Senator Obama's Foreign Policy Experience

[xsited1]

I mean he is nowhere as bad as Bush, whose foreign policy was a colossal failure, but Obama would go much farther in repairing our relations with other countries and making a real effort to promote multilateralism.

That goes without saying! My concern is with Obama's support of the Global Poverty Act which could really bankrupt our country and give more control to the UN.

 

[Shogun]

why? are you the final arbiter of what gets posted? typical right wing strong arm tactics.

wft? larkin? right wing?


por que?

 

[DiveCon]

Illinois shares a border with Canada in exactly the same way that Alaska shares a border with Russia.

are you insane?

he was right, buy a map, or at least LOOK at one

 

[Ravi]

Down the rabbit hole are we.

 

[Missourian]

Because someone listed some of Obamas foreign policy experience, and you said they were equal. So I'm sure Palin must have done something foreign policy related, yes?

The point is, in order to make Senator Obama who is running for president, look like he has any foreign policy experience, the left must contrast him against Sarah Palin, the Vice Presidetial candidate.

Contrasting Senator Obama's paltry foreign policy experience to Senator McCain's makes Obama's half page resume look insignificant by comparison. That's the "man behind the curtain" that those in the land of OZbama needs you to ignore.

WASHINGTON — Like no other candidate, Senator McCain has linked his campaign for president to an unpopular war — and to a lifelong focus on foreign issues that many voters ignore.

Mr. McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, became famous as a Vietnam prisoner of war and has spent his long Senate career traveling to more foreign countries than most people could even name.

He makes his eighth trip to Iraq this weekend, a visit sure to get a lot of attention. But his weeklong overseas trip also includes Israel, Britain, and France — all countries where he's made many visits.

A defiant supporter of the 2003 invasion and President Bush's troop increase last year, Mr. McCain is likely to focus in Iraq on the drop in sectarian violence and American and civilian casualties since last summer.

His own situation has changed strikingly, too, since then. Now he's the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting.

Last April, as Mr. McCain's chances for winning the nomination seemed uncertain, the four-term Arizona senator toured a Baghdad marketplace, hailing the progress even though he was protected by three Black Hawk helicopters, two Apache gunships and 100 U.S. troops.

He was widely ridiculed as being out of touch.

As he returns, a new Pentagon study shows sectarian violence down 90% and American and civilian casualties down 70% since last July.

Last December, nearly two-thirds of Americans said they opposed the war, including nearly a third of Republicans and nearly all Democrats, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll. Opinions on the war have remained basically steady.

However, a poll released Friday by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal said about 35% of those questioned think Mr. McCain has the right approach for Iraq, compared with 30% for Senator Clinton and 27% for Senator Obama.

Mr. McCain calls the fight against Islamic extremism the "transcendent challenge of the 21st century."

"I've made it abundantly clear that I would much rather lose a campaign than a war," he said this week in New Hampshire.

The one may be tied to the other.

Says a foreign policy analyst at the Brookings Institution, Michael O'Hanlon: "I have a hard time seeing how he wins if Iraq falls apart between now and November, and I have a hard time seeing how the Democrats use Iraq against him over that time if things continue to improve."

As Democrats Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama fight over which of them has the credentials to be the next commander in chief, Mr. McCain offers a much lengthier foreign policy and military resume.

Now 71, he was born in the Canal Zone, where his father, a naval officer, was stationed. A graduate of the Naval Academy, Mr. McCain flew in Vietnam and was a prisoner of war for more than five years. In the Senate, he is the senior Republican on the Armed Services Committee.

He has visited every region of the world, including Antarctica and the Arctic Circle, and frequently meets with leaders of the countries to which he's traveled, both when he visits their countries and when they visit the United States.

Mr. McCain has been across the world so many times that aides named off the tops of their heads some 69 countries he's visited — including Azerbaijan, Estonia, Laos, and Palau — and warned the list was far from exhaustive.

Aides say he keeps up to speed on the politics and policies of many nations — a passion he regularly displays to reporters traveling with him — and understands the long-term ramifications of having well-established personal relationships with foreign leaders.

