Obama’s Foreign Policy Expertise
June 19th, 2008 at 04:39am Mark Noonan
More Carteresque by the day:
Democrat Barack Obama misused a “code word” in Middle East politics when he said Jerusalem should be Israel’s “undivided” capital but that does not mean he is naive on foreign policy, a top adviser said on Tuesday.
Addressing a pro-Israel lobby group this month, the Democratic White House hopeful said: “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”
The comment angered Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as the capital of a future state. “He has closed all doors to peace,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said after the June 4 speech.
Obama later said Palestinians and Israelis had to negotiate the status of the city, in line with long-held U.S. presidential policy.
Daniel Kurtzer, who advises Obama on the Middle East, said Tuesday at the Israel Policy Forum that Obama’s comment stemmed from “a picture in his mind of Jerusalem before 1967 with barbed wires and minefields and demilitarized zones.”
“So he used a word to represent what he did not want to see again, and then realized afterwards that that word is a code word in the Middle East,” Kurtzer said.
Whether or not Jerusalem should remain the undivided capitol of Israel is a debatable issue - I think it should be, because anything remotely like a retreat on the part of Israel will just be seen by the Jihadists as another signal to attack. But one can have either view and have a rational foreign policy - but you can’t have both. You can’t, that is, try desperately to mend your fences with America’s Jewish voters who might prove vital in a close November election while at the same time keeping on board your supporters who think that the Palestinians are the good guys in the Israeli-Palestinian war. Pick one, and stick with it.
Obama tried to have it both ways, and now he’s got his advisor out assuring all and sundry that it was a mistake…just a verbal gaffe…but verbal gaffes in such a serious issue can lead to dead people, and the people of the United States need to take this into consideration as they make their choice in November.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Democrats, Foreign Affairs, War on Terror
36 Comments Add your own
1. js | June 19th, 2008 at 6:27 am
all this shows is that hussein is willing to pander for the vote of the Jewish population with lies…nothing new here….
2. Magnum Serpentine | June 19th, 2008 at 7:17 am
george had zero experience when he was appointed in 2001 and he now has negative (-) 999 trillion experience in 2008 and george keeps proving he is clueless at foreign policy every single day.
Next
3. hermie | June 19th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Obama has shown a definite pattern throughout the campaign…Say something to pander to whatever audience he is speaking in front of, so as to get the maximum amount of applause for the evening news; then have one of his toadies turn right around and either deny he said it, or that he really didn’t mean to say it.
4. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Mags,
One more time. Bush is not on the ballot. Let me know what you don’t understand about that statement. Incidentally he was a popular and successful governor of Texas and dealt a lot with Mexico because of that, just FYI.
How many times has Obama either explained or apologized about his statements during this campaign? Pathetic.
peace, neocon
5. OpChaosUK | June 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Magnum, why waste your time? You really impress everyone here with your macho use of Bush’s first name. It shows you’re a tough guy now. You’ve outgrown the days when your sisters used to dress you up in girl’s clothing. Tough guy.
At least I’ll show Earbama some respect should he win in November. I’ll call him Presiden Earbama…
6. Pain | June 19th, 2008 at 11:05 am
4. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Oh he is not is he? In the same way that Jimmy carter was not in 1980 or Nixon was not in 1976 or Johnson in 1968?
7. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Pain,
What?????
Every President since Washington has had vastly more experience than Obama upon their election.
And all of them also embodied the American spirit. Of which Obama is completely lacking.
have a nice day
peace, neocon
8. Some Assembly Required | June 19th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
7. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I guess if you consider a drinking a drug problem as experience your right there neocon.
9. Pain | June 19th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
7. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 11:37 am
One more time. Bush is not on the ballot.
This is what We were referring to in our comment. An incumbent even when not running IS very often in the minds of those in the voting booth.
10. LNC | June 19th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Pain, what are you talking about? Jimmy Carter WAS on the ballot in 1980.
11. Pain | June 19th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
10. LNC | June 19th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Sorry. The Carter thing was a complete software error. JC was on the 1980 ballot. But incumbents that are gone do have their policies judged by the voters in the next election.
12. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
SAR,
Yes, but even Andrew Jackson was even more experienced than Obama.
13. Sunny | June 19th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Pain,
What?????
