Does Anyone Still Think Obama Has A Special Bond With The Muslim World?

Remember when Obama first came into office?

It wasn't just that he was going to hit the ground running on the issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. No, Obama was going to repair US relations with the Middle East--relations that had sunk to a new low during the Bush administration. That was, after all, the idea behind Obama's Cairo speech.

What a difference 2 1/2 years make--according to James Zogby's Arab American Institute.

During Obama's term in office so far, Muslim relations with the US are getting worse:

A new poll from the nonpartisan Arab American Institute shows the effort in tatters, with Middle Easterners’ opinion of the United States lower than it was at the end of the George W. Bush administration. The survey tracks with other data, such as a May study by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitude Project, that show initial enthusiasm for Mr. Obama collapsed after he failed to meet inflated expectations.

American favorability ratings in Egypt are down to 5 percent, lower than they were at the end of the Bush administration, and a scant 3 percent of Egyptians say they agree with Mr. Obama’s policies in the region. Just 39 percent say they think the region is better off since the “Arab Spring” uprisings began, while 45 percent say it is “too early to tell.”

Large numbers of Arabs say the U.S. involvement in the war in Libya either has no impact on or worsens U.S.-Arab relations.

Getting a handle on the reason is behind this failure--that is another matter.

Obama doesn't think the problem lies in his Mideast foreign policy

:Zogby said he spoke briefly with Obama a month ago about the poll and that the president said he expected the numbers to be low, given the impasse on the Israeli-Palestinian problem.

The reason for the failure could lie closer to home. After all, the decision of the Obama administration to talk with Iran instead of reacting forcefully has frustrated Arab states. On the other hand, Obama's undeclared--and so far unsuccessful--war with Libya has not won friends either.

Then there is also the surprising obtuseness of the Obama administration to Muslim sensibilities:

In late June, the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, held a homosexual pride celebration to support oppressed homosexuals in that country. This fits with the administration’s promotion of the homosexual agenda, but in a country like Pakistan, such an event is needlessly provocative. Conservative Muslim religious leaders denounced the event as “cultural terrorism” and “tantamount to stabbing the Muslim world in the chest.” With outreach like that, Mr. Obama’s abysmal poll numbers should come as no surprise.

No, they shouldn't

Hat tip: James S. Robbins

Technorati Tag: Middle East and Obama.