Change, Change, Change

Obama's interview on Al-Arabiya and Sullivan's analysis that Obama is trying to "change the game."

What Obama is doing is appealing over the heads of Muslim leaders directly to Muslim populations. I cannot think of any other president with the same kind of personal credibility in such a critical time. And his appeal is to relieve the state of humankind:

and

My sense, for what it's worth, is that Obama is genuine. He doesn't know whether this bold new play will pay dividends any more than we do. What he does know, I think, is that we have no choice. The trajectory of the current global conflict, centered on the question of Islam and modernity, is an apocalyptic one if the game isn't changed soon. He is attempting to change the game. Which led me to my second reaction.

Hope.

But George Bush offered the EXACT same thing. A break from the past, bold changes with our policy to the Middle East. And he was ridiculed. Plus...how is "going over the head" of Arab regimes new? Bush I tried the same thing for the Iraqi people and they got slaughtered as a result of listening to him because we didn't back up our words with force. The left wanted to do the same thing in Iraq II. When the insurgency picked up, they wanted to bring all the troops home and declare it a lost cause, once again making it more beneficial to be our enemy than our friend in the region. For once, we stuck with the right people in Iraq (or maybe I should say, the least bad) and capitalized on some good luck.

And ps - being popular and liked in the Arab World isn't new either...Bill Clinton was adored by the Palestinians. What good did it do? Hope is one thing. Foolishness another. Let's not get confused.