Tracking Obama's Behavior Toward Muslim Societies

President Obama has had his chance to change Washington's rhetorical tone. That job is now done. The next task is to live up to his nice words. To see how well he does, the OBAMA MUSLIM RELATIONS SCORECARD is now implemented.

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OBAMA MUSLIM RELATIONS SCORECARD

June 4 - Iran invited to participate in June 26-27 G8 meeting on Afghanistan

Score = A
Required move. To have done otherwise would have put the lie to Obama's new tone. Since the U.S. needs Iran more than Iran needs the U.S. on the Afghan issue, Obama doesn't make waves with this move or score enormous credit. It represents a logical step toward returning the U.S. to normal diplomatic behavior. Beyond that issue, it is important as the first step toward offering Iran the opportunity to become integrated into regional diplomacy. Now we must watch how Iran responds. Nicely timed move for Obama, who presumably signed off on Italy's invitation to Iran - a positive initiative calmly offered to the incoming Iranian president.