Obama's First Interview

Updated

President Obama's TV interview, with Al-Arabiya TV, was powerful if only for the mere fact that it was his first. But in attempting to speak to the Muslim world, and to repair the damage of the image of the United States abroad, Obama also tried to project an image that eluded his predecessor: empathy.

"I have Muslim members of my family," he said, in a moment often quoted in the 24 hours since it aired, highlighting a fact that was not politically prudent during the campaign.

I was struck by the difference in rhetoric of President Bush vs. President Obama. It's hard to believe the former doing a similar interview without characterizing the strife in the region as a matter of freedom vs. terrorism. Obama's pitch focused on livelihoods, characterizing the Muslim world as "extraordinary people who simply want to live their lives and see their children live better lives." He cited his inaugural address when he said, "You will be judged on what you build, not on what you destroy."

It's hard to see one interview altering the image of the United States overnight, but at the very least it sent a signal, through a powerful medium, that things are different. Obama says he told George Mitchell, his special envoy to the region, that they needed to "start by listening, because all too often the U.S. starts by dictating."

Al-Arabiya's Hisham Melhem, who conducted the interview, told the Atlantic that he "is not willing to say there is a shift in substance, but there is a shift in approach on the tone vis-à-vis Palestinian suffering."

Melhem told Jeffrey Goldberg, "Look, in the long run, he is telling the Muslim world that it's going to have a difficult time demonizing him.  He's saying, "I'm willing to disagree with the people of the Muslim world respectfully." He was miffed and angry by Zawahiri and Bin Laden, the way they speak of him. And he jumped on it and dealt with it. There's a subtle shift here on how he looks at the war on al-Qaeda and the groups that collaborate with it. He doesn't put Hamas and Hezbollah in the same category as al-Qaeda. Is there going to be disappointment later? We're bound to have disappointments, but the main message is that a new wind is blowing."

Melhem explained to Time that he originally thought that he was getting an interview with George Mitchell, not Obama, until he got a call on Monday morning on his BlackBerry.

He told Time, "This man says, 'My name is so and so, and I'm either going to make your day or ruin your day. Would you like to chat with the President about 5 p.m. today? I joked, 'I guess I can accommodate the President."