PARIS, July 25, 2008
Obama Urges Iran To Accept Nuke Proposal
Democrat Tackles International Hot Spots In Press Conference With French President Sarkozy
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U.S. Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, right, is seen with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Friday, July 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
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The presidential candidate met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, where they discussed Iran, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, climate change and other issues.
Speaking later at a news conference, Obama said Iran should accept the proposals made by Sarkozy and other Western leaders. He urged Iran's leaders not to wait for the next U.S. president to push them "because the pressure, I think, is only going to build."
The United States and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and demand that it freeze its uranium enrichment program. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Obama said that he and Sarkozy agreed that Iran poses "an extraordinarily grave situation." He said the world must send "a clear message to Iran to end its illicit nuclear program."
Obama said: "My expectation is that we're going to present a clear choice to Iran: change your behavior and you will be fully integrated into the international community with all the benefits that go with that. Continue your illicit nuclear program and the international community as a whole will ratchet up pressure with stronger and increased sanctions. And we should have no illusion that progress will come easily."
Obama is in the midst of a weeklong tour of the Middle East and Europe as the first-term U.S. senator seeks to burnish his international credentials for the general election campaign against Republican rival Sen. John McCain. The trip began with a campaign-season tour of the war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan and ends with meetings with old allies France and Britain.
Obama also told reporters that "Afghanistan is a war we have to win." The Taliban and terrorist groups it supports, he said, pose an unacceptable threat to the U.S., France and other nations.
"We've got to finish the job," said Obama, who often has said the Iraq war was an unwise move that distracted the United States from efforts to find Osama bin Laden and other terrorist leaders and to root out the Taliban forces in Afghanistan.
Sarkozy said he agreed that the Taliban must be defeated in Afghanistan, where French troops are part of a multinational force.
The joint news conference had many light moments, as the two men recalled their 2006 meeting in Washington, before Sarkozy was elected president. Obama said the only other U.S. senator who Sarkozy visited on that trip was McCain, now the presumed Republican nominee for president.
Obama urged U.S. political reporters to seek Sarkozy's insight because "he seems to have a good nose for how things play out."
Sarkozy wished Obama luck, but did not endorse him. He said it was up to Americans to choose their president.
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- Obama Urges Iran To Accept Nuke Proposal
And they said; "You''ve got such a nice smile, sure, why not." - Reply to this comment
- Iran, let''s talk peace, and no nukes...take serious are olive branch...and let''s have an Iranian fundraiser tomorrow in Cali, okay?
- Reply to this comment
- ---"Obama = wimp"---
Posted by liberty_1776
omg, and now he just flipped his view on Afghanistan - it really makes me almost sick to my stomach to see somebody so slimy and slithery so close to gaining access to so much power . . .
I''m hoping Barack''s popularity will allow us to sort of force McCain/GOP to ''bargain down'' so the neocons don''t have so much say in foreign affairs and the incompetent capitalists who have pillaged the national economy don''t get to dictate economic policy to suit only their needs at others'' expenses. Then we swing voters can flip it and vote for McCain. - Reply to this comment
- Obama = wimp
McCain = war veteran
Who do you think our enemies are voting for? - Reply to this comment
- Free Concert by Popular Band Preceded Obama%u2019s Big Rally
By Robert Knight (Bio | Archive)
May 20, 2008 - 17:16 ET
News busters.org
From CNN to the New York Times, the media hyped Barack Obama''s Portland, Oregon rally, some comparing him to a rock star.
Unmentioned in national reporting was the fact that Obama was preceded by a rare, 45-minute free concert by actual rock stars The Decemberists.
By ignoring the free concert, the Times and other outlets made it appear that 75,000 people were drawn only by Sen. Obama''s considerable charisma. - Reply to this comment
- Obama is delusional if he thinks he''s going to stop Iran from obtaining the enrichment cycle. It is painfully obvious that he does not understand Iran or its history. Regarding Iran, it has a legal right to the enrichment cycle under the nonproliferation treaty; a treaty America is in violation of, and which Israel will not sign on. So I ask, is Obama truly so ignorant as to take up yet another of Bush''s neo-con agendas? I guess he is. Wake the hell up, America. Obama is a fraud.
- Reply to this comment
- Obama is a wimp. He would be more successful as a rock concert organiser. He would make a very bad Commander-In-chief.
- Reply to this comment
- PPS What''s with that, meaning yeah I totally understand where the French are coming from to be feeling snubbed . . .
