In Cairo, Praise for Obama's Remarks

CAIRO, June 4 -- The fact that Barack Obama chose Egypt as the location for Thursday's address to the Muslim world endeared him to the locals, who are always proud to host a foreigner and even prouder when it shows off their history.

The fact that he came to downtown Cairo, instead of heading to the Sinai beach resorts where diplomatic gatherings are often held, told them he was serious about connecting on a personal level.

And when he started sprinkling his speech with words from the Koran, and balanced support for Israel with a strong call for a Palestinian state, the deal was closed.

"I didn't expect him to go this far" in confronting the region's core problems, said Tarek Ali, 44, a driver for a government agency. "He really seems to want to move forward."

That initial conclusion seemed unanimous among the crowd of men gathered at a local coffee shop to watch Obama's Thursday speech.

Although Obama was blunt about the United States' "unbreakable bonds" with Israel, that statement was quickly followed with others about Palestinian "suffering" since Israel's founding in 1948 and the need to curb Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and establish a Palestinian state.


Acknowledging the negative stereotypes of Islam that took root in America after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Obama at the same time said Muslim nations needed to fix their own exaggerated views of the United States as a country bent on dominating them.

That balance, applied across a broad range of topics, left people feeling that the U.S. president with a Muslim father and middle name was sincere about finding a cooperative path. There was no shortage of suggestions about things the Arab and Muslim world needed to fix, but those who listened to the speech said they also sensed a clear appreciation for the culture and an acknowledgement of American mistakes.

And to think some people still claim he is inexperienced.

8 miles you can see them no the side of the road.

It is incredible in it's honesty and style and definitely one of his best speeches to date. It is a thing of beauty. May our actions match those words.