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More headlines: Barack Obama on Foreign Policy

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OpEd: Goal is One World with limited US sovereignty

Obama's dream is truly our nightmare. He wants to minimize the sovereignty of the US. government over the America itself, and, instead, maximize the authority of foreign nations over US economic policy. He enthusiastically embraces a One World philosophy, instead of validating the importance of individual nations--including the nation whose laws he swore an oath to protect.

As part of the One World strategy, he treats our longtime friends and allies with suspicion, while welcoming our enemies with naive tolerance. He insults the British and the French and betrays the Poles, while kowtowing to the North Koreans and the Iranians.

He agrees to allow the G-20 nations to decide how much we can pay executives in private American corporations. If he's not stopped in 2010, he'll try to place the entire American economy under the rule of the International Monetary Fund and the G-20 (including countries like Argentina, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, and Russia). It's in the works.

Source: Take Back America, by Dick Morris, p. 2 Apr 13, 2010

OpEd: overseeing smooth decline into post-superpower status

President Obama's presupposition is that America is in a state of inevitable decline. He seems to believe that we have entered the "post-American world." The perspective is shared by many in the foreign policy cognoscenti, and apparently by the president himself. He therefore sees his task as somehow managing that decline, making the transition to post-superpower status as smooth as possible, helping Americans understand and adjust to their new circumstances.

In his response to a question about whether he believed in "American exceptionalism"--a phrase that indicates America has a special place and role in the world--he replied, "I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." Which is another way of saying he doesn't believe it at all.

Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p. 28-29 Mar 2, 2010

2005: The Plan: build credibility with travel abroad

Unlike Clinton, whose national profile was already as capacious as it could get before she arrived in the Senate, Obama wanted to take advantage of his newfound prominence to build a larger brand. His staff was fielding 300 speaking invitations a week. Grassroots liberal activists, conservative columnists, and his party's leadership all wanted a piece of him.

His advisers developed a strategic plan to capitalize on this outsize interest. The plan--which Rouse and the rest ingeniously dubbed "The Plan"--called for Obama to dive neck-deep into fundraising for his Senate colleagues. (They'll be coming to you anyway, Rouse told him, so you might as well volunteer.) To give major speeches on national policy: energy, education, economics. To travel abroad as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to build his credibility on international affairs. To expand his political horizons aggressively and systematically. Obama put his shoulder to the wheel.

Source: Game Change, by Heilemann & Halpern, p. 27-28 Jan 11, 2010

2008 World Tour: Iraq, Germany, Afghanistan, Israel

Obama's World Tour included a sprawling itinerary that would have posed real challenges to a sitting president and his team. Eight countries in ten days, including two war zones: Kuwait, Afghanistan, and Iraq on the first leg; Jordan, Israel, Germany, France, & England on the second. And yet the Obamans miraculously pulled it off without a hitch. The pictures beamed around the world were priceless: Obama visiting an army base and effortlessly sinking a three-point shot in front of hundreds of cheering soldiers; Obama in a helicopter with General Petraeus, both in sunglasses and grinning like mad; the soaring speech in front of two hundred thousand at the Victory Column in Berlin; the interview with each of the broadcast network anchors, who had tagged along for the trip.

The reaction of the McCain campaign was unambiguous. It went on the attack. It released an ad unveiling the campaign's slogan, "Country First," with its insinuation that Obama put something else (i.e. his ambition) above the nation.

Source: Game Change, by Heilemann & Halpern, p.329 Jan 11, 2010

FactCheck: Campaign prevented committee meetings, not rules

Obama said that he did not convene any policy hearings as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on European Affairs because “the issues of Afghanistan, the issues of Iraq, critical issues like that don’t go through my subcommittee because they’re done as a committee as a whole.”

FACT CHECK: An Obama adviser acknowledged in March that Obama’s presidential candidacy prevented him from calling hearings, saying to ABC News: “The record is what it is. He didn’t become chairman of that subcommittee until January of 2007. The fact is that he made his announcement for president of the US in February of 2007. So, he had other things on his mind.”

Source: FactCheck.org on 2008 first presidential debate-Boston Globe Sep 26, 2008

Europe & Japan are allies, but China is a competitor

Q: What are America’s three most important allies around the world?

A: The European Union as a whole has been a long-standing ally of ours, and through NATO we’ve been able to make some significant progress. We also have to look east, because increasingly, the center of gravity in this world is shifting to Asia. Japan has been an outstanding ally of ours for many years. But, obviously, China is rising and it’s not going away. They’re neither our enemy nor our friend. They’re competitors.

Source: 2007 South Carolina Democratic primary debate, on MSNBC Apr 26, 2007

Ok to postpone Pakistani elections, but not indefinitely

Q: Do you believe the elections scheduled for January 8th in Pakistan should be postponed due to Benazir Bhutto’s assassination?

A: The key is to make sure that there’s legitimacy to those elections. And given the enormous tragedy that has happened, I think that it is understandable if those elections are delayed slightly. But it’s important that this is not used as an excuse to put off, indefinitely, elections. My main concern is making sure that the opposition parties feel comfortable that they have the opportunity to participate in fair and free elections. That also means that we reinstate an independent judiciary in Pakistan, that there is a free press, that the campaigning can proceed. Because our primary interest is making sure that whatever government emerges in Pakistan is viewed as legitimate. The vast majority of the Pakistani people are moderate and believe in rule of law. That’s who we want as allies in the fight against Islamic extremism.

Source: Meet the Press: 2007 “Meet the Candidates” series Dec 30, 2007

Pakistan crisis: secure nukes; continue with elections

Q: What would you do if you were confronting the current crisis in Pakistan?

A: The first thing we want to do is to contact the Pakistani government to get assurances from them that the nuclear stockpiles are secured. The second thing is to make sure that Musharraf is sending a clear message to the family of Bhutto and her supporters that he recognizes this is a tragedy and express sympathies to try to keep tempers cooled in the capital cities and major urban areas. And the third thing that we have to do is to make sure that elections continue. If they’re not going to continue as planned on January 8th, then shortly thereafter, but there has to be a clear message from the Musharraf government that in fact this won’t be used as an excuse to subvert democracy.

Source: CNN Late Edition: 2007 presidential series with Wolf Blitzer Dec 30, 2007

China is a competitor, but not an enemy

Q: Is China an ally or adversary?

A: China is a competitor, but they don’t have an enemy, as long as we understand that they are going to be negotiating aggressively for their advantage, and we’ve got to make sure that we’re looking after American workers. That means enforcing our trade agreements; it means that if they’re manipulating their currency, that we take them to the mat on the that issue; it means that we are also not running up deficits and asking China to bail us out.

Source: 2007 AFL-CIO Democratic primary forum Aug 8, 2007

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