Today’s Q for O’s WH – 5/8/2009
EmailWhite House press secretary Robert Gibbs began his briefing by announcing that on June 4, the president will give a speech in Egypt about America’s relations with the Muslim world. The next day, President Obama will travel to Dresden, Germany, and visit Buchenwald concentration camp. On June 6, as had already been announced, the president will participate in the 65th anniversary ceremonies of the invasion of Normandy.
The AP’s Chuck Babington asked Gibbs if the president consider Egypt to be a democracy.
"I think the issues of democracy and human rights are — are things that are on the president’s mind," Gibbs said. "And we’ll have a chance to discuss those in more depth on the trip."
Asked for some insight into why the president chose Egypt for this speech — a speech to the Muslim world he had pledged during the campaign — Gibbs said Egypt "is a country that in many ways represents the heart of the — of the Arab world. And I think it will be a terrific opportunity for the president to address and discuss our relationship with the Muslim world."
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TAPPER: Why Egypt as a location for this major address?
GIBBS: Well, I’ve really nothing to add from what — what I told Chuck.
TAPPER: Obviously, Egypt is considered — there are a lot of Muslims who look at the leadership of Egypt warily and consider it to be exactly the problem with leaders in the Muslim world.
GIBBS: Well…
TAPPER: Al-Zawahiri came from a terrorist organization that would fight Egyptian leaders. Is it possible that this is a bad selection?
GIBBS: No, I — I think, as I mentioned earlier, I think in many ways, this is the heart of the Arab world. And I think in many ways — this isn’t a — this isn’t a speech — this isn’t a speech to leaders. This is a speech to many, many people and a continuing effort by this president and this White House to demonstrate how we can work together to ensure the safety and security and the future well-being through hope and opportunity of the children of this country and of the Muslim world. And that’s what the president set out to do when he promised to give this speech. And that’s exactly what he intends to do next month.
TAPPER: I guess my only point is there are a lot of Muslims who think of Mubarak and the Egyptian leaders as a part of the problem.
GIBBS: Right. Well, you know, again, this is not about who the leaders might be of any certain country. This is about the way the president views this relationship, the way he thinks this country should view that relationship and the shared and common progress that we can make to strengthen that relationship and — and fight extremism.
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In the course of the briefing Gibbs noted that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak did not invite President Obama, but rather "this is a country that we selected to speak in." He underlined that speaking in Egypt was not an endorsement of the Mubarak government.
And he noted that the Muslim is world is much larger than just the "Arab world" of which he said Egypt represented the heart. "It is my mistake to use only the connotation of Arab Muslims and not — or Arab Muslims rather than obviously Indonesia is a place that is special to the president. It’s — it’s also the largest Muslim nation in the world."
Noting that in Turkey the president said the US was not at war with Islam, Gibbs said the Egypt speech will be about "tak(ing) that phrase and build(ing) on it, to understand the relationships that we have to have in this world to make progress, not just for our country, but for all of the world, to ensure the safety and security of America, but to ensure the safety and security of others around the world, to ensure hope and opportunity here and hope and opportunity, again, around the world. I think having spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, I think all of this gives the president the opportunity, hopefully, to extend a hand to those that, in many ways, are like us, but just simply have a different religion."
- jpt
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TAPPER: Al-Zawahiri came from a terrorist organization that would fight Egyptian leaders. Is it possible that this is a bad selection?
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I do not think Al-Zawahiri is who he is looking to talk to. Egypt is as good a place as any
Posted by: Thinking | May 8, 2009, 4:07 pm 4:07 pm
Fantastic, jake.
GIBBS: Right. Well, you know, again, this is not about who the leaders might be of any certain country. This is about the way the president views this relationship, the way he thinks this country should view that relationship and the shared and common progress that we can make to strengthen that relationship and — and fight extremism.
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The minute Obama has his picture taken with Mubarek, it becomes (in part) about the leaders of the country.
Too many leaders- semi dictatorial leaders like Mubarek- encourage anti-US feelings to fester because it deflects the anger from themselves. The last elections in Egypt were as brutal as they were farcical, and that’s what the people there live with. Is our President going to say something about that?
And Egypt to Germany was the same path Mohammed Atta took on his way to the US. How painful.
