Obama and the Muslim World
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean has been meeting with world leaders to repair "the extraordinary damage" that the Bush administration has done to America's image and to prepare the way for a new Democratic president.
ISIL has been I think a galvanizing threat around the Sunni partners in the region. They view it as an existential threat to them. Saudi Arabia has an extensive border with Syria. -Barack Obama's White House, September 10, 2014 
The Middle East that Obama inherited in 2009 was largely at peace, for the surge in Iraq had beaten down the al Qaeda-linked groups. U.S. relations with traditional allies in the Gulf, Jordan, Israel and Egypt were very good. Iran was contained, its Revolutionary Guard forces at home. Today, terrorism has metastasized in Syria and Iraq, Jordan is at risk, the humanitarian toll is staggering, terrorist groups are growing fast and relations with U.S. allies are strained. -Elliott Abrams
Addressing 10,000 to 13,000 flag-waving party workers and supporters from two allied political parties, Mr. Khan accused the United States of sabotaging peace talks with the Taliban. “There can be no peace unless drones are stopped,” he said. Pakistani politicians denounce the attacks as a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Narrative, Oops
Obama officials were surprised earlier this month, for instance, when the Iraqi government joined with Iranian-backed militias to mount a sudden offensive aimed at freeing the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Nor did they foresee the swift rise of the Iranian-backed rebels who toppled Yemen’s U.S.-friendly government and disrupted a crucial U.S. counterterrorism mission against al Qaeda there.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Narrative, Oops, Islam
Columnist Ahmad Al-Faraj Monday wrote in the pro-government Saudi daily Al-Jazirah, “I believe that Netanyahu’s conduct will serve our interests, the people of the Gulf, much more than the foolish behavior of one of the worst American presidents.” In his column, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, Al-Faraj accused Obama of being an “ally of political Islam”...
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
Photos posted to Twitter by Iranian journalist Sobhan Hassanvand show President Barack Obama being hung in effigy and the U.S. flag being burned in a Tehran march to mark the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution in the former U.S. ally. Also hung in effigy was former President Jimmy Carter who was in office at the time. Iranian demonstrators also burned a giant American flag.
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
An unusual screening process occurred involving Kerry and his State Department team as they were subjected to a metal detector before meeting with President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi at the Egyptian presidential palace. Reuters reports that Kerry and his aides were checked with a metal detector. Security personnel reportedly raised a handheld metal-detector wand to Kerry’s suit jacket before waving him through.
Arab allies now view Obama as “wobbly, indecisive, not strong enough,” said Washington bureau chief of al Arabiya television Hisham Melhem... But “everybody’s crying out for American leadership, the Turks, the Arabs, and the Europeans. And given the weaknesses of the Europeans, given the vote in the British Parliament, given the fact that NATO ally Turkey is unable to lead – everyone is looking for the United States to lead, and there is no leadership,” said Melhem. “The United States is AWOL.”
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
Thomas Erdbrink, the Tehran bureau chief for the New York Times, tweeted this: ISIS vid ends w/ laughing jihadi cruising in a Ford 350. "Obama, did you prepare enough diapers for your soldiers?"
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
Upset at President Barack Obama's policies on Iran and Syria, members of Saudi Arabia's ruling family are threatening a rift with the United States that could take the alliance between Washington and the kingdom to its lowest point in years... 'The shift away from the U.S. is a major one,' the source close to Saudi policy said. 'Saudi doesn't want to find itself any longer in a situation where it is dependent.'
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
CAIRO — As rival camps of Egyptians protest for and against the toppling of President Mohamed Morsi, there is a rare point of agreement: America is to blame. Anti-Americanism, which has long been an undercurrent here, is erupting again as Egyptians battle over the future of their country. Each side accuses the United States of backing the other and alleges conspiracies in which the Obama administration is secretly fostering dissent in an attempt to weaken Egypt.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Oops
With President Barack Obama's first term characterized by strained relations between Pakistan and the U.S., more than nine in 10 Pakistanis (92%) disapprove of U.S. leadership and 4% approve, the lowest approval rating Pakistanis have ever given.
Fox News contributor Juan Williams said Wednesday that Coptic Christians are being targeted in Egypt because the Muslim Brotherhood sees them as surrogates for the United States.
Democrat, Editorial, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Oops
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Judith Miller tells Newsmax TV that the Obama White House “is not in a position to influence the outcome of things either in Egypt or Syria.” “We’re in a very, very desperate state when it comes to the Middle East now,” Miller, formerly of the New York Times, tells Newsmax in an exclusive interview. “We have Islamist-leaning governments or Islamist governments in power in virtually every country that used to be aligned with the United States, and that’s why President Obama has drawn the line for Egypt.
