Morning Bell: Leadership Lacking in Cairo

Conn Carroll / June 05, 2009

President Barack Obama’s speech in Egypt on Thursday received mixed reviews both among the crowd at Cairo University and across the Middle East. Indeed, there were some praiseworthy passages in the address including his call for greater religious tolerance, his emphasis on women’s rights, and his recitation of America’s founding principles. But the speech was also highly problematic in many ways that will end up backfiring on the President and the United States:

• Iraq – Obama attacked the decision to go to war in Iraq as “a war of choice” without even mentioning the fact Saddam Hussein had failed to comply with several Security Council resolutions. This was completely gratuitous, wrong, and unnecessary. There are still over 100,000 American troops fighting in Iraq, and this kind of message will only serve to undermine morale. As President, Obama should have paid tribute to his own soldiers who are putting their lives on the line every day in a war against Al-Qaeda-backed insurgents. (more…)