Posted by: MayBee | May 8, 2009, 4:08 pm 4:08 pm
if the president thinks he can go to egypt and avoid the fact that the u.s. marches to the drums of israel, he is sadly mistaken
Posted by: J House | May 8, 2009, 4:17 pm 4:17 pm
Why was Al Zawa-hiri held up as an example of Muslims who are wary of Egypt? He’s hardly an accurate representative of the world’s Muslim population.
Posted by: kim | May 8, 2009, 4:19 pm 4:19 pm
The United States has as it’s official chief diplomat and elected leader a black guy named Barrack Hussein Obama. We should have him in front of a different Muslim nation every month for as long as they’ll let him talk – we will NEVER have a better chance to break through the lies and propaganda that feel Islamic terrorists. Even Republicans must have trouble finding fault on this, it is essentially free and will cut down on the number of idiots conned into taking up a gun to point at us.
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Do you realize how many people with similar names who are actually muslim they have killed in their pursuit of jihad? All of the bombings in Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Iraq, Afghanistan– killed muslims.
Anwar Sadat was an actual Egyptian muslim.
Benazir Bhutto was actually muslim.
You underestimate their convictions if you think a middle name is going to sway them.
Posted by: MayBee | May 8, 2009, 4:20 pm 4:20 pm
“Robert Gibbs began his briefing by announcing that on June 4, the president will give a speech in Egypt about America’s relations with the Muslim world.”
So, does this mean that when Obama goes to Germany or France, he will be addressing the Christian world? Or if he goes to Korea, he will address the Buddhist or Confucious world?
Is Obama now a worldwide religious leader?
Posted by: Sigmonde | May 8, 2009, 4:35 pm 4:35 pm
Sigmonde:”So, does this mean that when Obama goes to Germany or France, he will be addressing the Christian world? ”
I think that would be more like when Bush went to the Vatican or spoke at national right to life conventions by satellite.
Do you have a point? Are you suggesting that the ‘hearts and minds’ strategy supported by our military and administrations of both governments to cut through Islamic propaganda and recruiting is stupid?
Posted by: jhw539 | May 8, 2009, 4:41 pm 4:41 pm
Who should dislike an American President more: Citizens of Dresden or Egypt??
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | May 8, 2009, 4:47 pm 4:47 pm
“Do you have a point?”
Yes. But you have no response, apparently. I wasn’t aware that the Middle East has been renamed as the Muslim world. I thought Muslims were found everywhere in the world and that the term signified faith in Islam. Am I wrong?
Posted by: Sigmonde | May 8, 2009, 4:48 pm 4:48 pm
Sigmonde:”Why do you feel the need to apologize for them? ”
APOLOGIZE FOR THEM? I consider them “murderous gang members easily led by bitter throwbacks to the last century,” not some sort of holy warriors with deeply held unshakable beliefs. I’ll let anyone reading decide for themselves my opinion of terrorists – I’ve already had one post deleted.
Posted by: jhw539 | May 8, 2009, 4:59 pm 4:59 pm
Why do you feel the need to apologize for them?
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JHW’s post was in no way, no matter how it’s twisted, apologetic to terrorists. I think you have enough reading comprehension to have understood it, but you want to bloviate and dominate the postings. Maybe you equate visibility and monopolized communication space with persuasion, which is typical of extremists and their styles of communication.
Posted by: kim | May 8, 2009, 5:07 pm 5:07 pm
Who should dislike an American President more: Citizens of Dresden or Egypt??
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Do you mean who would like an American president better? It’s been 64 years since WWII and Germany is a major ally and the government is Egypt maintains a relatively cooperative relationship with the US. Sorry, but I find your worldview rather childlike and uninformed.
Posted by: kim | May 8, 2009, 5:14 pm 5:14 pm
Sigmonde:”You believe Bush caused this terrorism, no?”
No and nothing I said indicates that. I pointed out the well known propaganda that the US has been working hard to counter for years.
Ignorance of the enemy and their tactics is a foolish approach to take.