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
President Obama touts foreign policy as a bright spot in his presidency, but former President Carter’s national security adviser says that the United States is “rapidly, rapidly” losing power in the Middle East. “We’re dealing here with a messy region which is increasingly slipping into increased instability — a region in which American domination is rapidly, rapidly coming to an end,” Zbigniew Brzezinski said today on Morning Joe.
Liberal, Narrative
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apologized Tuesday for the NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last year -- and announced that Pakistan has in turn agreed to re-open supply lines into Afghanistan that have been closed since the incident. The deadly airstrike last November crippled already-damaged relations between the United States and Pakistan.
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
Afghan demonstrators parade an effigy representing US President Barack Obama as they shout anti-US slogans during a protest against Koran desecration in Jalalabad.
On the streets of Cairo it's not just a fledgling democracy that lies in ruin. US policy too is in tatters - in the eyes of many - or at least America's reputation and credibility... Washington's recent diplomatic efforts in Egypt have failed one after the other. -Kim Ghattas BBC News, "US credibility 'in tatters' over Egypt crisis"
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Oops, Video
Tens of thousands of Hezbollah fanatics marched in Beirut today. They chanted “Death to America!”
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
WASHINGTON (AP) — Diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut have started to destroy classified material as a security precaution amid anti-American protests in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa. A State Department status report obtained Monday by The Associated Press said the Beirut embassy had "reviewed its emergency procedures and is beginning to destroy classified holdings."
Liberal, Narrative, Oops
A mob of Indonesian Islamists waving jihad flags attacked the US embassy yesterday, throwing rocks and bricks, but they were repelled by tear gas and riot police... Shouting ”Allahu Akbar” and ”F— America,” the mob, many of whom were masked, marched on the embassy and began to attack. Riot police were initially caught unprepared and without their shields.
Incompetence, Obama
"As soon as Obama took over, he said he would do this and that -- a lot of things. But he still hasn't met a single goal," said Saad Zaki Khalil, 56, who was selling cigarette lighters in central Cairo.
Sept. 2012: On the eve of his first trip to the United States as Egypt’s new Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi said the United States needed to fundamentally change its approach to the Arab world, showing greater respect for its values and helping build a Palestinian state, if it hoped to overcome decades of pent-up anger.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Narrative
After improving with the election of Barack Obama in 2008, U.S. favorable ratings across the Arab world have plummeted. In most countries they are lower than at the end of the Bush Administration.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Narrative, Oops
President Obama has failed to live up to the expectations he created in the Arab world, according to a new poll released by IBOPE Zogby International and the Arab American Institute Foundation. The poll also noted that most Arab countries view the U.S. less favorably today than they did during the last year of the Bush administration.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Narrative, Oops
After improving with the election of Barack Obama in 2008, U.S. favorable ratings across the Arab world have plummeted. In most countries they are lower than at the end of the Bush Administration, and lower than Iran's favorable ratings (except in Saudi Arabia).
Incompetence, Obama
The Obama administration’s failure to facilitate change in the Middle East shows that it is weak, Syrian President Bashar Assad said Sunday during a visit to Latin America amid rising regional tensions over last month’s Gaza flotilla incident and increasing efforts to defuse the Iranian threat.
Egyptian protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade Sunday and shouted, "Monica, Monica, Monica" as she left the newly reopened U.S. Consulate in Alexandria.
Obama, AntiAmerican
Sri Lankan Muslims beat and stamp on an effigy of U.S. President Barack Obama during a protest rally against the allied forces' air strike in Libya, in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, March 25, 2011.
Incompetence, Obama
When Hamid Karzai started presenting the victims of British bombings in
Helmand with medals commemorating Wazir Akbar Khan, one of the victors of
the first Anglo-Afghan war, someone should, perhaps, have wondered which
side Afghanistan&r
Incompetence, Obama
Thousands of followers of a conservative Islamic group held peaceful demonstrations Sunday in several Indonesian cities against the planned visit of President Barack Obama.
Incompetence, Obama
NBC’s Tom Brokaw said the Saudi Arabian monarchy is “so unhappy with the Obama administration for the way it pushed out President Mubarak of Egypt” that it has sent senior officials to the Peoples' Republic of China and Russia to seek expanded business opportunities with those countries.
WASHINGTON, Sept 23 (Reuters)- For those who believe in a clash of civilizations between the Islamic world and Western democracy, the last few weeks must seem like final confirmation of their theory. Even those who reject the term as loaded and simplistic speak sadly of a perhaps catastrophic failure of understanding between Americans in particular and many Muslims.
