Obama opens foreign tour in Kabul

[Diceman]

US Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has arrived in Afghanistan, at the start of a high-profile international tour.

Mr Obama, who flew to Kabul as part of a US congressional team, is expected to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

He is later expected to visit Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain.

Correspondents say Mr Obama is hoping to address security issues, seen as the weakest aspect of his presidential bid.

Opinion polls suggest Americans regard Republican John McCain as a better potential commander-in-chief.


I'm more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking
Barack Obama

Pitfalls for Obama on world tour
Obama foreign policy speech

In a speech earlier this week, Mr Obama said the US military should focus on Afghanistan rather than Iraq.

There has been an upsurge in fighting in recent months between Taleban rebels and international and Afghan forces.

Asked what message he would convey to Afghan and Iraqi leaders, Mr Obama said: "I'm more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking."

Speaking to reporters before leaving, he added: "I'm going over there as a US senator. We have one president at a time, so it's the president's job to deliver those messages."

Media event

Mr Obama also said he would talk to commanders both in Afghanistan and Iraq to find out about their concerns.


TRUSTED ON MIDDLE EAST
Americans with more trust in one candidate than the other to handle the situation involving -
Iraq: McCain 47%, Obama 45%
Iran: McCain 46%, Obama 44%
Israel and the Palestinians: McCain 44%, Obama 42%
Source: Washington Post/ABC News, 10-13 July

Mr Obama will be accompanied by news anchors from America's major television networks during his foreign tour.

Correspondents say the McCain campaign will seize on every perceived misstep during Mr Obama's trip, and will also point out that Mr McCain's earlier visits to Iraq and elsewhere attracted far less public attention.

In his own foreign policy speech, the Republican candidate said Mr Obama's strategy of winning in Afghanistan by pulling out of Iraq "has it exactly backwards".

"It is precisely the success of the surge in Iraq that shows us the way to succeed in Afghanistan," he said on Tuesday.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7515179.stm

[Le Male]

We wait Obama.

[Lezard Valeth]

Hopefully he doesn't get assassinated by a religious zealot in Israel. There, they can kill prime ministers so easily. =/

[Sexta Espada]

There's some pics of what he's doing here:

http://militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=138187


The site is military oriented, so if you go exploring, be ready for sarcastic humor, some gore (under a warning though) and some views that may piss you off. And I'm not endorsing the site, I'm just giving a resource for photos on the subject.

[Blaze of Glory]

Hopefully,he get's the fuck out of there

Killers all over the goddamn place

[Blue_Panter_Ninja]

Obama rules

[escamoh]

^ he's going to be stopping in isreal as well

[Toby]

The tour: Afghanistan -> Iraq -> Jordan -> Israel -> France -> UK

For some reason, The BBC called this a super-tour of Europe, but in reality it is a super-tour of the Middle-Eastern spheres of American influence. The only country that would be slightly dissenting from old American IR theory is France, and Sarkozy is streamlining its formerly opposing stance into a very old British kind of association with the US. To be honest, Obama won't be meeting any European leaders who are going to be genuinely on the track to convert or be impressed enough to pick him over McCain with this route. Not to mention that Britain and France is a fraction of the EU's most powerful nations.

Obama ought to drop by Germany and Poland to consolidate the new European powers. Angela Merkel would be a staunch ally to have, as they can both relate on many issues, including a floppy stance on protectionism in trade organisations. And with Poland for example, The US has a bloody long history of respectful relations, so he should pick up their support too if he can.

Finally, he would be wise to grab the attention of Scandinavians. He could learn a lot from Swedish and Danish social programmes if he is really serious about his ideas for universal health-care and such.

[Dionysus]

Haha. Toby. How long do you think he has to travel around?

[Mider T]

The tour: Kuwait -> Afghanistan -> Iraq -> Jordan -> Israel -> France -> UK

For some reason, The BBC called this a super-tour of Europe, but in reality it is a super-tour of the Middle-Eastern spheres of American influence. The only country that would be slightly dissenting from old American IR theory is France, and Sarkozy is streamlining its formerly opposing stance into a very old British kind of association with the US. To be honest, Obama won't be meeting any European leaders who are going to be genuinely on the track to convert or be impressed enough to pick him over McCain with this route. Not to mention that Britain and France is a fraction of the EU's most powerful nations.

Obama ought to drop by Germany and Poland to consolidate the new European powers. Angela Merkel would be a staunch ally to have, as they can both relate on many issues, including a floppy stance on protectionism in trade organisations. And with Poland for example, The US has a bloody long history of respectful relations, so he should pick up their support too if he can.

Finally, he would be wise to grab the attention of Scandinavians. He could learn a lot from Swedish and Danish social programmes if he is really serious about his ideas for universal health-care and such.

Fixed.

Yeah, he was here yesterday but nobody knew (including me) unless you were on the base at the time. I just happened to be heading over there when about 20 meters away..."Hey look! Isn't that Senator Obama" "I'm really honored to be here with America's finest today, it's truly an enjoyable experience yadda yadda yadda" So I asked him why he didn't announce his pre-Afgan schedule, he said it would've thrown off "Everything we worked so hard for"

:oh I'm like What? But whatever, unfortunately I didn't get to talk to him one-on-one like I did with Bush. Maybe next time.

[narutosimpson]

@midert, i think the security concerns trump ur desire to speak one on one with presidents and candidates, right?

This just in, Iraq's PM agrees with with Obama's idea of a 16 month troop withdrawal time frame. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25748613)

[Mider T]

Well I guess but Bush announced it while Cheney (probably the only one with power more hated than Bush, and Obama did not)

[Gary]

we await for obama

[Sexta Espada]

Finally, he would be wise to grab the attention of Scandinavians. He could learn a lot from Swedish and Danish social programmes if he is really serious about his ideas for universal health-care and such.
His immigration stances might give him a bit of flak though, and this is basically his photo op tour, so he's not going to do any actual work but posing for pics and a few discussions. He can't afford to look bad. I mean, alot of people think Bush is a disgrace to us...what happens if they see Obama's not too popular either? He could lose some support, so he's not going to go anywhere that would bash him.