is doing with our foreign policy right now which is the real bottom line reason for their constant complaining about it in my opinion:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0906/04/sitroom.01.html

THE SITUATION ROOM

Making Muslim Outreach Personal; President Obama Never Says 'Terrorists'; 30 Rounds of Applause for Obama

Aired June 4, 2009 - 15:59 ET

JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: "Well, first of all, if you want to have any chance of getting an Israel-Palestinian peace agreement, which I think this president does -- and I certainly do, too -- I think you have to try to bring the parties together.

And I think that, look -- I think, if I'm -- if I'm going a cowboy diplomat, if I like the Bush foreign policy, the go-it-alone stuff, this was not a good day. This was a -- this was a very -- this is a very significant day in the history of American foreign policy.

Look, the people who liked the Bush foreign policy are not going to like today. This is engagement. This is going -- but the fact that it even happened is breathtakingly historical. That a United States president was there in Cairo at the university giving this speech was -- was -- was enormous.

And I think the -- this president, unlike the last president, is making this -- to try to get some resolution to this conflict a priority. And I think he's trying to push forward here...

CARVILLE: I understand that people who like the foreign policy of the previous administration are not going to like this speech. And I think this is a very legitimate discussion to have is, is, which policy makes us safer, a policy of leadership and engagement, which we -- which we saw today, where -- where we actually had an American president at Cairo University, which could have never -- we couldn't imagine this happening two years ago? So, this is a -- a remarkable thing. And -- and -- and this debate will continue, but I think that this president's gotten us off to a really good start. And, you know, we -- we -- we're going to reengage in lots of parts of the Middle East here. And I think it's going -- I think it's going to make us a better and a safer country. And I think it can do a lot of real good..."

Neocons in my opinion have to realize that this is a case where Obama gets his way with foreign policy because he won the 2008 election while they lost. Bush and Cheney shoved extreme Neocon foreign policy ideology down our throats when they were in power so the Neocons are just getting a taste of their own bitter medicine right now after they lost an election!

panel dialogue (I could not find a video of this dialogue and the CNN transcript of it is not available yet so here is the LexisNexis transcript of it):

http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100007219&docId=l:985036094&start=12

CNN

SHOW: CAMPBELL BROWN 8:00 PM EST

June 4, 2009 Thursday

President Obama Reaches Out to Muslim World

Erica Hill, Frances Townsend, Bill Bennett, Fareed Zakaria, Campbell Brown, Michael Ware, Fran Townsend, Ted Rowlands, John Ridley, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Keith Ellison

CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: "Now, time for our third big question of the night. Should Al Qaeda be more afraid of Obama than Bush? And back to talk about that, John Ridley and Bill Bennett once again. Also joined by CNN international correspondent Michael Ware and Fran Townsend, also back with us as well.

Mike -- Michael, let me start with you. No coincidence probably that bin Laden releases a tape...

MICHAEL WARE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, not at all.

BROWN: ... just as he's heading toward the region. Who do you think --

WARE: Yes, cheap PR stuff, you know.

BROWN: Whose message do you think is resonating right now more with the Arab street this week?

WARE: Well, I certainly think that without doubt President Obama has the ball in his court right now. I mean, the Arab street is hungry for something new. Now, whether this is going to be enough, only time will tell.

As we've been saying, this was a landmark speech. It was telling in its oratory and in its format. But is it going to be backed up by action? That's what the Arab street is waiting for. And if it's not, then we're going to be left with what we are.

We need to see President Obama take real action, for example, in the Arab mind on Israel. Because if there is no action there, then there's no difference to them between a President Bush and a President Obama, and that's again in the Arab mind.

President Obama may be the good guy that he is, but to many on the ground, it's still the military and the CIA that runs the show. So we need to see real action before we determine who wins this debate.

BROWN: So to that point, we all analyzed the speech earlier. Talk about the action part of it. What has to happen now, Fran, in your view, for this to go to the next level?

FRAN TOWNSEND, FORMER (BUSH) HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: Well, when we heard President Obama again talk about changing interrogation techniques and changing Guantanamo, closing Guantanamo, but we don't hear -- he hasn't even told his own party, he hasn't told Congress the details of that. We're still waiting for the details. And to Michael's point, we don't understand how he's going to implement that.

You know, the fascinating thing you asked about bin Laden's statement, the fascinating thing about that is he's angry and accuses President Obama of following the policies of the prior administration. That's really a reference to the Predator strikes and the support of Pakistan in the tribal areas.

That ought to be good news to the American people. We're talking about the reaction in the Arab world. The American people ought to feel pretty good that we've maintained an aggressive posture and that, frankly, makes Osama bin Laden mad.

BROWN: Bill?

BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I don't know. George Bush can't do much to him right now. He doesn't have Fran Townsend anymore and he isn't in office. But, you know, Osama bin Laden declares war on the United States no matter who's president. That's, you know, twice when Bill Clinton was in office.

