The global put-down-America tour continues.

Yesterday, President Yudhoyono and I announced a new Comprehensive Partnership between the United States and Indonesia. We are increasing ties between our governments in many different areas, and — just as importantly — we are increasing ties among our people. This is a partnership of equals, grounded in mutual interests and mutual respect.

Mutual interests and respect? Fine. A great partnership of friendly nations? Okay. But saying America is on the same plane as Indonesia? No.

First of all, as DrewM. says, we’ve been sending foreign aide to Indonesia for a half-century. When one nation requires another nation’s sustained charity, the nations aren’t equal. And that’s without mentioning the disparity in global impact, contribution to global aide programs, and level of freedom.

Let’s keep in mind that Indonesia, with a history of violence against the Christian minority, only dropped its ban on books expressing dissent on October 15th of this year. And even then it took a constitutional court to determine that dissenters were being denied basic rigths.

Then there’s Obama’s weird version of history. He says:

Like any democracy, you have known setbacks along the way. America is no different. Our own Constitution spoke of the effort to forge a “more perfect union,” and that is a journey that we’ve traveled ever since. We’ve endured civil war and we struggled to extend equal rights to all of our citizens. But it is precisely this effort that has allowed us to become stronger and more prosperous, while also becoming a more just and a more free society.

Really? No different? As DrewM. says:

America endured a civil war and fulfilled its promise that “all men are created equal”. Indonesia endured a three decades long brutal military dictatorship. Unless I’ve really missed something big in American history, there’s no way you can say America’s “setbacks” (whatever Obama imagines them to be) are “no different” than Indonesia’s. It is simply a lie to say they are in anyway similar. This goes beyond making Indonesians feel better about themselves and is simply attacking America by false comparison.

And again, I’d point you to the fact that Indonesia only dropped its ban on book critical of the country on October 15th of this year.

Just as individuals are not defined solely by their faith, Indonesia is defined by more than its Muslim population. But we also know that relations between the United States and Muslim communities have frayed over many years. As President, I have made it a priority to begin to repair these relations. (Applause.) As part of that effort, I went to Cairo last June, and I called for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world — one that creates a path for us to move beyond our differences.

I said then, and I will repeat now, that no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust. But I believed then, and I believe today, that we do have a choice. We can choose to be defined by our differences, and give in to a future of suspicion and mistrust. Or we can choose to do the hard work of forging common ground, and commit ourselves to the steady pursuit of progress. And I can promise you — no matter what setbacks may come, the United States is committed to human progress. That is who we are. That is what we’ve done. And that is what we will do. (Applause.)

Except that the problem isn’t mistrust alone. It’s Muslim support for violent attacks against infidels. If I remember correctly, something like 9 in 10 Pakistanis have sympathy for Osama Bin Laden. A majority of Yemenis refuse to admit that Al Qaeda even exists.

The problem isn’t mistrust. It’s that too many Muslims either support or refuse to speak out against acts of terrorism perpetrated not only against Christians or Jews, but against other Muslims who refuse to blow themselves up in a market place in the name of Allah.

Muslim extremists don’t blow themselves up because they distrust us. They blow themselves up because they believe it’s their religious duty to kill infidels. Muslims who don’t speak out against terrorism either support it or are too afraid to speak out because their fellow Muslims will punish them. Again, the problem here isn’t mistrust.

Furthermore, Obama makes it seem as if the responsibility to repair American-Islamic relations rests with the United States. It’s not. Americans aren’t in the Middle East because we couldn’t find a more exciting place to spend a decade of time, hundreds of billions of dollars, and thousands lives. We’re there because we come under attack from Muslim terrorists when we’re not pro-active in fighting them.

If Muslims really want to repair relations with the west, they can start by vocally condemning people who fly planes into buildings, blow up daycare centers, and shoot at American soldiers as they’re handing out toys and food to the civilian population. That would be a start.

We’re supposed to give a mile as the Muslim world, by and large, refuses to give an inch. We’re supposed to apologize for responding to acts of terrorism while Muslims aren’t expected to so much as condemn people who blow up daycare centers. We’re supposed to back down and grovel for forgiveness. Muslims aren’t expected to do anything.

The biggest threat to the free world today is Muslim extremism. That’s undeniable. Yes, one can argue that big government and Big Brother are threats to our freedoms. But when it comes down to life and death, whether we live to see tomorrow morning, the biggest threat by far is Islamic extremism.

We’re told in a thousand pieces of literature, countless campaign speeches, and God knows how many press releases that Islam is fundamentally a religion of peace. That if only America restored trust, why, the Muslim world would like to live side-by-side with America and its allies.

Well, as much as I’d love to believe that, I really can’t. The evidence simply doesn’t exist to support that often-repeated claim.