements. I will support the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The previous administration did not ratify FCTC but I will send it to the Congress and the Senate to swiftly ratify it.

Increasing public awareness of the harmful effects of smoking in America and Europe has forced tobacco companies to shift their attention to Africa, Latin America and Asia, where weak governments and corrupt officials often succumb to their enticements. My administration will hold American tobacco companies responsible if they dump their products through bribery and false advertisement anywhere in the world.

We cannot flood weak markets with tobacco while demanding that hard drugs do not flow into the United States. My administration will never tolerate such hypocrisy.

Youngsters say one of the biggest influences on them is seeing people they know or admire light up. I am making a personal appeal to Hollywood and to actors, athletes and other celebrities to stop glamorizing smoking. If even a single person looks up to you, and you smoke, renounce the habit and you will have performed a charity whose fruits others will reap for years.

A few pundits, probably well-meaning, have suggested that I should indulge in an occasional puff or two to relieve tension, now that the weight of the world is upon me. They worry that if I give up smoking, I will not only lose my svelte figure but also my steely calm, the very quality that made you vote for me in the first place. They predict that I will become irritable, nervous, forget social niceties and embarrass the nation if I stop puffing for good.

They are wrong. I am happily sacrificing the pleasures of smoking for the benefits its shunning will bring to me and to anyone inspired by my example.

I also assure you, I will not lose my calm or control because of the absence of cigarettes from my life. I am made of sterner stuff than that.

So, my fellow smokers, old and young: can we lick this lethal habit together once and for all?

Yes, we can.