- Reply to this comment
- ---"He urged Iran''s leaders not to wait for the next U.S. president to push them "because the pressure, I think, is only going to build."---
I can''t believe he wasted leverage on shoring up his wimpiness. Now what are we going to use if they start doing more bomb tests to ratchet up the price of oil so they can withstand more economic sanctions? :(
So what''s the deal anyway - is that correct that Russia and China have been providing Iran with nuclear materials and in turn they get a sweet deal on oil? Maybe Barack should have shored up our relationship with them first - otherwise how''s his negotiation approach any different from Bush and Condi? His bargaining position''s even worse because we''re going to be withdrawing from the region and because he''s not trigger-happy . . . anybody else not feeling to confident about ability to drive a hard bargain? :(
PS It says in the French newspapers that they''re feeling snubbed and don''t really get why Barack spent the whole day in Germany meeting with their defense minister and he gave a speech there and all they got was an afternoon. And they''re all like why''s he not even giving England as much time as Germany given that Blair even sent troops to Iraq. What''s with that? - Reply to this comment
- Let''s face it. Obama spent millions of campaign funds to organise a free rock concert for German teenagers.
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- Posted by FENNER at 11:19 PM : Jul 25, 2008
I guess he didn''t want to visit the troops because he wasn''t going to get any publicity. Forgive me for saying this but I believe that Obama is just plain EVIL. - Reply to this comment
- Posted by liberty_1776 at 12:05 AM : Jul 26, 2008
Obama is a wimp. Tell us something we don''t already know.
Obama was also wrong about the success of the surge in Iraq. He would make a very bad Commander-In-Chief.
72 per cent who favor John McCain as Commander-In-Chief can''t be wrong. - Reply to this comment
- Obama is a wimp compared to GW Bush and John McCain. Iran''s mullahs are probably doing Obama impressions and laughing their @sses off! Ha ha ha ha ha! Somehow, I cannot see terrorists fearing Barack Obama. They KNOW he won''t invade Iran, no matter what they do! If Obama were elected president, Iran would take that as a green light on their nuclear program. By the time we have "proof" enough for Obama that Iran is developing nukes, Israel will be incinerated. That''s not a future I''m willing to allow.
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- John Edwards is in the bathroom combing his hair.
I hope that he stays there. - Reply to this comment
- The band was "The Decemberists" though they were not billed as such. they are an indie rock act that is moderately succesful and normally plays to crowds of... 1200 people. I am sure a couple hundred thousand others suddenly discovered this band and suddenly showed up just to see them.
The decemberists music is loaded with political references and activism.
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Posted by stratmaster2 at 10:02 PM
SORRY, incorrect post. That''s what I get for trying to research. haha
The Decemberists actually opened for Obama in Portland. To 75,000 people. - Reply to this comment
- The band was "The Decemberists" though they were not billed as such. they are an indie rock act that is moderately succesful and normally plays to crowds of... 1200 people. I am sure a couple hundred thousand others suddenly discovered this band and suddenly showed up just to see them.
The decemberists music is loaded with political references and activism. - Reply to this comment
- Real quick - off the top of your pointy little head:
Name three songs each by "patrice" and "Reamonn" without looking them up!
(Let''''s see how BIG these "rock stars" are!)
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Posted by hungry1968
You first...and what does pointy head have to do with anything...be mad, but be mad for the right reason...Obama is a fraud. Deal with it. - Reply to this comment
- Democrat Barack Obama said Friday that Iran should promptly accept an international call to freeze its uranium enrichment program, which some nations see as a potential step toward obtaining nuclear weapons.
And then he added...''pretty please with lots of carrots on the top....make me look good and I''ll make it worth your trouble!'' - Reply to this comment
- By the way, I still think it''''s hilarious that Obscamme tried to shill the American public that 200,000 German teeny boppers came out in support of his campaign when he hired not TWO, but THREE rock stars to give a FREE concert!
Your campaign dollars AT WORK, scamming the American public!
Posted by WellHell3 at 03:04 PM : Jul 25, 2008
Real quick - off the top of your pointy little head:
Name three songs each by "patrice" and "Reamonn" without looking them up!
(Let''s see how BIG these "rock stars" are!) - Reply to this comment
- Like I said...somebody needs to tell Obscamma that that''''s against military ethics.
Posted by WellHell3 at 03:00 PM : Jul 25, 2008
Now you believe that Obama has control over CBS News'' website, and what they publish? - Reply to this comment
