January 28, 2009 09:53 AM UTC

Obama's hand open ... calls for partnership

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• by: Libertad

I have waited all day for a diary on President Obama’s first interview.

The President’s skills demonstrated his clear resolve to redefine the situation and move forward to peaceful positions. I congratulate this first effort and hope it will lead to peace.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/pl…

On the rhetoric about him by Ayman al-Zawahiri and Osama bin Laden: “They seem nervous…I think that when you look at the rhetoric that they’ve been using against me before I even took office…what that tells me is that their ideas are bankrupt.  … In my inauguration speech, I spoke about:  You will be judged on what you’ve built, not what you’ve destroyed.  And what they’ve been doing is destroying things.”

“… the Muslim world has recognized that that path is leading no place, except more death and destruction. Now, my job is to communicate the fact that the United States has a stake in the well-being of the Muslim world, that the language we use has to be a language of respect.  …”

“… my job is to communicate to the American people that the Muslim world is filled with extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives.  … to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy.  We sometimes make mistakes.  We have not been perfect.  …”

Having like the President spent years inside this culture, I must congratulate him for this choice and the courage it took.

I may not agree with all his statements, certainly a 20-30 year rollback fails to recognize that our historical timeline it but 300 years, yet theirs 1,400.

There is a great peace to be found – today the parties have divergent views on the solution – but it can be found with compromise.

“Mutual respect and mutual interest”

“Trust, but verify”