Stiff heads need to get with the program and they probably need to grow up a little, too. They still think Christianity is at war with Islam. Under Bush, that's what the U.S. has been communicating to the Middle East. Just check out any conservative website.
It's all about respecting language and words. if the most powerful country is going to disrespect other nations by calling them evil, then obviously, duh, that's going to rankle a lot of world leaders.
And it has.
Obama is using words and taking small gradual actions to back up those words-- sending peace envoys, doing Arab-language interviews.
At least the doors seem to be opening now, whereas, under Bush, all the doors were slammed shut.
CNN: "If changes happens, we will welcome such an endeavor," Ahmadinejad told a crowd of thousands in a speech broadcast on national television from the western region of Khermenshah.
"We welcome change, but providing change is fundamental and is in the correct direction."
In Tuesday's interview with Al-Arabiya, Obama said his administration will offer a hand of friendship to the Muslim world.
"My job ... is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama said. "We sometimes make mistakes. We have not been perfect."
Obama addressed Iran specifically, prefacing his remarks with "Iranian people are a great people," but adding "Iran has acted in ways that are not conducive to peace and prosperity in the region."
Still, it's going to be a crazy huge challenge. Ahmandinejad is a wee bit off kilter in his demands:
"If certain parties want to bring about change, change entails for them to apologize to the Iranian people and try to make amends for their blackened history, their past record, the atrocities they have committed against the Iranian people," Ahmadinejad said.
He also called on the United States to end its support of Israel. Obama said in his interview that the U.S. will continue to be a strong ally with Israel.
