Saturday, July 19, 2008

Four and Oh No

The past few weeks have quietly validated some of Obama's foreign policy positions. It started a few weeks ago when the Bush administration was able to get key concessions from North Korea on their nuclear program through......wait for it..........diplomacy. After years of tough talk that only served to escalate tensions and destabilize the relationship, finally direct engagement made brought about a acceptable solution.

Which brings us to Iran. Funny how this week we learned that the US was having direct conversations with Iran on their nuclear program......Hmmmm think the lowering tensions in the middle east had anything to do with the drop in oil prices?

Direct engagement...... where have I heard that before? Not that there is anything wrong with talking tough, but without direct engagement it accomplishes NOTHING. Thankfully as the administration winds down they are feeling some urgency to do something.

So that's two wins for Obama advocated policies, none for John McCain.

That brings us to Afghanistan.

"As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan," Obama said in an op-ed published Monday in The New York Times, a day before he plans a speech here on his vision for Iraq and Afghanistan.
So what do you think Bush is going to do?

Officials have been hoping that if security continues to improve in Iraq, they may be able to send more units to Afghanistan, where they say violence is increasing because of the flow of militants from neighboring Pakistan.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that officials are looking for ways to send additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan this year.

Great idea. Let's make that Obama 3, McCain nothing.

Well clearly, North Korea, Iran and Afghanistan are one thing, Iraq is another. Surely Barack's policies wouldn't work there?!?!?!?

On the other hand......

From Reuters:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told a German magazine he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months.

In an interview with Der Spiegel released on Saturday, Maliki said he wanted U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq as soon as possible.

"U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

It is the first time he has backed the withdrawal timetable put forward by Obama.

It would seem like the Iraqi government support Barack's policies, but the Bush administration certainly never would. Or would they?

The White House this afternoon accidentally sent to its extensive distribution list a Reuters story headlined "Iraqi PM backs Obama troop exit plan - magazine."

The story relayed how Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki told the German magazine Der Spiegel that "he supported prospective U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal that U.S. troops should leave Iraq within 16 months … ‘U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes,'" the prime minister said.

The White House employee had intended to send the article to an internal distribution list, ABC News' Martha Raddatz reports, but hit the wrong button.

WTF. The White House endorsing Obama's policies? That wouldn't be 4 stamps of approval for Obama's foreign policy, would it? John McCain's foreign policy consists of statements like "we can't afford to lose" and "Why would we talk to someone that wants to eliminate Israel?".

If you can't trust McCain on the economy and Obama's foreign policy positions are getting validated daily, why exactly would you vote for McCain?



When in doubt, make shit up!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

But our Dad doesn't see any chance of an Obama win. And neither do a lot of other Dads.

Ez Blogger said...

I would expect that the one group Obama is going to lose big is the over 65 group.

It won't matter what his policies are they will vote subconsciously on things like "he looks more Presidential" which meant something back when you didn't have as much information available about the candidates.