| 02.07.2008 |
|
||||||||
| Some time ago we wrote about the possibility of Barack Obama traveling to Europe during the campaign. Now it is definite, the Democratic presidential candidate will visit Germany, Britain and France as well as Jordan and Israel this summer. The exact date of the trip has not be disclosed, but according to media reports it could be as early as mid-July. Unsurprisingly, Germans are elated by Obama's decision to travel to Berlin. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier would be very happy to meet him, a Chancellory spokesman said on Monday. He added that no date had been set yet. The German government's coordinator on U.S. relations, Karsten Voigt, previously even went as far as telling a German paper that the German government would welcome every American presidential candidate, but especially Obama. While Germans will be more excited to see a candidate Barack Obama for the first time than they were ever to see George W. Bush in his two terms as president, it may come as a surprise to some that a difference in style does not necessarily mean a difference in issues. The prime example of this will be Afghanistan. The Bush administration in the last years repeatedly called for Germany to send troops to fight the Taliban in the more dangerous Southern region of that country. The American demand was rebuffed several times. It will surely be revisited by Obama during his visit to Berlin and brought up again should he become president. He stated so in other words when announcing his trip: "France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are key anchors of the transatlantic alliance and have contributed to the mission in Afghanistan, and I look forward to discussing how we can strengthen our partnership in the years to come. This will be an important opportunity to have an exchange of views with leaders in these countries about these and other issues that are critical to American national security -- and global security -- in the 21st century." The theme of burden sharing is not new for Obama. Already in January he said that Europeans couldn't just leave the "dirty work" in Afghanistan to the Americans and the British. As the presumptive Democratic candidate with a good chance of winning the election, his words will have more resonance now then earlier. And just by Obama not being Bush, Germans will have a harder time rejecting his plea. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
| 8 Comments |
| "Think 1933, Hindenburg =s McCain . . ." The comparison of Hindenburg to McCain is especially apt. At the time that Hindenburg gave in to Hitler, he was a dottering old fool who was merely a figure head in his office as president of the Weimar Republic. Hindenburg could have stopped Hitler, but was too addled to realize what a monster her was setting loose. |
||
| Continuum | Homepage | E-Mail | 11.07.2008, 20:49 | ||
| With the very distinct possibility that he may draw a gathering of well over ONE MILLION Germans to hear him speak at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate ~ far eclipsing the largest rallies even Adolf Hitler himself ever staged in that city ~ Barack Obama’s visit to Germany could set the tone for the rest of his upcoming EU-Mideast tour, seeing him address equally colossal audiences in Britain, France, Israel, Jordan, Iraq and Afghanistan and further underscoring the fact that his will be a Messianic Presidency which will transform the Earth and propel America to stratospheric heights of international regard never before scaled in her history. Brandenburg will be the “game changer” in this election and leave John McCain spluttering in Obama’s fiery wake. | ||
| XYBORG | Homepage | E-Mail | 06.07.2008, 18:34 | ||
| I am sorry, but I feel that the comparison between Bush and Obama is flawed. Obama is not seeking to rehash Bush's failed foreign policy (which amounted to "I'll do what I want and damn the consequences"). Rather, Obama is seeking a way to bring America back to the international community and end the steady decline of conditions in Afghanistan. He may ask for help, but his motives are substantially different than those that drove President Bush. He actually wants to end the wars that he never supported to begin with and he is rational enough to know he will need help to do so. I have not always been a big fan of Obama's but I am not so blind that I will label him as just a "charismatic Bush" with no evidence to support that (other than an overwrought media interpretation of a call for restoring international unity, which is hardly out of the Bush play book) | ||
| Christine | Homepage | E-Mail | 04.07.2008, 18:05 | ||
| So same criminal policies spiced up with Obama charisma would change Germans' minds(?) if so too bad, for the Germans and for the rest of the world. | ||
| Iv | Homepage | E-Mail | 04.07.2008, 08:05 | ||
| I remember some of the same criticisms being used in the Presidential election of 1960 against Senator John F. Kennedy, i.e., he was inexperienced in foreign policy, he had no substantial legislative record, in fact they said that he didn't even bother to show up to vote half the time. Further they said that he was a "play-boy", ill-equipped to be the Chief Executive, and, finally, they capped it all off by saying that his Navy Cross Award was the product of him placing his PT boat accidentally in front of a slow moving Japanese destroyer. Has nothing changed here America? | ||
| George Kniss | Homepage | E-Mail | 03.07.2008, 19:36 | ||
| Obama=Hitler? That analogy is as historically flawed as it is morally blinkered. Obama may be many things, and he is surely less experienced in executive office than, say, George W. Bush. But so is John McCain. You protest far too much to say that he has no qualifications other than his speaking ability, and to compare him to Hitler is asinine and offensive. | ||
| Rob Willingham | Homepage | E-Mail | 03.07.2008, 19:18 | ||
| Oh and Bush the experienced CEO was better? Since when has experience as a politician meant anything? Character and substance is required and Obama has both. | ||
| An Americn | Homepage | 03.07.2008, 13:28 | ||
| Germans of all people should be concerned about a candidate, Obama, who's only qualification for leadership is his speaking ability. Obama has no executive experience of any kind, no legislative accomplishments & no military service. Compared to the qualifications of Chancellor Merkel, he's below ZERO. Think 1933, Hindenburg =s McCain while Obama =s Hitler with German voters having the sense to pick the right man, Hindenburg, only to be undone by the Reichstag. Americans may not be that smart. | ||
| Max Rugemer | Homepage | E-Mail | 03.07.2008, 10:57 | ||