Obama will return the country to "traditional international" relationships

[southward bound]

TnHilltopper,
Anyone care to tell me how Obama (whom I have little faith) could do any worse job of foreign policy than the current administration?

Actually, my hope would be that whomever is elected would do a better job, not "any worse". That's hardly a recommendation for Obama to my way of thinking.

Ken,
If you can't separate the wheat from the chaffe and you end up throwing it all away, all that happens then is that you starve.

Good one.

[Portmoresby]

I visited Austria recently and the papers there were full of praise for Obama. One headline read "Obama wins Wisconsin!" Many Austrians don't even know where the hell Wisconsin is and probably don't follow the Democratic primaries. Why should they? But Obama is so well-liked, in Austria at least, that people have become interested in the primaries. Europeans really do try to like America, but Bush made that very difficult for them. He belittles Europe. I think it's very important to have the European countries behind our cause, they don't like the radical Muslims any more than we do and they are much closer to the Middle East than we are so it's more pressing for them. A different, a more worldly president, would have gotten a lot more contributions from the European countries and this war could maybe be over by now. Instead, they sent a few hundred troops each and are letting the US sweat this out. All because Bush tried to bully instead of befriend them. Some president we have.

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by Portmoresby

I visited Austria recently and the papers there were full of praise for Obama. One headline read "Obama wins Wisconsin!" Many Austrians don't even know where the hell Wisconsin is and probably don't follow the Democratic primaries. Why should they? But Obama is so well-liked, in Austria at least, that people have become interested in the primaries. Europeans really do try to like America, but Bush made that very difficult for them. He belittles Europe. I think it's very important to have the European countries behind our cause, they don't like the radical Muslims any more than we do and they are much closer to the Middle East than we are so it's more pressing for them. A different, a more worldly president, would have gotten a lot more contributions from the European countries and this war could maybe be over by now. Instead, they sent a few hundred troops each and are letting the US sweat this out. All because Bush tried to bully instead of befriend them. Some president we have.

Yup.

I agree completely.
The folks I know overseas all seem extremely interested in the upcoming US elections, and without exception are looking forward to Bush retiring from office. He has made an enormous mess of our international relationships.

Ken

[trzlucky]

Originally Posted by LordBalfor

Yup.

I agree completely.
The folks I know overseas all seem extremely interested in the upcoming US elections, and without exception are looking forward to Bush retiring from office. He has made an enormous mess of our international relationships.

Ken

You must not know anybody from sub-saharan Africa, Lebanon, or any of the former Soviet states.

[Portmoresby]

Originally Posted by trzlucky

You must not know anybody from sub-saharan Africa, Lebanon, or any of the former Soviet states.

Can you elaborate on this?

[trzlucky]

Originally Posted by Portmoresby

Can you elaborate on this?

He got roskstar treatment everywhere he went on his Africa trip - in large part due to the huge increase in aid to the region under his watch. All non-Hizbollah aligned Lebanese feel that he gave them the backing needed for the Ceder Revolution that got Syria booted out of the country and the support at the UN to get an investigation in the assassination of their former Prime Minister. Most Ukrainians and Georgians want to be more closely aligned with the US and recognize the support that the administration gave to their Orange and Rose revolutions.

Bush gets hammered for his foreign policy because of Iraq, but he has had a lot to be proud of. Everybody talks about how he has turned the world against us. Most of the world has hated us or been jealous of us for a long time - if they didn't, our Embassies would not have been attacked in '79, '82, '83, '98, etc. The USS Cole would not have been attacked. The WTC would not have been attacked twice. Being hated is part of being the World's lone super power. I'm not saying that Bush has been brilliant in his foreign policy - he hasn't. But I think all of these people that call it a disaster and ignore the good that he has done need to be put in check.

[Portmoresby]

Originally Posted by trzlucky

He got roskstar treatment everywhere he went on his Africa trip - in large part due to the huge increase in aid to the region under his watch. All non-Hizbollah aligned Lebanese feel that he gave them the backing needed for the Ceder Revolution that got Syria booted out of the country and the support at the UN to get an investigation in the assassination of their former Prime Minister. Most Ukrainians and Georgians want to be more closely aligned with the US and recognize the support that the administration gave to their Orange and Rose revolutions.

Bush gets hammered for his foreign policy because of Iraq, but he has had a lot to be proud of. Everybody talks about how he has turned the world against us. Most of the world has hated us or been jealous of us for a long time - if they didn't, our Embassies would not have been attacked in '79, '82, '83, '98, etc. The USS Cole would not have been attacked. The WTC would not have been attacked twice. Being hated is part of being the World's lone super power. I'm not saying that Bush has been brilliant in his foreign policy - he hasn't. But I think all of these people that call it a disaster and ignore the good that he has done need to be put in check.

Yes, I agree with you. There were certainly some good moments in foreign policy like Lebanon and getting North Korea and Libya to abandon their nuclear programs. Supporting the Ukraine and Georgia is a no-brainer, because he is not going to support Putin on too many things. So he didn't screw that up. I don't know how much credit I can give him for Africa; most presidents give a lot of aid and then tour the continent for 4-5 days basking in their glory. But all of those things were overshadowed by Iraq, pf course.