Hamas Has a New American Idol

Hamas terrorists pay rapt attention to their new hero, Barack Obama.

Meanwhile, Amir Taheri, a sane Muslim, reviews Obama's pathetic speech.

Unlike his previous statements, the Cairo speech didn't include the threat of any action -- not even further sanctions -- against the Islamic Republic. The message was clear: America was distancing itself from United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Obama also abandoned President Bush's freedom agenda in support of Middle East democratic movements, saying: "No system of government can or should be imposed on one nation by another."

Of course, America didn't "impose" any system of government on Afghanistan or Iraq. All it did was to remove impediments to democracy in those countries. A majority of Afghans and Iraqis, and perhaps even "Muslims around the world," don't regret the demise of Mullah Omar, a fanatical cleric, or Saddam Hussein, a brutal secular despot.

Obama said he was seeking "a new beginning between the US and Muslims around the world" -- implying that "Muslims around the world" (including Muslim Americans) represent a monolithic bloc, as Osama bin Laden and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claim.

Is the president unaware that there are 57 countries with Muslim majorities and a further 60 countries where Muslims represent substantial minorities? Trying to press almost a quarter of humanity into a single ghetto based on religious apartheid is the fruit of either woeful ignorance or dangerous provocation.

Obama's mea culpa vis-à-vis Islam extended beyond the short span of US history. He appropriated the guilt for the Crusades, Western colonialism and support for despotic regimes during the Cold War, and countered that with a flattering narrative about Islam's role in history, featuring outlandish claims that would astonish many Muslims.

Read the rest. It's all too depressing.