Scared Monkeys Radio Daily Commentary – Wednesday, January 28, 2009 – Why Did Barack Obama Select Al Arabiya For His First Interview?

• Dana speculates on why Barack Obama chose a Muslim TV network for his first presidential interview.

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President Obama, we are still a World power … should we really listen to those that do not have the United States best interests at heart?

“all too often the United States starts by dictating.”

Obama tells Arabic network US is ‘not your enemy’

Mr. President, stop blaming America. Who is who’s enemy? If some in the Arab world are not our enemies, then why is it considered an issue of US national security to stop the dependence on Arab oil?

Why does Obama feel the need to be loved in the Arab world?  As most foreign countries were giddy over Obama’s Presidential victory, the Arab world has been much more cautious about the new U.S. president.  Most Arabs are skeptical that American policy in the region will change substantially. Exactly how many Arabs and Muslims were liberated under George W. Bush? Obama talks about going back to the “same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world” in the days or yor some 30 years ago. Hmm … You mean like when the Shah of Iran was ousted and the Ayatollah Khomeini came to power and Americans were taken hostage. You mean that type of respect President Obama?

President Barack Obama chose an Arabic satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, part of a concerted effort to repair relations with the Muslim world that were damaged under the previous administration.
Obama cited his Muslim background and relatives, practically a taboo issue during the U.S. presidential campaign, and said in the interview, which aired Tuesday, that one of his main tasks was to communicate to Muslims “that the Americans are not your enemy.”

The interview on the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel aired as Obama’s new envoy to the region, former Sen. George J. Mitchell, arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for a visit that will also take him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

Obama said the U.S. had made mistakes in the past but “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.”