Friday 20 June 2008

US08: Will the real Barack Obama please stand up?

Yesterday Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was quoted on his approach to the misnamed US War on Terror and Osama Bin Laden.

"What would be important would be for us to do it in a way that allows the entire world to understand the murderous acts that he's engaged in and not to make him into a martyr, and to assure that the United States government is abiding by basic conventions that would strengthen our hand in the broader battle against terrorism," Obama said.
Obama was questioned about bin Laden after he met with a new team of national security advisers. The meeting came after rival John McCain's campaign said Obama had a pre-9/11 mind-set for promoting criminal trials for terrorists.
"I refuse to be lectured on national security by people who are responsible for the most disastrous set of foreign policy decisions in the recent history of the United States," Obama said in opening remarks that in part referred to the Iraq war. He was standing before 17 American flags and a sign that said "Judgment to Lead." He was surrounded by national security experts who had formerly served in Congress and the Clinton administration and will be advising his campaign — an effort to bring foreign policy experience to a candidate who has served just three years in Congress.
[my emphasis]

This aforementioned quote is supposedly Obama now.
The excerpt below was
Obama quoted in the New York Post less than a year ago.

Presidential candidate
Barack Obama warned yesterday that he would use American forces to invade U.S. ally Pakistan if its leaders weren't doing enough to catch terrorists on their soil.
"Let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans," Obama said.
"They are plotting to strike again . . . If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President [Pervez] Musharraf won't act, we will."
The stunning call to arms against a U.S. friend comes less than two weeks after Obama publicly agreed to meet -- without any preconditions - with the dictators of dangerous rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea.
Fleshed out in yesterday's speech, Obama's foreign policy is shaping up to be a "talk to your enemies, invade your friends" approach to American relations abroad.
Analysts say U.S. military action could risk destabilizing Pakistan, breeding more militancy and undermining Musharraf.
[my emphasis]

When the real Barack Obama finally reveals himself will he actually represent any difference from George Bush and John McCain, in matters of foreign policy and international affairs?

No comments: