Team Hope: Pay No Attention to the Man behind the Curtain
May 10th, 2008 at 09:34pm Matt DiBari
In the New York Times latest Pro-Obama advocacy piece, high ranking Hoper and Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice decided to finally shed some light on a topic that has caused much discussion on this and many other sites.
Recently, we’ve had a spirited debate about whether or not Barack Obama’s plan to meet madmen without preconditions was a wise idea. It has been one of the more controversial aspects of Obama’s plan to bring the New Hope, with even his Democratic opponents lukewarm at best to the idea.
Well, as it turns out, the whole debate was pointless because Barack Obama… never said that?
Susan E. Rice, a former State Department and National Security Council official who is a foreign policy adviser to the Democratic candidate, said that “for political purposes, Senator Obama’s opponents on the right have distorted and reframed” his views. Mr. McCain and his surrogates have repeatedly stated that Mr. Obama would be willing to meet “unconditionally” with Mr. Ahmadinejad. But Dr. Rice said that this was not the case for Iran or any other so-called “rogue” state. Mr. Obama believes “that engagement at the presidential level, at the appropriate time and with the appropriate preparation, can be used to leverage the change we need,” Dr. Rice said. “But nobody said he would initiate contacts at the presidential level; that requires due preparation and advance work.”
Oh.
Well, that makes me feel a lot better.
And since I’m in a good mood, I won’t call Barack Obama and his campaign a pack of habitual liars. I’ll just post the following without comment.
CHICAGO, Oct. 31 — Senator Barack Obama said he would “engage in aggressive personal diplomacy” with Iran if elected president, and would offer economic inducements and a possible promise not to seek “regime change” if Iran stopped meddling in Iraq and cooperated on terrorism and nuclear issues.
Making clear that he planned to talk to Iran without preconditions, Mr. Obama emphasized further that “changes in behavior” by Iran could possibly be rewarded with membership in the World Trade Organization, other economic benefits and security guarantees.
Mr. Obama’s willingness to conduct talks at the highest level with Iran also differs significantly from the Bush administration.
I will also post this video and transcript without using the “l word”
QUESTION: In 1982, Anwar Sadat traveled to Israel, a trip that resulted in a peace agreement that has lasted ever since.
In the spirit of that type of bold leadership, would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?
COOPER: I should also point out that Stephen is in the crowd tonight.
Senator Obama?
OBAMA: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them — which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration — is ridiculous.
Finally, I will relay this excerpt from Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign Website.
Like I said, I will not accuse Barack Obama and his advisers of deliberately misleading the American public. I know how that irks some of you.
I’ll let the candidate’s own statements speak for themselves.
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2 Comments
1. Steven W. | May 11th, 2008 at 12:12 am
I remember they began to change (there’s that word again ROFLMAO) the mantra when Hillary! called them on it in debate past … and then said it wouldn’t be without preconditions … like they needed the State Dept. to confirm the hotel reservations before Maddie or Hugo came, etc..
2. Blogs For John McCainR&hellip | May 15th, 2008 at 10:55 am
[…] the American public understandably was not warm to this idea, he recently backed off. Courtesy of Susan Rice Susan E. Rice, a former State Department and National Security Council official who is a foreign […]