Obama and Bush
Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama reacted strongly to Pres. Bush's speech at the Knesset the other day. He characterized it as an attack on him. What Bush actually said was: "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if only I could have talked to Hitler, all of this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is, the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."
Bush's spokesman stated that this statement was not specifically directed at Obama, but as far as I am concerned "if the shoes fits, wear it." I believe that Obama can be covered by these words and that he is an appeaser, but really a potential appeaser, since he has no experience with foreign policy and we have only his statements during the campaign to rely on. He certainly did say that he would meet with America's enemies and try to establish direct communication with them with no preconditions! If that doesn't smack of appeasement when the enemies include Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hizbollah, then I don't know what would. What would he say to Ahmedinejad of Iran, Nasrullah of Hizbollah, or Haniyeh of Hamas? This is grade school naievete!
Now why did Obama react so strongly to this statement by Bush, when he had no real need to do so? For two reasons, firstly because he has adopted the most anti-Bush rhetoric, such as calling for "immediate" withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, and that has garnered him many votes from liberal Democrats. Also, because by attacking Bush and Sen. McCain, which he specifically did, he thought he would project himself into the national debate over the head of his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. But, he may have miscalculated, since this area of foreign policy and national security is definitely his weak point, while McCain, who is a military man and a genuine American hero, can certainly out-class him in this area.
So Obama should stick to the black-white issue and the cost of shoes in Nicaragua, which is what he is qualified for.
Bush's spokesman stated that this statement was not specifically directed at Obama, but as far as I am concerned "if the shoes fits, wear it." I believe that Obama can be covered by these words and that he is an appeaser, but really a potential appeaser, since he has no experience with foreign policy and we have only his statements during the campaign to rely on. He certainly did say that he would meet with America's enemies and try to establish direct communication with them with no preconditions! If that doesn't smack of appeasement when the enemies include Iran, Syria, Hamas, and Hizbollah, then I don't know what would. What would he say to Ahmedinejad of Iran, Nasrullah of Hizbollah, or Haniyeh of Hamas? This is grade school naievete!
Now why did Obama react so strongly to this statement by Bush, when he had no real need to do so? For two reasons, firstly because he has adopted the most anti-Bush rhetoric, such as calling for "immediate" withdrawal of US forces from Iraq, and that has garnered him many votes from liberal Democrats. Also, because by attacking Bush and Sen. McCain, which he specifically did, he thought he would project himself into the national debate over the head of his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. But, he may have miscalculated, since this area of foreign policy and national security is definitely his weak point, while McCain, who is a military man and a genuine American hero, can certainly out-class him in this area.
So Obama should stick to the black-white issue and the cost of shoes in Nicaragua, which is what he is qualified for.
posted by Jack Cohen at 10:22 AM
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