Obama To Visit Turkey

Obama will be visiting Turkey, but it won't be to give a speech. Obama has said he will give a speech in a Muslim country to convey the message that the U.S. is moving in a new direction. In Turkey, he'll be reaching out to Muslim leaders to improve relations.  

Bush never even tried to strengthen Muslim ties. I don't think he viewed it as important because in his mind, I'm not sure he appreciated Islam. He railed against Muslim extremists but he didn't do a very good job of conveying the message that not all Muslims are terrorists. His crew of conservative followers certainly understood the message that all Muslims are bad. You only need to look back at Sarah Palin's rally videos to see conservatives showing their true colors. They sure did feel free. 

All the Muslim countries of the world got the same message from Bush. Inadvertently, or not, he helped breed hate. He helped make extremists stronger. He dug another deep hole for us to get out of.

By strengthening ties with Muslim nations, Obama can help deflate terrorist networks. This is logic that conservatives-- who need an Us vs. Them--have difficulty comprehending.

Swamp: The trip is meant to continue dialogue with leaders in Muslim countries, the official said. But it will not include the speech from a Muslim capital that Obama spoke of during his presidential campaign.

"Planning for the Turkey visit is just the beginning," the official said. "It will be an important opportunity to visit a NATO ally and discuss shared challenges."

Obama said in an address in the summer of 2007 that he would deliver an address in a "major Islamic forum" during the first hundred days of his administration. He said he would make it clear that "we are not at war with Islam" and that "we'll stand with those who are willing to stand up for their future."

Hillary makes the announcement:

Iran Ready for Diplomacy?

There are a bunch of stiff heads who would rather see Iran as the enemy and continue to shun them and the Muslim people as a whole, but that doesn't bode well for our own national security.

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.