This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Friday, January 30th, 2009. I'm Caleb Brown.

After his first major interview with an Arab TV network, it's clear President Obama is striking a decidedly different

tone in talking about terrorism.

David Ritgers, a legal policy analyst for the Cato Institute, and a former Special Forces officer in Afghanistan explains.

Barack Obama appeared on Al-O-Oribia, the second largest cable news network, satellite news network in the Arab world.

And there were a lot of criticisms of this that his first interview being in the Arab press was somehow a capitulation to Al Qaeda and the Taliban fighting us in Afghanistan that this was giving up the message that America is somehow strong and

I reject that that's not what he's doing and in fact he's giving a strong message

that counters what their message is to the Muslim world.

This was his first major interview following his inauguration,

and that was perhaps striking,

but what did he say in the interview that was worthy of note from the purposes

of fighting the two wars that we're fighting right now and continuing an effective effort

against terrorism emerging from that part of the world.

Well, he changed the tone of the U.S. message regarding the threat that Al Qaeda poses.

He was largely dismissive of their ideas and their message. He called them bankrupt and said that, you know, we'll be judged by what we build and not by what we destroy, which is entirely appropriate and in a sense it puts them in their place.

And instead of exaggerating the threat that they pose as existential, calling them bankrupt and saying that they have nothing to offer except death

and chaos of the world is a pretty good counter message.

He also stressed that we're not a colonial power to the world,

which I think is important in the Muslim world with regard to Algeria and past conflicts of a more

colonial nature and trying to exert sovereignty over them.

This is a serious departure from some of the message that the Bush administration put forth

using you are with us or against us is appropriate in certain circumstances

...