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The attempt to launch a 'new beginning' between Muslims and the US is an ambitious undertaking that Obama apparently believes necessary to secure peace in the Middle East. Logically, peace in the Middle East would present a great positive impact on the global community and resolve the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. Peace is a prize worthy of pursuit, but Obama's speech in Cairo did not launch a new beginning between Muslims and the U.S. in June 2009.

Islam is a religion and Muslims follow Islam disciplines with variations in some areas of belief but they all believe the Koran is holy. (Shi'ites and Sunnis are examples) Islam became a religion in 600 A.D. The Muslim faith includes many nationalities including Arabs, Turks, Indians, Pakistanis, Indonesians, Europeans, Africans, Chinese and more.

How do you broker peace between 52 Muslim nations and the U.S.? Before new relations are possible, shouldn't everyone be clear on the issues that separate them? Fifty-two nations have unique Muslim cultures each with their own agendas and pecking orders. All Muslims are not extremists, but those who are extremist are very vocal.

Several Muslim nations fund organizations recognized as "terrorist" groups by the U.S. For example, Arabs from several countries fund Hamas in Palestine, while Iran is the benefactor for Hezbollah prominent in Lebanon and Syria. Funding of terrorists, by these benefactors, has been in effect for decades. Some of Hezbollah's members are identified as former members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard from which Ahmadinejad emerged.

Iran

Ahmadinejad is at least honest about his desire to destroy Israel and America as he stated in a speech in 2005 when he was first elected as the Iranian president. He doesn't hold the power reins however. The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (supreme leader) and clerics hold the real power in Iran and are said to have hand picked Ahmadinejad who denies the Jewish holocaust and praised the terrorist group Hezbollah saying it is a "symbol of pure thought of Islam."

In a speech in 2005, Ahmadinejad said, 'Imam Khomeini said: This regime that is occupying Qods [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.' What does the supreme leader think of Israel? The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently called Israel a "cancerous tumor on the verge of collapse." By all appearances, Ahmadinejad and the present Ayatollah follow the same path as the former Ayatollah Khomeini.

The newly re-elected Ahmadinejad has troubles with

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