Democrat, Hypocrisy, Liberal, Obama, Oops
WASHINGTON -- The White House is apologizing for the burning of Muslim holy books in a pile of garbage at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.
Democrat, Editorial, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops, War
After the West's much-ballyhood intervention, Libya is dominated by a complex tangle of violent militias — and the chaos is spilling into neighboring countries... One year after the U.S., Britain, and France began their war in Libya, the harmful consequences of Western intervention are readily apparent. The internal disorder and regional instability that the West's assault created were foreseen by many critics. And yet, Western governments made no meaningful efforts to prepare for them.
Democrat, Editorial, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Degeneracy, Funny, Brilliance, Oops
Wouldn’t it be great if campaigns offered honest slogans, ones that told you the real reason to vote for their gal or guy?... For the Obama campaign it would be: “He’s managed America’s decline well.”... Today, by contrast, America is deep in debt, its military is battered and exhausted, its economic ideology enjoys far less prestige, and it faces, in China, a genuine second superpower. Managing this reality has been the central foreign policy challenge of Barack Obama’s first term, and although his campaign can’t say so, he’s done a pretty good job. -Peter Beinart
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Oops
The Obama administration is disavowing a statement from its own Cairo embassy that apologized for anti-Muslim activity in the United States. "The statement by Embassy Cairo was not cleared by Washington and does not reflect the views of the United States government," a senior administration official told POLITICO.
Hundreds of enraged Pakistanis have taken to the streets across the country, burning an effigy of President Barack Obama and setting fire to US flags after 24 soldiers died in NATO air strikes... They carried placards and banners, and shouted 'down with America', 'down with NATO', 'Yankees go back', 'vacate Afghanistan and Pakistan' and 'stop drone attacks' - a reference to a CIA drone war against Islamist militants.
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
CAIRO (Reuters) - Protesters threw tomatoes and shoes at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's motorcade on Sunday during her first visit to Egypt since the election of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi. A tomato struck an Egyptian official in the face, and shoes and a water bottle landed near the armoured cars carrying Clinton's delegation in the port city of Alexandria.
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Chanting "death to America," hundreds of protesters angered by an anti-Islam film stormed the U.S. Embassy compound in Yemen's capital and burned the American flag on Thursday, the latest in a series of attacks on American diplomatic missions in the Middle East... In the Yemeni capital on Thursday, protesters smashed windows as they breached the embassy perimeter and reached the compound grounds, although they did not enter the main building housing the offices. Angry young men brought down the U.S. flag in the courtyard, burned it and replaced it with a black banner bearing Islam's declaration of faith — "There is no God but Allah."
Incompetence, Obama
The breakdown in intelligence cooperation has cast a pall over U.S.-Pakistani relations, with some officials in both countries saying intelligence ties are at their lowest point since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks spurred the alliance.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Narrative, Oops
Photos and video from the Twitter feed of Phil Han, a reporter and producer in CNN, who is outside the U.S. embassy in London where a mob has gathered and burned the American flag.
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean has been meeting with world leaders to repair "the extraordinary damage" that the Bush administration has done to America's image and to prepare the way for a new Democratic president.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Oops
President Obama promised to restore the international image of the United States, but the recent NATO airstrike that killed Pakistani soldiers comes as a historic setback, at least in Pakistan, to judge from remarks made by Army Gen. Martin. E. Dempsey to British media today. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the average Pakistani’s respect for the United States is lower than ever.
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
Hundreds of enraged Pakistanis have taken to the streets across the country, burning an effigy of President Barack Obama and setting fire to US flags after 24 soldiers died in NATO air strikes... They carried placards and banners, and shouted 'down with America', 'down with NATO', 'Yankees go back', 'vacate Afghanistan and Pakistan' and 'stop drone attacks' - a reference to a CIA drone war against Islamist militants.
Democrat, Liberal, Obama, Narrative, Oops
Earlier Tuesday thousands of people took to the streets in eastern Afghanistan to protest the killings, burning an effigy of Obama and calling for the killer to be tried in Afghanistan. Demonstrators in the city of Jalalabad chanted "Death to America -- Death to Obama" and blocked the main highway to Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported. Protestors shout anti-American slogans during a demonstration in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, on Tuesday. "Jihad (holy war) is the only way to get the invading Americans out of Afghanistan," one banner read, according to the newspaper.
Democrat, Liberal, Incompetence, Obama, Narrative, Oops
The State Department has gone into full-blown crisis mode, organizing a round-the-clock effort to coordinate the U.S. government's response to the expanding attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East and North Africa.