Obama assures Medvedev more flexibility after election
President Barack Obama was caught on camera on Monday assuring outgoing Russian President Dmitry Medvedev he will have "more flexibility" to deal with contentious issues like missile defense after the U.S. presidential election.
Afghanistan (July 20, 2008) U.S. Sen. Obama met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Obama reiterated his call for additional U.S. forces to deal with conditions in that he described as "precarious and urgent”. Obama spent time talking to U.S. military and diplomatic leadership, and to the leaders of Afghanistan, about whether the U.S. has the right strategy and the right resources to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, and to support lasting stability. The message from Obama to the Afghan government is this: we want a strong partnership based on "more for more" - more resources from the United States and NATO, and more action from the Afghan government to improve the lives of the Afghan people.
Anbar Province, Western Iraq (July 21, 2008) U.S. Sen. Obama held talks with Sunni tribal leaders and stated, “There is security progress, but now we need a political solution” and he repeated his goal of withdrawing US combat troops from Iraq within 16 months should he become president.
Ramadi, Iraq (July 21, 2008) U.S. Sen. Obama met with militiamen of the US-backed Awakening Councils movement - a tribal alliance whose members turned against al-Qaeda last year. Ahmed Abu Risha, head of the Awakening Councils, said tribal chiefs told Mr Obama that any withdrawal of US forces from Anbar should be carried out cautiously.
Baghdad, Iraq (July 21, 2008) U.S. Sen. met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki who told Obama that he hoped US troops could be withdrawn from Iraq by 2010. Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain, said that Obama was "completely wrong" to press for withdrawal timetables. Sen. McCain stated "When you win wars, troops come home”. (Sept. 2008) The New York Post has Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, on record, stating Barack Obama tried to interfere with ongoing negotiations with Iraqi leaders while on his trip to Iraq recently. While telling his supporters his plan to withdraw troops from Iraq within 16 months, Barack Obama was doing something far different while he was in Iraq. He was trying to talk Iraqi officials into delaying the agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence from Iraq, Zebari said in an interview with the New York Post. According to Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Obama made his demand for delay a key theme of his discussions with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad in July. "He asked why we were not prepared to delay an agreement until after the US elections and the formation of a new administration in Washington”.
Amman, Jordan (July 22, 2008) U.S. Sen. Obama met with Jordan’s King Abdullah Tel Aviv, Israel U.S. Sen. Obama held talks with Israeli leaders U.S. Sen. Obama held talks with Palestinian leaders
Britain (July 2008) Quote from British prime Minister, Gordon Brown: "The decision on the American election is a matter entirely for the American people and I have ….met with ….Senator Obama and talked to [him] about the issue that affect our two countries and the future of global issues."
France (July 25, 2008) U.S. Sen. Obama held a joint news conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy (whose country holds the European Union presidency) at the Elysée Palace in Paris.
Berlin, Germany (July 2008) U.S. Sen. Obama drew huge crowds in Berlin where he addressed them, oddly enough, as "fellow citizens of the world." Obama went on to state, “People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time. ... With an eye toward the future, with resolve in our hearts, let us remember this history, and answer our destiny, and remake the world once again."
In 1985, John Kerry traveled to Nicaragua for a friendly
pow-wow with the Sandinista president, Daniel Ortega. Of course back then, when he had a real president and not a Kardashian wannebe like Obama, that was in violation of the Logan Act. The Reagan administration supported the Contras against the Sandinistas and then president, Daniel Ortega.
Democrats John Kerry, Chris Dodd and Bill Nelson traveled to Damascus to meet with Bashir al-Assad. In 2006, Bush was trying to isolate the Syrian regime because of its aggression in Lebanon support for terrorism. Again, a violation of the Logan Act. yet you don’t hear a peep out of Democrats or their media sycophants about this.
Illegal Diplomacy
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may well have committed a felony in traveling to Damascus this week, against the wishes of the president, to communicate on foreign-policy issues with Syrian President Bashar Assad. The administration isn't going to want to touch this political hot potato, nor should it become a partisan issue.