Every President since Washington has had vastly more experience than Obama upon their election.
neo, you might want to check out the history of Abraham Lincoln’s exprience prior to being elected president of the US. Just a thought.
14. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Aside from Abe’s experience, whether or not more profound than Obamas, was Abe’s American spirit and tenacity to remain steadfast in his resolve to do the right thing despite overwhelming criticism and lack of support amongst the masses.
That is something Obama, or the Democrats would NEVER do.
Just a thought.
peace, neocon
15. Vicodin-N-Cocoa | June 19th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I part company here with Obama because I believe that Tel-Aviv makes far more sense as an Israeli capital than Jerusalem does. Not only is Tel-Aviv the financial capital of Israel, but also it’s not a divided city. The functions of government did not get mixed up in the superstitions of three religions and the violence that flows from those superstitions.
What is McCain’s foreign policy experience anyway? Getting led around the Green Zone like a Visier in a gilded box?
I don’t even claim THAT much Middle-East experience myself, but I do know South America pretty well and McCain has absolutely no clue of what’s going on down here. None. And if he follows through with his plans to send American troops into Colombia for a run at Venezuela and to Peru for a run at Ecuador and Bolivia, he’s going to lead those troops like lambs to the slaughter without a chance of accomplishing anything. Not that anything needs to be accomplished. Every country from Mexico to Argentina already is a democracy.
He claims that Colombia and Peru are his “models” of South American democracy. I’ll grant him that both countries have democratic systems of government. McCain just happens to like them because Alvaro Uribe sllows the US to do whatever it likes in Colombia and every time he tries to be his own man, Brownfield tells him “no” and tells him how America wants it done. The President of Peru is Alan Garcia, another Bush fan, and one of your bigger butchers in the 1980s.
McCain’s fabulous foreign policy experience misses that neither the Colombian nor Peruvian people like Bush and they’ve gone from respecting the USA to beng nauseated by the USA. I’ll evangelize about this as often as I have to because I do not want to see US servicepeople die needlessly. If McCain tries to quarter troops in Colombian homes in Barranqulla, Bogota, Cali, Medellin or Lima, he’ll be in for the shock of his life.
You have no idea what those places are like. 40 years of civil war followed by 40 years of political violence over the control of cocaine and money. If you have satellite TV watch Caracol or RCN sometime. The wealthy have private armies and the poor are one giant army and rivals in the drug trade are not going to be fighting each other like Sunni and Shia when the US comes. Each take the same attitude toward US intereference in their thing: GO AWAY. And they have lots of guns and semtex.
Unlike the fresh-faced US recruits, these people rich and poor alike are all very experienced with death and misery and no child expects to live past 30. Colombia and Peru are your “allies,” remember? You have PHILOSOPHIES about “freedom” and “patriotism” and all that stuff. From the youngest, Colombians and to a lesser extent Peruvians have to defend themselves and aggress when necessary. No time for philosophizing.
Doubtless, you’ll tell me how wrong I am because YOU KNOW MORE about South America even though you’ve never been here, but McCain if elected should want no part of this. How could he want to use Colombia as a staging area for anything? The troops are not welcome there even if Uribe says they are.
Imagine that the in the nicest neighborhood in your home town with the biggest houses and richest people, every teenager has seen most of his male relatives killed before his eyes by the time he or she was 10. I don’t care how well trained the US armed forces are. How can they deal with wealthy teenagers who like to play Madden ‘09 football or something but al carry Berettas or Glocks and have been told by their mothers to shoot anyone in a uniform near the house. They do it and go back to their video games.
How does McCain not know this? Because he’s such a bonehead that he won’t listen to anyone who lives down here. Why? Because that might mean speaking to a narco-traficante or a lavador or even just somebody who’s a supporter of Gaviria.
So, how are you going to deal with an 800,000 man Venezuelan army?
16. FmrMarine | June 19th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
vicoden drug dealer from porno/gay site HELLS newspaper.
>>>So, how are you going to deal with an 800,000 man Venezuelan army?<<<
About 50 hours LESS than sadams 3,000,000.00 man army defeated in 100 hours.
W will go down in history as one of the BEST presidents in modern time.
NO attacks on US soil since 911……EVERYONE predicted more.
An INHERITED recession……THREE tax CUTS a roaring expanded economy LESS than 5% unemployment.
50,000,000 people LIBERATED in two major countries, and two murderous dictators taken down.
