Obama impressive but . . .

This Register editorial was written in advance of President Obama's speech in Cairo and I think it holds up fairly well. I don't think anybody else emphasized the importance of reducing the U.S. footprint in the Middle East anywhere near as much. I'm still processing Obama's speech in Cairo and will write tomorrow for Sunday. These blog posts, here, and here for Orange Punch have links to reactions from various people across the spectrum. My first impressions are generally positive -- he could have announced a swifter withdrawal from Iraq, but I didn't really expect anything of the sort. It partook a bit of the liberal semi-delusion that if we can just get the parties together to talk something good is bound to come of it, but not that drastically. I'm thinking we'll see whether it has an impact in the Muslim world in elections next week in Lebanon and in Iran two weeks hence.