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Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. That is one option.
That they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. More recently, tension has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were too often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations. And when the first Muslim-American was recently elected to Congress, he took the oath to defend our Constitution using the same Holy Koran that one of our Founding Fathers - Thomas Jefferson - kept in his personal library.
Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope? But we also know that government initiatives are not enough. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. That is true genius of this nation. That is why there is a mosque in every state of our union, and over 1,200 mosques within our borders.
Because whether it's poverty or racism, the uninsured or the unemployed, war or peace, the challenges we face today are not simply technical problems in search of the perfect ten-point plan. And when innocents in Bosnia and Darfur are slaughtered, that is a stain on our collective conscience. Today, America has a dual responsibility: to help Iraq forge a better future - and to leave Iraq to Iraqis.
In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans. And nothing will change. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict. On science and technology, we will launch a new fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries, and to help transfer ideas to the marketplace so they can create jobs.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.