OBAMA SPEAKS TO MUSLIMS

Posted at 7:46 a.m. ET

President Obama gave the first TV interview of his presidency to an Arab news outlet, the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya Network.  The interview coincided with his dispatching of special envoy George Mitchell to the Middle East.  The Politico reports:

President Barack Obama presented a humble and conciliatory face of America to the Islamic world Monday in the first formal interview since he assumed office, stressing his own Muslim ties and hopes for a Palestinian state, and avoiding a belligerent tone — even when asked if America could "live with" an Iranian nuclear weapon.

And...

"I have Muslim members of my family. I have lived in Muslim countries," Obama said, according to a White House transcript. "My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy."

Remember, during the campaign, what happened to anyone who brought up Mr. Obama's Muslim links?  They were called racists.

But the president was careful during the interview.  He showed respect for the Muslim world, but maintained, at least on the surface, a tough line toward militants:

He even dismissed "bankrupt" ideas and policies that don't improve children's health care, jabbing at "nervous" Al Qaeda leaders in language that echoed his campaign against George W. Bush.

A bit odd to compare comments he made about President Bush to comments about Al Qaeda, but we won't make too much of that.

Obama's shift Monday was one of tone, not of policy, and he also affirmed America's support for Israel.

"Israel is a strong ally of the United States. They will not stop being a strong ally of the United States. And I will continue to believe that Israel's security is paramount," he said. "But I also believe that there are Israelis who recognize that it is important to achieve peace. They will be willing to make sacrifices if the time is appropriate and if there is serious partnership on the other side."

That's a basic restatement of American policy, and the president was wise to say it on an Arab channel.

Most of the interview was unexceptional.  It was the part about Iran that might be troubling:

"Will the United States ever live with a nuclear Iran? And if not, how far are you going in the direction of preventing it?" asked the interviewer, Al Arabiya Washington Bureau Chief Hisham Melhem.

Obama responded only generally, expressing disapproval of an Iranian bomb but not the flat condemnation that is standard from American officials.

"... Iran has acted in ways that's not conducive to peace and prosperity in the region: their threats against Israel; their pursuit of a nuclear weapon which could potentially set off an arms race in the region that would make everybody less safe; their support of terrorist organizations in the past -- none of these things have been helpful."

During the campaign and transition periods, Obama's condemnations of an Iranian nuclear weapon were more direct: "[T]heir development of nuclear weapons would be unacceptable," Obama said on Meet the Press on December 7.

A senior Obama aide said Monday night that Obama had not changed his views on Iran.

But what are his actual views on Iran?  Time is on Iran's side, as its nuclear program proceeds.  We'll be watching Iran policy closely.  If Iran gets the bomb on Obama's watch, that could be his foreign-policy disaster.

January 27, 2009.