Opinion | Editorials
'And another one for the family album'
Obama's foreign jaunt is designed only for the old folks back home.
- Gulf News
- Published: 00:04 July 21, 2008
Accusations that US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has little or no knowledge of foreign affairs, have stung him into doing a quick tour of those areas which, presumably he was told, are considered sensitive. His Republican rival, John McCain and even his then Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton, took full advantage of his perceived inexperience of all things foreign, an issue the media decided to broach once they had seen off Clinton and wanted to look for another person it could undermine.
So to get a quick update on events, Obama has or is visiting Afghanistan, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain. It is hoped that he will learn much from the trip - or at least more than where the countries are and what the US troops ate for breakfast (a seemingly obligatory part of any US politician's tour to Afghanistan or Iraq).
Allegedly, to make up for any shortfall in knowledge on affairs foreign, Obama has a team of 300 in his entourage that advises him on the latest happenings in the world, and a list of questions he may be asked by the media, together with answers he is expected to give. That number is just his "foreign policy advisers" - how many domestic policy advisers he has is not known, but one thing it does show is that sadly, apparently the US will now have to rely on a president who is unable to think for himself. Obama calls for change and perhaps the change he has in mind is presidential ruling by consensus.
Obama will be in for a rude shock if he believes a day spent glad-handing with US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq will bring him up to speed on what is going on there. Equally, visits to pro-American nations for photo-ops are only aimed at the US electorate.
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