A nuclear disarmed ghadaffi
A toned down N. Korea
Since the donkRATS over took congress =
$4.00 gasoline
housing devaluation
inflation
sub prime collapse.
Good job REIDTARD and PIGLOWSEY!
17. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
“So, how are you going to deal with an 800,000 man Venezuelan army?” - vicodin
The questions is: how will Venezuela deal with America the best military in the world?
Not so well. I guarantee.
But thanks for playing.
have a nice day
peace, neocon
18. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Venezuelan Army?????
That’s hysterical.
Thanks Vico
19. Pain | June 19th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
16. FmrMarine | June 19th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Fmr Marine=Frequent visitor at the Dis Brimstone Daily Pitchfork searching for “vulva.” Which is cool with Us but We prefer he be an honest fan!
The Venezuelans are not the Iraqis. They are a fierce and homogeneous peoples with little or no ethnic animosities. There would have to be massive bombing of civilian areas. Millions would perish. A quick scenario would put American casualties from a coordinated post bombing beach invasion coupled with airborne paratroop assault at well over 10,000 dead in the first fortnight.
W will only go down in history as one of the greatest Presidents in history if one, your write the book and two McCain is elected president and al Qaeda nukes a major city. But of course that would be the fault of a Democratic Congress.
We suggest you only whisper this mantra about no attacks since 9/11. This is no more about Bush than it was his fault that 9/11 happened.
3 million refugees over a million dead and both countries still at war six and five years on respectively.
The shortest lived recession in US history 1/3 of a quarter. The current US unemployment rate from the Labor Department is 5,5%.
A paid off Qaddafi and a paid off DPRK. Bomb and invade Iraq which had no WMD and you negotiate with North Korea which did. We thought negotiation was appeasement?
Cheney’s Energy policy
Secret Meetings with Oil CEOS
130 dollar a barrel oil
4,50 a gallon gasoline
5 dollar a gallon diesel
7 dollar a bushel corn
Bush economic policy
No oversight of collateralized debt
Massive spikes in foreclosures
Ninja [no income no job] loans bundles and sold to foreign banks and other speculators
A sweetheart deal for Bear Stearns to the tune of 33 MMM in taxpayer money
20. FmrMarine | June 19th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
pain in the a$$
A frequent searcher for articles….the SO CALLED “vulva” search is bogus.It was a search for an article in which YOU outed YOUR self as a LESBIAN!!!!
Neo thought you were an islamic nutcase.
I know by your own article you are a carpet muncher.
RE post it here for all of us to see if you have any balls ,OOPS….sorry strap ons not included.
There will be NO epic war with Venezuela, that is a marxist wet dream and a smokescreen by a drugged up pantywaist from YOUR porno website.
I love these FOREIGN A$$ H@!ES who post here like they are involved as Washington DC insiders…….LOL ….what a freeking joke.
21. FmrMarine | June 19th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
PORNO PAIN =
>>>>Pain
Knight Slayer of Shai’ tan
Majordomo of Hell and Terra
Order of the Black Rose of the Empire
Ayatollah of Rham and its Shadow
Fair Judge Executioner of Souls
Quarterer’s Order of the Descending Aorta, 1st Class, with diamonds, mesentery and lymph nodes
Lord Gaoler of Dis
Womb of Empires
先生 立石 上様
Fifth Sea Lord of Hell
Chair, Hellac Consumer Products Safety Commission
Oracle of Elections
Chair, Hellac Commission on Sentient Being Rights
Lord High Justice of the Court of Acts & Merits
Knight Commander of the Hellac Gordian Knot of Silver
Keeper of the Keys of all the Gates of Hell
Qadi of Hades
Chamberlain Imperial of the Necropontiff
Order of the Quartz Heart (Eng.)
Count-Palatine of Sheol
Marquis di Gehenna
Emperor Consort
White Rod
President Pro tempore Bax Culdnu
3 Melnar 2 AS<<<<
WOW way to many titles for me.
queen DYKE would probably suffice!
Ill bet all the “girls” are impressed!
22. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Pain,
Cheney’s energy policy for 6 1/2 years kept gas prices at $2.70 or lower.
An embattled Democratic Congress and their Global Warming initiatives, specifically the ethanol legislation, has caused anxiety in the commodity markets hence higher costs for the Average American.
