President Obama's popularity amongst Muslims pegged to success at
"pulling out of Iraq," "ending torture" and "closing Guantanamo Bay,"
are key to the chances of ending terrorism CBS reporter Lara Logan
contended Wednesday night. She concluded her preview of Obama's
Thursday speech in Cairo: "Terrorists who are threatened by Obama's popularity amongst Muslims do not want America's President to succeed."
She earlier defined that "success" as:
The Arab world expects a lot of this President. From pulling out of Iraq, to ending torture, to closing Guantanamo Bay. Failure to achieve all this could be disastrous for Obama. But even worse, if he wasn't trying to reach out to Muslims.
Logan then ran a soundbite of Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif:
"I think it would be catastrophic. We have been in a downturn for so
long. We're creating beds for terrorism to flourish." Logan prompted
him to agree disaster is ahead if Obama's change from Bush policy does
not occur: "Creating beds for terrorism to flourish?" Nazif: "That's
true."
From the second half of the story on the Wednesday, June 3 CBS Evening News:
LARA LOGAN: Iran's ambitions for regional power may trouble Arab governments but what they're looking for more than anything else is changes in the U.S./Israeli relationship. President Obama said recently than that an Arab/Israeli peace would facilitate and precede a solution to the problem of Iran, showing that he's all too awe are of the priorities on the Arab street. Or, one Arab commentator put it, the sole bridge to reconciliation is a Palestinian state. The Arab world expects a lot of this President. From pulling out of Iraq, to ending torture, to closing Guantanamo Bay. Failure to achieve all this could be disastrous for Obama. But even worse, if he wasn't trying to reach out to Muslims.
AHMED NAZIF, EGYPTIAN PRIME MINISTER: I think it would be catastrophic. We have been in a downturn for so long. We're creating beds for terrorism to flourish.
LOGAN: Creating beds for terrorism to flourish?
NAZIF: That's true.
LOGAN: Terrorists who are threatened by Obama's popularity amongst Muslims do not want America's President to succeed. Lara Logan, CBS News, Cairo.
- Brent Baker [1] is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center