Obama echoes Bush propaganda on Afghanistan

[Karmadillo]

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/012059.php

I've mostly avoided the candidate wars, of late, but this one really pisses me off. From Spiegel Online:

US presidential candidate Barack Obama dropped another hint about his foreign-policy thinking on Thursday, saying European governments had to pull their weight in Afghanistan and not rely so much on the United States to do the "dirty work" against Taliban fighters.

So far Obama hasn't said much about America's posture toward Europe, but the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination set a new tone on his campaign plane by telling reporters there had to be more give and take between Washington and its NATO allies.

"I've been very clear that we do need more support from them," he said, referring to NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan. "We also may need to lift some of the constraints that they have placed on their forces there."

He didn't name any countries. But Germany, Italy and Spain have been under pressure from NATO and the administration of US President George W. Bush to devote more soldiers to risky missions in Afghanistan.

(h/t Jerome a Paris)

It's infuriating when a Democratic leader- any Democratic leader- is so wrong! This plays right into Bush propaganda, and risks further antagonizing our NATO allies, by blaming them for Bush's failures!

Here's a hint to Senator Obama:☼ it's Bush's fault, not NATO's. NATO is in Afghanistan at our behest, and the ongoing problems in Afghanistan are solely attributable to Bush's having failed to win, there. The ongoing problems in Afghanistan have much to do with Bush losing interest in getting justice for the September 11 attacks, and diverting resources to Iraq. You know this! You actually got it right, in the Austin debate, while the media responded by getting it wrong. Please tell us you misspoke. And if you didn't, here are some readings:

more...

[Prefer]

1. Anyone who talks bad about Obama is not our friend

It's about hope and change. Not lies comparing Obama to the bad guys.

[Maribelle]

2. Obama and his horse hockey on NATO

When Obama had the chance, Hillary said he was "missing in action" when he failed to hold a single substantive hearing on a committee that he chaired that had responsibility for Europe, NATO and NATO policy in Afghanistan.

Hillary has given the fraud too much credit, as an MIA status requires that a soldier be In Action to begin with.

I personally would go a step further and call Obama AWOL on NATO and Afghanistan.

[karynnj]

4. Do you have a problem with the THREE SFRC hearings on Afghanistan this year

Two were held in the full committee - one closed door. The other was held in the NE and South Asia sub-committee, because that's where it belongs. Does HRC want to question the competence and experience of Joe Biden and John Kerry in holding these hearings. Here's a DKOS diary where you can get links to the 3 hearings (the Kerry one is added via a comment) - You can even watch the two open ones. If you want you can read the papers written that were discussed at the Kerry one (link in same comment). http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/27/10645/7336/820/464968

Incidentally, the NE and South Asia committee has been the one holding hearings before John Kerry and Barack Obama got these assignments. I guess HRC can protest that to Biden and Lugar, but it makes sense that the committee with staffers with expertize on NE Asia work on those hearings. Senators Biden, Kerry and Hagel have made many trips to Afghanistan including one a little over a week ago. I guess they think it their job.

[Maribelle]

5. The Subcommittee on European Affairs convened no policy hearings since Obama took over

The rookies at dailykos miss the boat. Their 'I hate Hillary' glasses cloud them from reality, and the vitial reasons committees have subcommittees.

Should Obama wonder whether he ought to have bothered with his subcommittee, he could ask his friendly rival Joe Biden, D-Del., who chaired the Europe subcommittee for many years during the Cold War. Biden effectively exploited the chairmanship to transform himself from a junior member into one of the Senate's most knowledgeable experts on arms control, nuclear weapons, European attitudes toward America and the Soviet Union, the European Union's policies, and the role of NATO, which also comes under the subcommittee's mandate. As a result, Biden starred in Senate hearings on the SALT II arms treaties and eventually established himself as a leading national voice on foreign policy.

"I wouldn't call it a neglect of duty but a missed opportunity to explore issues that will be of fundamental importance to the next administration," says ambassador John Ritch, who served for two decades as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's senior staffer on European affairs and East-West relations, before going on to represent the Clinton administration at the United Nations organizations in Vienna.

Ritch points out that as subcommittee chair, Obama could have examined a wide variety of urgent matters, from the role of NATO in Afghanistan and Iraq to European energy policy and European responses to climate change -- and of course, the undermining of the foundations of the Atlantic alliance by the Bush administration. There is, indeed, almost no issue of current global interest that would have fallen outside the subcommittee's purview.


http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2007/12/29/obama_europe/

[karynnj]

7. Gee - I wonder who this staffer is supporting?

My guess is that this staffer is counting on people having no idea how the SFRC sub-committees are defined. Note that everything Senator Biden worked on was related to Europe. Even before Obama and Kerry had those committees, that was not handled out of Europe. There is a committee that includes environmental protection.

I don't see the point of Obama holding a hearing on Afghanistan - given the ones you have links for. If you looked at them, you would see that the head of NATO was the person testifying.

As to global warming, that is not a uniquely European issue - and Menendez just held a hearing on it last month. Menedez heads the SFRC subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/subcommittee.html Seems that this is Menedez's truf.

Last year, there was a hearing the national security impact of climate change when a report came out written by some high level ex- Admirals. Kerry requested the hearing of the full committee and Biden agreed and held it. http://www.johnkerry.com/2007/5/20/climate-change-and-global-security Here is a lick to the hearing on what happened at Bali early this year in the full committee chaired by Senator Menendez . You can watch it here - http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/hearings/2008/hrg080124p.html
(This is a good hearing to watch if you want - very nice summary of the various summits by Kerry, whose been to all of them - it starts about 22 minutes in.)

[karynnj]

3. He is not eching Bush, who is ignoring Afghanistan - Obama is closer to Biden, Kerry and Feingold

his fellow Senators on the SFRC. (Incidentialy they have acknowledged that Bush as President is part of the reason Europe is unwilling to do more there.)

[Maribelle]

6. Do you have anything to support the pomp that Obama is closer to Biden?

anything at all? a speck? a splash? a dot?

Biden used hs role as chairman of the Europe subcommittee to become a leading expert. Obama is so far from Biden it is not only laughable but shameful.


Biden effectively exploited the chairmanship to transform himself from a junior member into one of the Senate's most knowledgeable experts on arms control, nuclear weapons, European attitudes toward America and the Soviet Union, the European Union's policies, and the role of NATO, which also comes under the subcommittee's mandate. As a result, Biden starred in Senate hearings on the SALT II arms treaties and eventually established himself as a leading national voice on foreign policy.

[karynnj]

8. Did you listen to the Biden/Kerry press conference that the Dkos diary had a link to?

I guess not. Here is the link: illegal codeplayClip(clip35050) to the press conference.

[theboss]

9. Wanting to work with allies is a good idea

It's impossible for Bush to work with NATO allies. It is not for Obama.

That's the issue.