And if the economy were so far in the tank and your ninjas (the people you supposedly care about), have nothing, how is Obama now able to flip flop, and not take public money. He is getting so much money that he doesn’t need the public dole. All from people that have nothing, right?
Had those thoughts ever rattled around that empty head?
peace, neocon
23. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Pain,
A couple of well placed Atom bombs and we would be cultivating Venezuela for farm land in a fortnight.
have a nice day
peace, neocon
24. Some Assembly Required | June 19th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
FMR, Hitler Lost world war II because he attacked Russia. Germany had hands down the most technologically superior fighting force on the planet (Sound Familiar). Creating that extra front effectively created his demise. With this in mind, the US if currently fighting in a two front war. If you open up another front in Venezuela, they will be the least of your worries. I fear aside from a South American uprising, China, North Korea and Iran would ban together against the US. Also, we currently have a border problem. Afghanistan was on a Different continent and they still managed to attack us. Venezuela, is just down south. We all know how easy it is to slip into the border around say Texas or New Mexico. The war would be brought home faster then you could bat an eyelash. Unless of course you plan on creating ‘internment camps’ to house all those Latino immigrants. Lets get real, you can’t really tell what part of South America their from, just that their not American right… Then, add to this the fact that the world will not put up with another unprovoked war. Now, how many American troops / civilians do you think would be an acceptable loss for ‘domestic oil’? Don’t give me that ‘liberty’ shite either, if they were selling oil to us for penny’s there would be no problem. So my question still stands.
Call Pain, or anyone else from that website whatever you wish it does not make what they say any less true. If anything, I think Pain’s assessment is a modest one. Guess that makes me a Liberal kook hey? I’m fine with that, because history will eventually paint you as poorly as the KKK of the 30’s. I don’t know about you sir, but thats not something I’d be to flattered over.
25. FmrMarine | June 19th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
SAR
Venezuela is NO russia, and we will not go to war with her,
It is PURE FANTASY from a delusional liberal mind.
“LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISEASE”
I concur!
26. FmrMarine | June 19th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
SAR
>>>>history will eventually paint you as poorly as the KKK of the 30’s. I don’t know about you sir, but thats not something I’d be to flattered over.<<<
KKK = THAT …..WAS….the DEMOCRAT party, of the 30’s and im appalled by these DEMOCRAT RACISTS.
Not much has changed except now they are marxists.
27. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Where did this “war” from Venezuela originate??????
From the delusional young fertile mind of a liberal lemming, I suppose.
But what’s extremely amusing is that now they’re actually debating the outcome. And actually giving Venezuela a chance! How unbelievably off the reservation is that?
And this comes to us from the self professed “reality based” community.
sheesh
peace, neocon
28. Pain | June 19th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
22. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Well on your planet Cheney’s energy policy might have done that and the Democratic Party might have had a Congress in such dire straits as those but in the real world of American politics RBOB gasoline prices averaged 3.037 on September 5, 2005 according to EIA and remained there until October 10, 2005. Gasoline prices once again crossed your mythical CheneyLine on April 17, 2006 at 2.764 per gallon and did not return to 2.68 until September 4, 2006. The average price in the US 6 1/2 years after the Cheney energy meetings was 2.816 per gallon.
The greatest increase in oil futures prices correlates with the uptick in crude prices as money left subprime and Alt A CDO paper and moved into commodites including but not limited to: Light Sweet crude, gold, copper, corn, palladium, platinum and natural gas.
29. Some Assembly Required | June 19th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Funny, we thought invading Iraq was pure fantasy and that anyone who bought into what was being said had a ‘delusional mind’ whether ‘Liberal’ of ‘Republican’. We knew the conventional part would be over quickly. Any nation which does not have a capable air force will fall at their knees before America in conventional battle. Some of us ‘anti-American unpatriotic war protesters’ knew this would turn into a guerilla warfare. We understood what possible effects this would have in the ME and furthermore, we knew it would strength AQ by giving them not only a place to escape too but a big area to fight. But those drums of war were pounding then and our cries fell on deaf ears. We are now to a point where not even ‘I told you so’ is suffice. If McCain is elected, 8 years from now you will not be able to recognize America. 15 Years from then, there will be people writing books and movies and making millions on ‘What went wrong? How the greatest empire of the 20th century crumbled in little more then 200 years. How much did Fundamentalism have to do with it? How did the free press that exposed one president become such a powerful instrument in herding the masses in just a little over 2 decades?’
