"Even in
Germany, Obama's monumental number of advisors (700 aides!)acted with a level of subtlety
that, as far as the Europeans were concerned, wasn't discrete enough. … But it
gives one an idea of how the Obama campaign thinks: like a winner."
Berlin's Victory Column:
A very symbolic and perhaps fitting place for Barack Obama's much-awaited
speech on translatlantic relations - although not all would agree. .
Senator Barack Obama has hit
the road and is traveling through half the world: from Afghanistan to Germany, passing
through Iraq, the United Kingdom and France. Since becoming the favorite in the
American presidential election, this is Obama's first "international"
trip - particularly having to confront the issues involved: two wars in the
Middle East being conducted by the Americans - and winning the understanding of
his principal Western partners.
John McCain is right when he
says that his adversary is only committed to running an electoral caravan. And so what? One gets a good sense of what this sensational
candidate (Obama, of course) has to say about the changes he seeks to impose on
American foreign policy. And they don't seem to amount
to all that much change.
The central focus, of course,
is learning when and how Obama would withdraw American troops from Iraq. Even
before he received the red-carpet treatment in Baghdad over the weekend, the
White House itself said that it agrees with some sort of time horizon for the
withdrawal of U.S. forces in the country.
No, this wasn't the skillful
perfidy of Bush to draw the headlines away from Obama. The person who pressed
for the timetable was Iraqi Prime Minister himself, who is under strong
pressure from the Shiite groups that keep him in power. That Obama and the
Shiites are thinking of timetables for a quick exit may help lead to some sort
of understanding. Obama talks of a 16-month window for beginning the withdrawal.
American commanders - who know the Shiites better than he does, believe that's
too early.
BARACK OBAMA
SPEAKS BEFORE 200,000 AT THE VICTORY COLUMN
In Afghanistan, the Americans
(and their NATO colleagues) are now suffering more casualties than in Iraq. There
is something “routine” about the bloodshed: since ancient times, wars in
Afghanistan have been fought during the northern hemisphere's summer. In the
winter due to climate and topography, things are calm. And still, on average - more
Western soldiers continue to die in Iraq.
But Afghanistan can't be
addressed without considering neighboring Pakistan - which provides, unwittingly
or not, bases out of which the enemies of NATO and the Americans operate. In
regard to Pakistan, Obama said nothing about setting in motion any kind of
change. In other words, the Americans seem like spectators in a spectacle they
don't control.
To make up for this, the
Obama campaign is trying to get a handle on the spectacle of its electoral
caravan in Europe - he was walking on eggshells even before landing there. As
his main stage, Obama chose Berlin - the capital of Germany, immediately
sparking jealousy in London and Paris, which are considered more “Atlantic” (especially
by Sarkozy, of course), than the “suspect” Germans, who
have understandings, particularly with Moscow and other obscure places to the
east.
Even in Germany, Obama's
monumental number of advisors (700 aides!) acted with a level of subtlety that,
as far as the Europeans were concerned, wasn't discrete enough. He wanted to
give a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate - exactly where Ronald Reagan
challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to dismantle the Berlin Wall. The Germans found
that inappropriate - after all, Obama isn't President yet.
INTERVIEW WITH NBC'S BRIAN WILLIAMS AT END OF BERLIN VISIT
The next suggestion was the Tempelhof Airport. That is where American aircraft landed
in 1948 and ensured Berlin's survival, when Stalin wanted the western part of
the city blockaded. But then Obama “discovered” that the airport's architect
was Albert Speer, who aside from being close to Adolf Hitler, concluded the war
as the minister responsible for employing slave labor to manufacture weapons - and
was condemned as a criminal at the Court at Nuremburg.
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
Obama will speak in front of
the Victory Column - which is decorated with cannons that Napoleon used during
several campaigns, and that later during the wars that led to the founding of
the first German empire in 1870 [the Unification Wars] the Germans took from
the French. In other words the following day, it will be an awkward note to
arrive in Paris on. And London frankly feels itself ignored by the American
Democratic candidate.
BRIAN WILLIAM WITH MCCAIN ON PROPRIETY OF OBAMA'S TRIP
Of course this is atmospherics,
if you will. But it gives one an idea of how the Obama campaign thinks: like a
winner. And although the polls in the United States (in France, Germany and the
United Kingdom, Obama would be elected with over 80 percent of the vote) indicate
a very difficult race with John McCain, by less “scientific” criteria so to
speak, he has already been sanctified.
Pay attention to one of their
best forecasts, which has hit 14 of the last 15 American elections: the
electoral barometer of Alan Abramowitz , the Emory
University political scientist. He says that McCain can go home now. And who
knows, Obama may soon take an even greater interest in what happens in the rest
of the world.