Posted by: jhw539 | May 8, 2009, 5:16 pm 5:16 pm
I am at a loss as to why the President finds it necessary to go to a country known for torture and civil liberty issues. The muslin world hears every day about what the President is saying and doing. Why not stay home and talk to the world from here. A speech from here would be covered all over the world in print, the internet and TV. Why the necessity to get the photo ops in Egypt?
Posted by: William | May 8, 2009, 5:53 pm 5:53 pm
“In the course of the briefing Gibbs noted that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak did not invite President Obama, but rather “this is a country that we selected to speak in.” He underlined that speaking in Egypt was not an endorsement of the Mubarak government.”
Perhaps someone should ask President Mubarak
Posted by: smith | May 8, 2009, 5:57 pm 5:57 pm
“I think having spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, I think all of this gives the president the opportunity, hopefully, to extend a hand to those that, in many ways, are like us, but just simply have a different religion.”
Obama needs to go Egypt (uninvited) to speak to the Muslim world? When is he going to speak to the Hindu or Buddha world? Is Obama now a religious leader as well as being POTUS? Could it be that Obama wants to be the Pope, too?
Posted by: Sigmonde | May 8, 2009, 6:09 pm 6:09 pm
Inhumane treatment of Muslim women in Egypt…
1. Egyptian Muslim women can not have marriage contracts with men on their own since they have to have male guardians (i.e. father/uncle/ brother) signing for them.
2. Their testimony is not acknowledged in court if they contradict the testimonies of men.
3. They are not allowed to have the custody of their children once they reach the age of 12.
4. They are not allowed to have military jobs.
5. They are not allowed to run for presidents (Nawal el Saadawy tried and they did not let her).
6. They are not allowed to marry men of other faiths.
7. They are not allowed to become police officers (exceptions are in tourism police).
8. They are not allowed to pray in the main halls of mosques- they do pray in the gardens of mosques though.
9. They can not leave the country without the permission of their husbands.
10. They do not have the right to know if their husbands married other women.
11. If they decided not to have sex with their husbands, Allah will send his angels to punish them, but if men decided not to have sex with their women, they are encouraged to do that because this is a form of discipline.
12. They are forced to wear hegab (head cover) in many Egyptian ministries (e.g awkaf).
13. They can only get a divorce if their husbands approve and their husbands can place them in a house of obedience (beet el taaah) if they feel that they are rebellious. If these women refuse to go to these houses they are called “nashez,” or pariah.
14. Egyptian Muslim women get half of the inheritance of their brothers.
Posted by: And so it goes... | May 8, 2009, 8:53 pm 8:53 pm
I hope Obama doesn’t bash Americans again when he is in Egypt. It is getting a little hard to keep getting our butts whoop by the chosen one.
Posted by: Tom | May 8, 2009, 9:36 pm 9:36 pm
Obama has critics on every move he makes. Jake stop hopping on the devil’s advocate anti-president train. It makes you look bad. Remember his people are smarter than you.
Posted by: clarity | May 9, 2009, 1:02 am 1:02 am
kim..
it’s not just my world view.. that is lame.. read the rest of my posts..
of course, I agree with you..
Posted by: DontGet818OnMeNow | May 9, 2009, 3:42 pm 3:42 pm
Bob the Blogger – lets see if I can answer Tapper and help Gibbs
TAPPER: Why Egypt as a location for this major address?
Bob the Blogger: The Pyramids and the Nile.
TAPPER: Obviously, Egypt is considered — there are a lot of Muslims who look at the leadership of Egypt warily and consider it to be exactly the problem with leaders in the Muslim world.
Bob the Blogger: Well…
TAPPER: Al-Zawahiri came from a terrorist organization that would fight Egyptian leaders. Is it possible that this is a bad selection?
Bob the Blogger: Tapper why not be positive? Omar Sharif is from Egypt too which makes this a excellent selection.
TAPPER: I guess my only point is there are a lot of Muslims who think of Mubarak and the Egyptian leaders as a part of the problem.
Bob the Blogger: Right now the polls show that Obama is more popular in the middle east then the USA. So when we get to Egypt Tapper and we are by the Pyramids and someone looks at me and says “Bob the Blogger you look like a Pharaoh” Just smile Tapper you and I can help bring cultures together.
Posted by: Bob the Blogger | May 11, 2009, 5:56 am 5:56 am