I would love to hear your thoughts on the matter as long as you are willing to stick to the relevant time period (2009 - present) and the relevant actors (the Obama administration) since that was the context that the statement was made in.
If you are looking to go back to the colonial, post-colonial, WWI, WWII, and post WWII time frame than I would counter by arguing that you would have to go back to at least 632 and the failure of the Prophet Muhammad to leave a clear successor for the Islamic people.
Bookmarks