User Comments

1. 

   10/15/08

   clioandme

   No time for many details just now, but I will say that I feel better about Obama's grasp of grand strategy. He also seems to get that America has both hard and soft power. McCain's views are too simplistic on this score.
   
   A few indicators: McCain was first out of the gates pointing fingers in Georgia, when, at the time, it was clear that no one's hands are clean. He was among or perhaps even the first out of the gate in pushing for a war in Iraq. He was ahead of the Bush administration, anyway, and for him the issue was directly related to foreign policy, He understanding of war is also far too narrow. One can learn a lot from David Kirpatrick's biographical sketches of him.
   The series is here (scroll down to articles on McCain, especially the one tying his Viet Nam experience to his worldview): topics.nytimes.com/top/news/politics/series/thelongrun/index.html.
   
   I haven't blogged foreign policy lately (too distracted by the horse race), and usually I have done it in relation to the Bush administration, but here is a link to that category on my blog:
   markstoneman.wordpress.com/category/politics-international/.
   I comment a little on a tendency I'm seeing in the other camp here:
   "Force versus diplomacy" markstoneman.wordpress.com/2008/08/26/force-versus-diplomacy/
   "War is not just about math" markstoneman.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/war-is-not-just-about-math/

   [reply]
2. 

   10/15/08

   RuinousRight

   Barack Obama and Joe Biden outline their foreign policy plan here: origin.barackobama.com/issues/foreign_policy/
   
   It covers the following:
   

   • Ending the War in Iraq
     
   • Iran
     
   • Renewing American Diplomacy
     
   • Nuclear Weapons
     
   • Bipartisanship and Openness
     
   • Israel
     
   • Meeting the Challenge of a Resurgent Russia
     
   • Africa
     
   • On Latin America & the Caribbean

   [reply]
   1. 

      10/15/08

      clioandme

      Exactly. Foreign policy is about more than just three nouns: 9/11, Iraq, and Iran.
      
      I've never understood why McCain is considered stronger on foreign policy. People confuse his military experience with foreign policy, even though in the military he never rose to a rank that gave him any experience with grand strategy.
   2. 

      10/15/08

      whiteline

      Mark, that's exactly why people think that McCain is stronger on foreign policy. He's selling and some are buying the - I'm a POW, been in a war, visited a country other than Mexico / Canada, met their leaders and talk about it - I must be an expert.
      
      I can say that I meet 2 out of 4 of those requirements 3 out of 4 if you count the heads of International Corporations as a "leader" so McCain is, like many of his positions, selling the country Snake-Oil.
   3. 

      10/15/08

      Anok

      Well, pair that with the fact that his VP can see Russia from her backyard, apparently, and you have a real hard hitting foreign policy mavericky team!
      
      Of course, Biden, on the other hand, is whizzbang on foreign affairs.
   4. 

      10/16/08

      RuinousRight

      "Well, pair that with the fact that his VP can see Russia from her backyard, apparently, and you have a real hard hitting foreign policy mavericky team!"
      
      
3. 

   10/15/08

   Anok

   I do believe that Obama's foreign policies are the most realistic, and, proper way to go. I was concerned, during both the presidential and VP debates, about McCain and co's focus on the war on terror being in Iraq, and not Afghanistan.
   
   We are at a point now where th Iraqi government needs to step in, and take the reigns, so we can actually pursue the terrorist cells in places like Afghanistan, and work out something with Pakistan, a rogue nation whose alliance with the US was probably a bad idea. They were, and have been, terrorist sympathizers, and only cooperated begrudgingly if at all.
   
   I also prefer the strategy of diplomacy first. Refusing to sit down with world leaders - some of whom we are allied with, because negotiations should be off the table is a rather war-mongering prospect.

   [reply]
4. 

   10/16/08

   clioandme

   We've seen McCain and Obama interact quite a bit. Seems their styles might be relevant to this thread. Whose temperament would work better in direct diplomacy? McCain's might make for more interesting headlines and better sketches on SNL, but I'd feel safer with Obama's.

   [reply]
   1. 

      10/16/08

      Anok

      Yeah, I'd hate to see how McCain handles foreign heads of state whom he doesn't like or isn't comfortable with. His disdain isn't hidden well.
5. 

   10/16/08

   csiunatc

   I don't see how a president who never served, along with a VP that didn't serve either can be a bonus to be the Commander in chief.
   
   Interesting thinking there, lets have the least qualified run the whole thing.

   [reply]
6. 

   10/30/08

   RuinousRight

   Bumped for final review.
   
   Much can be learned from reviewing or participating in a discussion about a particular topic. I invite users - left, right or center - to review the above entries and associated links before casting your vote for the next President of the United States.
   
   This is a pivotal election and every vote counts.

   [reply]
7. 

   10/31/08

   theboyjlowe

   Heres Obama's plan for Iraq. Take them out and watch Vietnam happen all over again.
   McCain will finish the job when it is ready to be over. I don't know why we even call it a war anymore. We are rebuilding the area so they can stand on their own. War is two sides fighting against each other. This "war" is one side and vast numbers terrorists. We aren't fighting the Iraqian government anymore so this is not a war. we still have troops in south korea and we don't call it a war over there.
   
   Obama will do nothing about illegal immigration. I think McCain will actually secure the border because he was very strict about that before the economy issues were brought up. Either way though I think some other administration will fix the issue in the future. We are to distracted at the moment.

   [reply]
   1. 

      10/31/08

      Anok

      The Iraqi government now has a massive financial surplus. They can afford to hire their own and rebuild themselves.
      
      Obama's plan for Iraq includes the steady, but incremented withdrawal of troops, and the need for the Iraqi government to stand on it's own two feet. There is no reason for us to stay there.
      
      He then plans to move our attention to Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan. Afghanistan is in need of attention by us. We will need to keep an eye on, and possiibly speak with Iran and Pakistan.
      
      In other news, the US and General Petruas has decided that sitting down with eth Taliban woul dbe agood idea.
      
      According to McCain, only Obama is "niave enough to sit down with terrorists".
      
      www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96311171
      
      Gen. David Petraeus, who once led U.S. troops in Iraq, becomes head of the U.S. Central Command Friday. That position includes responsibility for the war in Afghanistan. Petraeus already has endorsed reaching out to less-extreme Taliban elements. He also is expected to send more troops and air power to support the war in Afghanistan.
      
      Oh, whoops! Looks like McCain is a day late and a dollar short, once again.
8. 

   11/02/08

   timethief

   McCain voted in favor of the Iraq war, and he says the U.S. may need to increase the number of troops there. He has supported almost all of President Bush's "War on Terror" bills. McCain's greatest claim to the presidency — his overseas expertise — now seems squandered. He has appeared brittle and inflexible, slow to adapt to changes on the ground, slow to grasp the full implications not only of the improving situation in Iraq but also of the worsening situation in Afghanistan and especially Pakistan.
   
   "There are many more specific foreign policy issues on which Obama has shown superior judgment or has a superior record (Israeli-Palestinian conflict, nuclear proliferation, McCain’s absurd League of Democracies idea, etc.). In seriously examining all of these, it becomes clear that the two candidates possess dramatically different foreign policy worldviews."
   www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/26133

   [reply]