 Barack Obama’s presidential campaign announced Saturday that the Illinois senator would travel to Europe and the Middle East “to assess the situation in countries that are critical to American national security.”
The campaign said the Democratic presidential candidate plans to visit France, Germany, Israel, Jordan and the United Kingdom to discuss national security issues and climate change. “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,” Obama said.
| Firmly stuck in the early 1990s. France and Germany are but peripherally important to our security these days, and only to the extent that they'll carry their weight in the War on Terror. Jordan has little influence over what happens in the Middle East, and the UK is going to see a change in government in the not-too-distant future. |
The campaign did not reveal whether the senator would also visit Afghanistan and Iraq. Republicans have hammered Obama over the fact that he has not been to Iraq in about two and a half years. The Illinois senatorÂ’s campaign said, however, that he would go there before the election.
| Apparently not on this trip. He's got to keep the nutroots with him until November. |
Visiting Israel could help Obama with assuaging concerns that some Jewish voters have expressed over the presumptive Democratic nominee. “Israel is a strong and close friend of the United States, and is confronting grave threats from Gaza to Tehran,” Obama said regarding the trip.
| But it's how we respond to those threats that matter. If Obama denounces Hamas as a bunch of murderous thugs, and the Mad Mullahs™ as murderous thugs writ large, then I'll begin to believe he's done the necessary intellectual heavy-lifting to understand the region. |
By going abroad to meet with foreign leaders, Obama also hopes to show that he is ready to represent the U.S. on the international stage. “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,” he said. |