Barack Obama's foreign policy and diplomacy....
CQPolitics.com
Obama's 'Diplomacy' Wins a Republican EndorsementBy Adam Graham-Silverman, CQ Staff Wed Oct 15, 1:37 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/cq/20081015/pl_cq_politics/politics2975236 The ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee parted ways with his party's presidential nominee Wednesday by endorsing Democrat Barack Obama's approach to diplomacy.
In a lengthy speech at the National Defense University, Indiana Sen. Richard G. Lugar weighed the benefits of talking to foreign leaders, including U.S. enemies, against other actions, such as military force. The issue marks one of the sharpest divides between Obama and John McCain, who has called the Democratic nominee naive for suggesting that he would sit down with leaders such as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Lugar, however, praised Obama, noting that isolation often does not resolve contentious issues.
"He correctly cautions against the implication that hostile nations must be dealt with almost exclusively through isolation or military force," Lugar said in a prepared remarks released before his speech. "In some cases, refusing to talk can even be dangerous."------------------------------------------------
Junkyard Dogs of WarBy Richard G. Lugar and Barack Obama
Saturday, December 3, 2005; Page A23
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/02/AR2005120201509.html------------------------------------------------
Last spring, Sam Nunn endorsed Barack Obama in the Democratic Primaries.... if you wonder who Dick Lugar is and wonder why he is endorsing Obama in a surprisingly close presidential race in Indiana, you heard it here first... on one of Conan's "Pravda LOVES Obama" threads...
Pravda Seems To Be Backing Obamahttp://www.tulsanow.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9777&SearchTerms=Lugarquote:
Originally posted by USRufnex
As much as I hate to get back on topic...
the Russians and their media know more about Nunn-Lugar and Lugar-Obama legislation than most Americans and American media do...
One of the untold stories of Obama's campaign (so far) is his political positioning and potential in the foreign policy arena... not surprised at all about Sam Nunn's endorsement of Obama... Nunn and Lugar go way back... and I believe Lugar will have a large influence on Obama's policies towards Russia...
(this entire article is a good read, btw... hint, hint...)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/chi-0509230360sep23,1,1485325.story?coll=chi-newsspecials-hedto
A foreign classroom for junior senator
Barack Obama tours the former Soviet Union, monitors the destruction of Cold War munitions--and takes notes from a senior statesman
By Jeff Zeleny | Tribune correspondent
September 23, 2005
quote:
Trips like this are successful if they evoke such big-picture sentiments, Lugar said, in addition to providing a "profound, gut feeling about the place of the United States in the world--strength and vulnerability."
"He has profited from it. It becomes capital in the bank, in terms of knowledge," Lugar said, reflecting on Obama's first foreign trip as a senator. "I hoped he would be on the Foreign Relations Committee. This was an important decision in shaping his career."
At the end of a 13-hour day, as Lugar settled in for an espresso in the bar of his hotel, a longtime staff member handed him a copy of a Russian newspaper that announced his arrival in Moscow. It featured an old picture of the Indiana senator's short-lived 1996 presidential campaign.
"That's for Barack," Lugar chuckled. "I'm beyond that now."
or this....
Who Is Really Going To Stop The War???http://www.tulsanow.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9209&SearchTerms=Lugarquote:
Originally posted by USRufnex
"Iraq is sort of a situation where you've got a guy who drove the bus into the ditch. You obviously have to get the bus out of the ditch, and that's not easy to do, although you probably should fire the driver." - Barack Obama
"In the end, no amount of American forces can solve the political differences that lie at the heart of somebody else's civil war." - Barack Obama
... ah, politics.
I think foreign policy could be his strongest suit... I'm disappointed over Hillary Clinton's surge in the polls; I fear it means she'd be able to demand the VP slot if Obama goes on to the nomination. I kinda had hopes for an Obama/General Zinni ticket in the fall...
I could easily see an Obama administration that would include Chuck Hagel, maybe even Colin Powell... and would naturally include his mentor, Dick Lugar...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE9b49qs5tE&NR=1