Re-parting of the Red Sea: Live Blogging Obama's Cairo Speech

All times are Pakistan Standard Time

4:13: Obama says salam and the crowd goes wild. He also said shukran after his press conference with in Saudi Arabia. A little pandering goes a long way.

4:15: And a quote from the Quran. Is there any country where he wouldn’t win an election.

4:17 When listing the achievements of the Muslim world, I wish he would say, “Muslims have done…” rather than “Islam has done…” Many of the things he has mentioned have nothing to do the religion and everything with the people.

4:19: He also adopts the local pronunciation of Quran. Same as with Pakistan. I don’t know what he has against Afghanistan but he always Americanizes that pronunciation.

4:21: The seven million Muslims in the US seems a bit exaggerated.

4:22: “There are mosques in all 50 states of the US.” Even Mississippi and South Dakota?

4:25 “America is not and never will be at war with Islam.” Bush used to say this all the time but was never as convincing as Obama. And even with Obama, you just know this is the throat-clearing before he gets to extremism.

4:29: “We don’t want troops in Afghanistan.” We would much rather move them to Pakistan where they are really needed.

4:30: Obama promises $1.5 billion to Pakistan in non-military aid every year. That’s only $28.5 billion less than what Zardari wants.

4:32: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq have been mentioned. Iran and Palestine must be next.

4:33: “I have ordered the prison at Guantanamo closed by early next year.” Wild applause but surely they must be wondering what he’s going to do with all those prisoners that will not be released.

4:34: Complete silence when Obama emphatically states that the US will have close ties with Israel and lists the suffering of the Jewish people.

4:36: “The situation of the Palestinian people is intolerable.” This is further than any US president has ever gone before. The rest of his Israel-Palestine stuff is typical boiler-plate can’t-we-all-just-get-along rhetoric.

4:40: “The US does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements.” Pretty strong stuff. AIPAC just choked on its breakfast (eggs but no bacon).

4:43: Obama made sure to say peace be upon him after taking Propher Muhammed’s name. He doesn’t want to follow the example of Salman Rushdie, Theo Van Gogh and the Danish cartoonists.

4:47: Would Obama’s promotion of democracy have got such cheers if Hosni Mubarak was in the crowd?

4:49: The BBC ticker just said, “Roger Federer on course to win French Open.” That got me more excited than anything Obama has said so far.

4:51: The plight of the Coptic population in Egypt gets a mention. Good on Obama.

4:54: Would it be mean to point out that every Muslim country that Obama praises for electing Muslim leaders only did so because of who their fathers were?

4:56: “Technology can bring mindless violence to our television screen,” says the man whose favourite show is The Wire.

4:58: Obama wants to create a new online system that will allow children in Kansas to communicate with children in Cairo. Sorry buddy, but Al Gore already created the internet.

5:02: Obama is trying to end the speech on a Martin Luther King note. The cynic in me doesn’t like it.

5:04: The third Quranic quote of the night. For those keeping score that’s Quran 3, Bible 2 and Torah 1. I knew he was a secret Jew-hating Muslim.

So, this wasn’t a groundbreaking or historic speech but it did plainly state the direction US policy has been taking under Obama’s presidency. Israel won’t get a blank cheque but there is no way it’s going to abandoned either. The war in Afghanistan and Pakistan will continue. But, one thing this speech made clear is that under Obama the US will be more humble without sacrificing what it sees as it interests.