Monday, August 25, 2008

"Barack Obama through Muslim Eyes"   [Mark Krikorian]

Daniel Pipes's latest on how people in the Islamic world view the Democratic candidate. I think Daniel understates the issue when he ends by writing, "Should Obama become president, differences in Muslim and American views of religious affiliation will create problems." Our relations with the Muslim world could well deteriorate substantially under an Obama Administration, precisely because Muslims think he might be symaptico, and when he disappoints them (as he must, both because he is not, in fact, a Muslim and because of the imperatives of American politics), they're going to feel betrayed and the impression of him as an apostate enemy of the ummah will spread and deepen. Even a Jewish president would hold less potential for worsening relations because many, if not most, Muslims already think Jews run the country, and would see the election of a President Lieberman, for instance, as merely cutting out the middleman. I don't see this as an important reason to support or oppose Obama, but the idea that his presidency will usher in a new age of harmony with the Mohammedans is malarkey.

08/25 11:53 AMShare