Flannery O'Connor said once, "I hate to say I find tedious what's giving so much exhilaration." But I found the speech tedious. I don't know how you say it's landmark until we see what comes of it. It's a speech George Bush could have given in all its particulars.

WARE: But he never did.

BENNETT: Yes, he did. He sure did.

WARE: Could have, would have.

BENNETT: And he did. He did.

TOWNSEND: He did.

BENNETT: He gave a speech in Egypt. By the way, there is still an interrogation going on in Egypt, which this administration supports.

WARE: Of course.

BROWN: So what policies are you looking for? I mean, what do you want to say he did?

BENNETT: Well, first of all, I'm basically pleased with what he's doing. Despite all this rhetoric, he is carrying on the war in Iraq. He is pumping the troops in Afghanistan. He is supporting the Pakistanis against the Taliban. Good stuff.

Now if George Bush does it, it's terrible. But when he does it, they love it. Fine with me.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Well, explain the difference.

BENNETT: Certainly, they love his tone. They love his tone better, but I like the act.

WARE: I think it's part of the stint (ph).

BROWN: Is it about more than tone?

JOHN RIDLEY, NPR CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I disagree. I don't think it was a good speech. I do agree that it was very short on specifics. I don't think that's unusual for President Obama.

WARE: Yes, can we expect --

RIDLEY: It's a first stage speech but I will say this -- you know, the question is, should they fear former President Bush or Bush in his office or Obama? The reality is they are fearing the united front. And that's what has got to happen here is, is the president now with all that he's facing, can he get not just America, not just the world, but specifically the Arabs behind?

I think he said some things that can move the moderates in that direction. I don't think it's an either/or opposition. Can he get the united front to help on the war on terror?

BENNETT: If he can get more people behind him because they like him better and they like his name better and they like his approach better, even though what he's saying is actually the same thing as George Bush, (INAUDIBLE) that's fine with me.

BROWN: But why does he miss that? I mean, the fact that here's a guy who looks like them, who has a name like them, that means something.

BENNETT: Well, fine, that's good. But what will it come to?

RIDLEY: Yes.

BENNETT: That is, will all of a sudden people say, by gosh, you're right and I hope you do stay in Iraq until things are safe. And we support you sending more troops into Afghanistan. If they say that, then fine. Otherwise, it's just a feel good. Let's wait and see.

TOWNSEND: Campbell, I think it can't be lost on people, including in the Arab world, he did make much of his middle name Barack Hussein Obama in his speech today.

BROWN: Right.

TOWNSEND: Do you think that the Arab world it was lost on them that he refused to use his middle name in his inauguration, he refused to use it during the campaign?

WARE: No, I think they're going to give him now -- I think they're finally living in the now.

TOWNSEND: Well, I don't think so.

RIDLEY: I don't know that he could use his middle name. I don't think he had too. I think it was critical (ph) to place.

WARE: Listen, after President Bush -- I'm sorry -- in the Middle East, America's name was less than mud. I'm sorry. Loathed and despised even by the moderates who are desperate to support.

(CROSSTALK)

TOWNSEND: Wait a minute.

BENNETT: You were there.

WARE: Yes.

BENNETT: But it had to make some difference to people in Iraq and Afghanistan. George Bush liberated 40 million or 50 million of them.

TOWNSEND: Thank you.

BENNETT: Barack Obama has liberated none of them.

WARE: That's not how they see it. He brought occupation (ph). He brought Abu Ghraib.

BENNETT: They want to go back.

WARE: He brought their children --

BENNETT: They want to go back.

WARE: Listen, that's what he brought.

BENNETT: They want to go back. They don't want democracy.

(CROSSTALK)

WARE: The Iraqis have long said...

BENNETT: Well, you guys are saying what they think.

(CROSSTALK)

WARE: ... if this is democracy, we want to take tyranny.

I think -- I think it's going to take some deft footwork by the new administration to reshape that thinking. But at the end of the day, they need to deliver with previous administrations haven't and that's in Israel and Palestine. And that we still haven't seen any real movement in Afghanistan.

BENNETT: I hope not.

WARE: What's happening in Pakistan? There's the answer. Therein lies the solution.

BROWN: We've got 30 seconds.

WARE: And we're not ready yet.

BENNETT: Well, again, we shall see what he does.

WARE: Exactly. Yet to believe.

BENNETT: But again, the basic outlines of the policy have not changed, have they?

WARE: Well --

BENNETT: I mean, if you talk about you as policy toward Iraq, toward Afghanistan, toward Pakistan...

BROWN: All right.

BENNETT: ... it hasn't changed.

BROWN: And we will -- we will --

WARE: Obviously, Iran --

BENNETT: A smiley face on it.

WARE: To Iran it certainly has.

BROWN: To be continued. To be continued. A great panel, guys. Thanks very much. Appreciate it..."