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Obama Abroad Review: Part 2

   Posted by: FMFP   in Middle East

Here’s some more of my observations of President Obama’s first overseas trip:

Obama stopped in Turkey where he apologized again for our country’s past misdeeds and declared that our country was not at war with Islam. Right on. That’s exactly right. My only thought is who ever said we were. When was that declaration? Our last president made a point numerous times to state this exact message (that we were at war with radical Islam terrorists not Islam) but apparently the message never got through. Hopefully everybody’s listening this time.

Perhaps the highlight of Obama’s trip was his stop in Iraq to see the soldiers. This certainly helps morale and is a good move as our Commander-in-Chief. I was particularly intrigued by the content of Obama’s speech to the soldiers. Obama praised America’s many achievements in Iraq: “From getting rid of Saddam, to reducing violence, to stabilizing the country, to facilitating elections – you have given Iraq the opportunity to stand on its own as a democratic country. That is an extraordinary achievement.” Wow. I never believed all these things when George Bush said them but now that Barack Obama is saying them they must be true. Good for America and good for Obama for saying so.

Finally, on a little reported but odd event during the G-20 conference, Obama appeared to bow to the Saudi’s leader, King Abdullah. (picture below) Although the picture looks telling I might have it wrong. According to the White House, it was not a bow but rather Obama using both hands to shake the King’s hand. Judge for yourself.

That's Obama's Butt

If it is indeed a bow, this violates a centuries’ old American tradition of not deferring to royalty. Honestly, that doesn’t bother me that much if it was just a mistake. More bothersome, is the refusal of the White House to admit such. I thought a major criticism of Bush and rallying cry for Obama was his ability to acknowledge when he messed up. It worries me that Obama won’t admit simple errors like mistakenly bowing to royalty.

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7 comments so far

econstudent01@yahoo.com
 1 

Hubbel, what are your thoughts on Bush holding the Saudi’s hand and kissing him on the cheek? Any different than Obama’s bow?

And what about a U.S. prez bowing to an East Asian official? Does it matter if it’s a sign of respect in the host nation?

In terms of the Iraq comments, yeah he is saying the same positive statements as Bush. The difference is that these positive statements do not follow 3-4 years of the criminal negligent handling of the war, nor the blatant exaggerations about the progress, or lack there of. The difference is simply we now have a President a majority of Americans can believe what he says. Competency, or at least the absence of continual failure, goes along way.

April 13th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
econstudent01@yahoo.com
 2 

Oh God. Please don’t spam me with your Great Power Porn.

April 13th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Hubbel Relat
 3 

First, if you are referencing the comment about Obama’s butt as Great Power Porn, I didn’t write that. I have to credit Pat with that line.

Second, I don’t think a US president should bow to any nation, East Asian or the Queen of England. If Bush did it, then it should be noted as well. And Bush did take quite the criticism for his incident with the Saudi prince. Although neither is in keeping with an American president’s position, bowing is arguably more deferential to royalty. Again, my beef was his inability to acknowledge a simple mistake and less the act.

Finally, your Iraq comments are demonstrative of the mindset I was portraying. When Bush did it, it was wrong and he deserves no credit. When Obama says it, it must be true. And as far as competency, I’m not sure Obama has proven anything yet. It is very early in his Administration and his biggest policy accomplishment has been dealing with the economy. Passing a $787 billion stimulus bill and continuing the nationalizing of the auto industry and financial sector are already showing to be questionable decisions at best. If that’s your idea of competence, I can’t wait to see what the rest of his term looks like.

April 13th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
micraig
 4 

Again Hubbel, if you have a better way to deal with the economy, I’d like to hear it.

April 13th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
econstudent01
 5 

It’s a fact that Bush opposed a troop surge for years. Then the right hails him as triumphant when he follows the advice, after years of mismanagement, that his generals have been stressing since the beginning of the war. No one trusted Bush or his admin, not after bungling Iraq then Katrina and then Afghanistan. Obama has not wasted this trust yet, which is why I, and the majority of Americans, believe what he says and that he is managing the wars better than Bush.

I completely agree with you on the royalty thing. Holding hands and kissing the King is worse in my books, but to each his own. Maybe the King will bow back to Obama if he visits the U.S., but somehow I think this would further fuel the “Obama is a closet Muslim, a.k.a. terrorist and not a real American” conspiracy theories”

April 14th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Hubbel Relat
 6 

Micraig, I do intend to respond fully on your questions regarding NK, Iran and my ideas on economic policy. It’s a busy time for work here in DC as you can imagine so it might be a few days before I have a chance to sit down and write a thoughtful response. Just wanted to let you know I was not ducking an argument.

Econ, fair point on Iraq. Bush was obstinate but did come to right policy eventually. War never goes as planned though. Particularly ones against an enemy that we have not seen in this form since Vietnam. Katrina is a different story – one that has never been fairly portrayed. But that is more domestic policy than Pat wants the blog to discuss. As to Obama, he has really only taken action we can speculate on whether it will be good or bad. No results have really been achieved. Other than the pirate action at least – which I fully support and commend his bold decision to kill those sons of b*$%s.

April 15th, 2009 at 5:21 am
micraig
 7 

Lol, the life of a young (?) attorney (?) can be quite busy so I understand your time constraints. I really am curious about your ideas though and hopefully we can someday have some dialogue concerning that.

Even though Katrina is not appropriate for this blog, I personally feel that Bush was not accurately portrayed. His appointee to FEMA is where the failure occurred. But if you appoint someone, necessarily you need to give them leeway to do the job, so I understand Bush’s dilemma.

And I agree that Obama handled the pirate situation appropriately and well. Now the question is, should we go into Somalia to attack the ground bases of these pirates? (I mean air strikes not ground troops)

April 15th, 2009 at 6:23 am
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