He makes it a point to meet with up-and-comers, too. Aides say he met Angela Merkel at a Munich conference several years ago before she became German chancellor. In summer 2004, Mr. McCain met at a restaurant with Viktor Yushchenko before the Orange Revolution when he was elected Ukrainian president.

Next week, Mr. McCain is expected to meet with Prime Minister Brown of Britain for the first time, and President Sarkozy of France for the third time. He met and corresponded with Mr. Sarkozy both before and after he was elected. The two last saw each other last summer.

Mr. McCain has relationships with every leader in Israel he plans to see, including Prime Minister Olmert, the foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, the defense minister, Ehud Barak, and the hawkish opposition leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The senator last met with Prime Minister al-Maliki of Iraq last Thanksgiving, and he's also gotten to know other members of the Iraqi government.

He returns with two of his chief presidential supporters, Senators Lieberman, an Independent of Connecticut, and Graham, a Republican of South Carolina, but he insists it is a fact-finding venture, not a campaign photo opportunity.

"There's nothing like being on the ground," he said. Mentioning a mountainous area in northwestern Pakistan, he added, "I went to Waziristan once and it gave me a much better understanding of how difficult it is to get Osama bin Laden."


link to NY Sun article.

 

[Larkinn]

suit yourself.
someday, maybe, we can meet on the shores of L. Superior in downtown Chicago and compare notes.
or not.

Or in the lake mississippi in Ontario which may, or may not, exist.

Those who live in glass houses...

 

[Larkinn]

That goes without saying! My concern is with Obama's support of the Global Poverty Act which could really bankrupt our country and give more control to the UN.

Its not going to bankrupt our country, it just lends some legal force to things we've already agreed to do.

 

[Larkinn]

wft? larkin? right wing?


por que?

Apparently mocking Palin makes me rightwing somehow. I don't get it either. But then a lot of what this guy says seems straight up idiotic.

 

[Larkinn]

are you insane?

he was right, buy a map, or at least LOOK at one

I've explained how it does. Of course you don't want to address that, just repeat whatever anyone on the right says, eh

 

[Larkinn]

The point is, in order to make Senator Obama who is running for president, look like he has any foreign policy experience, the left must contrast him against Sarah Palin, the Vice Presidetial candidate.

Not so much, no. Actually they were arguing Obama had enough foreign policy experience BEFORE Palin was nominated. Its just laughable that the Republicans cry and moan about how foreign policy experience is soooooo important and then nominate Sarah Palin.

Contrasting Senator Obama's paltry foreign policy experience to Senator McCain's makes Obama's half page resume look insignificant by comparison. That's the "man behind the curtain" that those in the land of OZbama needs you to ignore.

Experience McCain has. Judgement he does not.

 

[xsited1]

Its not going to bankrupt our country, it just lends some legal force to things we've already agreed to do.

If you give the UN more control over our country, we will be bankrupt in short order. We're almost bankrupt now.

 

[Larkinn]

If you give the UN more control over our country, we will be bankrupt in short order. We're almost bankrupt now.

Considering that anything binding the UN has power to do, ever, flows directly from the United States (among others) direct approval, this is nonsense.

 

[xsited1]

Considering that anything binding the UN has power to do, ever, flows directly from the United States (among others) direct approval, this is nonsense.

If the US has a minority position, they (we) will be bound by the UN's decision.

 

[DiveCon]

Considering that anything binding the UN has power to do, ever, flows directly from the United States (among others) direct approval, this is nonsense.

the US only has the veto in the UN SC, not of the UN as a whole

 

[kane3o1]

So what other foreign policy experience does Sarah Palin have besides stating she is close to Russia and that you can see some parts of Russia from Alaskan soil? And don't forget that Vladimir "rear his head" Putin has to cross into Alaskan "air space" 1st to get into the U.S. >_>

 

[Larkinn]

If the US has a minority position, they (we) will be bound by the UN's decision.

Ever heard of a veto power?

 

[Larkinn]

the US only has the veto in the UN SC, not of the UN as a whole

Oh do tell me what binding powers the "UN as a whole" has over the US.