According to Josh Gerstein of Politico, President Obama's much-hyped speech today at the State Department regarding the Middle East will include praise for the Arab Spring and a call for debt forgiveness to provide  "cash flow relief" to the new Egyptian government. This would be the very same new government that is moving away from its peace treaty with Israel and cozying up to Iran, providing Suez Canal transit to Iranian warships, so they can cruise off Israel's Mediterranean coast.

"We see this as a critical window of time for the United States to take concrete action," a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday during a conference call previewing Obama's speech.

"The political movements of nonviolent protest that we've seen are rooted in part in a lack of opportunity in the region. You have very large populations of young people, many of whom - too many of whom - cannot find a job," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We think it's important to note that some of the protests in the region are deeply rooted in a lack of individual opportunity and economic growth as well as a suppression of political rights."

At least the language is hedged here: "some of", "may be" and the like. But no effort at all is made to connect a religion which idealizes a 7th century social order as the perfect  state of Allah's plan for mankind with economic stagnation and lack of opportunity. Nor the possibility that a religion which posits jihad against the infidel as the highest duty might hobble its economic prospects and social structure.

Osama Bin Laden shares President Obama's enthusiasm for the Arab Spring. Erin Bonsteel captures the situiation well: