Obama Tells Arabia's Despots They're Safe -- A Commentary

Barack Obama is interviewed by Al-Arabiya television on Monday.
Associated Press/Al-Arabiya

From The Wall Street Journal:

America's diplomacy of freedom is officially over.

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect," President Barack Obama said in his inaugural. But in truth, the new way forward is a return to realpolitik and business as usual in America's encounter with that Greater Middle East. As the president told Al-Arabiya television Monday, he wants a return to "the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago."

Say what you will about the style -- and practice -- of the Bush years, the autocracies were on notice for the first five or six years of George. W. Bush's presidency. America had toppled Taliban rule and the tyranny of Saddam Hussein; it had frightened the Libyan ruler that a similar fate lay in store for him. It was not sweet persuasion that drove Syria out of Lebanon in 2005. That dominion of plunder and terror was given up under duress.

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My Comment: The message is clear ..... business is now back to normal. Fouad Ajami assesses the situation and consequences as only a man who grew up in the region can understand. So much for change ....