Boffo reviews: Arab reaction to President Obama's Al Arabiya interview "astonishingly positive."

By GottaLaff

Progress in the Middle East will be frustratingly slow, but for those who think reaching out is a bad idea, check this out:

Since President Obama's interview with Al Arabiya last night, State Department public diplomacy officials have been closely monitoring reaction in the Arab media -- TV, newspapers, radio and blogs -- to get a sense for how the interview is playing.

The State Department is busy preparing a report for the White House on what they've observed and, so far, the reaction has been a very positive one.

In reviewing Arab media commentary, officials say, two messages seem to have resonated: Obama's focus on listening and not dictating U.S. policy and his emphasis on the fact that he has lived in the Muslim world and has Muslim family members.

Flies. Honey. Vinegar. Imagine that.

The U.S. Embassy in Cairo reports: "We are getting overwhelmingly positive feedback from bloggers and contacts in country. Their main points are that they were highly impressed..." that he gave his first TV interview to an Arab satellite channel.

In Saudi Arabia, a newspaper editor told the embassy, "The reader reaction that he's getting so far is astonishingly positive."

In the United Arab Emirates, the embassy said, "Anecdotal public reaction has been highly positive."

In Bahrain, one newspaper normally critical of U.S. policies commented favorably on the appointment of George Mitchell as special envoy.

The interview aired too late for Syria, Iran, and other places to meet newspaper deadlines, so tomorrow there will be more reaction from the enemies of the Bush administration.