Nevermind all that, WE NEED MORE COWBELL!
A racist party has the first black man representing them. Can you please in your infinite wisdom, explain to me how that works?
Hope….
30. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Wow. I did pretty good on the $2.70 call. That was just a gut feel. Evidently I was .11 off, but thanks for proving my point Pain.
And inflated dairy prices preceeded crude prices.
peace, neocon
31. Pain | June 19th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
30. neocon | June 19th, 2008 at 8:57 pm
You were off also by two and a half years. The spikes began during the GOP Congressional years
29. Some Assembly Required | June 19th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Wooo hooo MORE COWBELL!
32. Vicodin-N-Cocoa | June 20th, 2008 at 12:40 am
Etda. PAIN:
What I love most about this site is that the regulars are so hung up about sexuality and have such cold panic about their own identities that they think the trump card is to call someone a lesbian or gay, like that’s a bad thing! Fellers, it’s a GOOD thing. What were Karl Rove and Jeff Guckert, anyway, the Katzenjammer Kids?
And did some numbnuts call me a “marxist?” Wow, what is this, 1960? I’ve always considered myself to be a free-marketeer and to have a kind of conservative take on economics, finance and regulation.
I don’t think anyone here has any conception about what Marxism is in theory and practice and I do because my great uncle fought with the Bolsheviks in 1917 and two years later saw how bad it was going to be and left. My father was a member of ACP for a while as a teenager but only because he was so depressed from having to take that bus upstate every Saturday to visit his my grandfather in various slammers, he liked the idea of being a thug and opposing the government whenever possible.
But he had a very good experience in the US Navy and that kind of cured him of his anger. He’s settled into being a very Progressive Democrat, having made some money in medical pubishing and real estate. Oh, his Navy service earned him 4-years at a private university. Why does McCain think the same right for Iraq veterans is “too expensive”?
I keep forgetting that this is a Pro-War blog and I can’t really blame them for that. If you don’t have a college degree and a struggling at a boring job and can’t make ends meet or like a few here still live with their mothers, I can see the appeal of Amerian triumphalism. Everyone wants to be on the winning team. Me? I like making money too much to worry about “America’s greatness.”
Drug dealer? Well, I sold drugs once in my life, 25 years ago. I sold 500 qaaludes — 1 or 2 at a time! Urgh. It was such an annoying experience I vowed never to do it again. People coming by my place at all hours, calling me at all hours. I coudn’t work or study. It was just wretched. So, I would not say that I am a drug dealer, no. I’m a joyful drug consumer, however.
33. Vicodin-N-Cocoa | June 20th, 2008 at 1:12 am
NeoCon: Tell me exactly what you mean by “liberal” and I’ll tell you if the label fits or not. My views on economics is mainstream conservative. I believe in sound money and carrying about 60% of the historical per capita debt and deficit load. I think a big economy should have some debt and a small deficit. Surpluses just mean that you are a large net exporter of commodities and don’t fit model of a contemporary economy.
I don’t think American taxes are too low. I think they’re too high. I can accept the double-taxation of dividend income agrument. With corportate rates at 34% effective, there should be room to get rid of that mess anyway. I really have no particular problems with Bush’s tax cuts. I merely think it’s an irresponsible fiscal policy if you plain to keep a minimum of two wars on the boil and have committed to a massive Medicare presicription drug give-away, plujs maintain a national security state.
I think the Department Of Homeland Security and the IRS are massive bureaucratic messes.
On social policy, I’m extreme left. Completely supportive of civil liberties and civil rights.
On foreign policy, I favor peace and diplomacy over war, but I’ve gotten so well of your wars I can’t compalin too much. I just don’t want wa in my neck of the woods. It’s a disaster for everyone and US troops the most. You may laugh at a Venezuelan army with 800,000 but it’s a TRUE 800,000 in the sense that they’re all ready to go. The US is committed to sending small numbers not large, so any war with Venezuela will find the US out-manned by 7-1 or so.
I don’t want the US to lose. I wan’t McCain to understand what a mess he’d be getting into in merely quatering troops in Colombia. And reconsider the ideas he set forth in his Cuban Independence speech in Florida.
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