Obama Wrapping Up Overseas Trip In U.K.

Presumptive Democratic Nominee Defends World Tour, Says It Will Help U.S. By Strengthening Ties With Allies

(CBS/AP)  Presidential contender Barack Obama defended his decision to travel to Europe and the Middle East on Saturday, saying that problems encountered by Americans at home are often best dealt with by working with allies overseas.

Obama, who spoke to reporters after wrapping up talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, said he wasn't sure if there would be any immediate political impact from the trip - and that he wouldn't be surprised if there was a dip in some of the polls in the week since he left home. People in America, he said, are worried about gas prices and home foreclosures.

"The reason that I thought this trip was important is that I am convinced that many issues that we face at home are not going to be solved as effectively unless we have strong partners abroad," he said.

"And unless we get a handle on Iraq and Afghanistan, not only are we going to be less safe, but it's also going to be a huge drain on resources."

Obama said he and Brown discussed a wide range of issues, such as climate change, terrorism and financial markets.

"The prime minister's emphasis - like mine - is on how we can strengthen the trans-Atlantic relationship to solve problems that can't be solved by any single country individually," he said.

The Democratic hopeful seemed relaxed as he strolled down to the prime minister's office at 10 Downing St., pausing briefly to shake the hands of two somewhat startled police officers standing near the door.

He turned to television cameras, smiled, waved and said "Hello," before walking into Number 10. Brown greeted him just inside the door.

Pooled television images showed Brown offering Obama a chair on the Downing Street terrace before the pair settled down for two hours of talks.

They later took a stroll in the sunshine around Horse Guards Parade, the vast open space where military reviews, such as Trooping the Color, are often held. Tourists snapped pictures from a distance while security guards walked ahead of the two men.

The walk offered a photo opportunity with a London backdrop for Obama, whose visit to Britain has been decidedly low-key, particularly after the huge crowds he drew earlier in the week in Germany.

Obama later said he had also wanted to take a walk through St. James' Park, but security guards pulled him and Brown back. The park is near Buckingham Palace, home of Queen Elizabeth II.

With the exception of the walkabout, British officials took care to make certain the same photo opportunities were offered to Obama as were given to Republican presidential contender John McCain during his visit earlier this year. Protocol normally dictates that visiting contenders be given the same treatment — thereby avoiding the appearance of any favoritism.

Obama stressed the importance of the bond between the two nations.

"We've been through world wars together. We speak a common language. We share a belief in rule of law and due process," he said. "We just like the people. There is a deep and abiding affection for the British people in America and a fascination with all things British that's not going to go away any time soon."

The Illinois senator also offered reassurance to Brown, whose plummeting popularity took another hit this week when he lost a parliamentary by-election in a Scottish seat long held by the governing Labour Party. But Obama pointedly said Brown didn't need his political advice.

"You're always more popular before you're actually in charge," Obama said. "Once you're responsible, then you're going to make some people unhappy."

Obama later met with Conservative leader David Cameron for a postcard moment, posing for photographs in front of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

Earlier, he met with former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who is now a Middle East envoy. The meeting lasted for just over an hour.

Obama is on an election-season trip, financed by his campaign, that ends Saturday with talks with British officials. Part of his goal for the trip through Afghanistan, the Mideast and Europe has been to allow him to make his debut on an international stage in the hopes of reassuring skeptical voters in the United States about his readiness for the presidency.

On The Early Show, Republican strategist Kevin Madden said the risk for Obama on his overseas trip was that some American voters might believe the presumptive Democratic nominee was "more interested in Berlin, Germany instead of Berlin, New Hampshire.

"That's the big risk here. Does he look more interested in appealing to Europeans than the Americans facing everything from rising gas prices and unemployment?"

Mike Crowley, Senior Editor of the "The New Republic," said the images of Obama over the past week will only benefit him. "Barack Obama was a state senator five years ago," he said on The Early Show. "If people think he looks too presidential, he'll take that good news for him.

"He's going to come back, when this trip's over, hammering the kitchen table issues: gas prices, price of food. He's going to let people know he cares about that, [but he] had to get this done, show people 'I can do the world stage and do it well,' and I think he succeeded."

The visit has generated enormous interest in Britain, with the press pack stretching the length of the road outside the prime minister's office. Reporters stood five or six deep in some spots, squatting beneath scaffolding to get a good view.

"We're going to impose some discipline on this mob," Obama quipped before answering questions.

On Friday, he met for more than an hour with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

are u big enough to admit your error? or i guess ya had enough by now?

Posted by fenner
---------------------

Ok, I gotta go eat dinner now, but if you want to believe you ran me off, that''s fine with me...
Now say something so you can have the last word...
I won''t be listening,though..

Posted by fenner
------------------
First the Pentagon....
Now the National Enquirer........

"It''s better to keep your mouth shut and let the world think you a fool than it is to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

P

SPECIFICALLY WHERE ARE THOSE TWO THREATS?
ARE YOU FORGETTING YOU WERE THE ONE WHO THREATENED AND I CALLED YOU ON IT AND YOU BACKED DOWN???

I KEPT THEM....JUST IN CASE U TURN OUR TO BE ONE OF THOSE CYPER CRAZIES!!!

Posted by fenner
---------------------

Whatever you gotta tell yourself in order to make it through your day, I guess.

we do interpret the small things - and make note of them.

Posted by fenner
----------------------------
Another threat, my, my. That''s two from you today.

Way I see it - you gotta choice. You can vote for, and throw in your lot with those who perpetrated a war crime (at least one), profoundly damaged the finest military in the world, is leaving behing the largest debt in history for this country. - and.... well, I could go on and on.

OR

You could vote for the future....

So the question is: Just how important is your precious racism to you, anyway??

Posted by fenner
------------------
You can trot that "snub the troops" dog out there all you want, but it still ain''t gonna hunt.
It doesn''t take an intellectual giant to figure out that:

You can take the hits associated with "not" visiting the wounded.

OR

You can take the hits associated with visiting the wounded and get accused of pandering for political purposes.

Which choice would you take??

Bye the way, most anything from Bush''s Pentagon falls under the category of propaganda, not documentation.

[whitemale08]

in and bring senate staffers as well, if he likes, but campaign staffers and press are not permitted to accompany him. That would be a violation of DoD directives.%u201D



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Posted by fenner at 10:49 PM : Jul 26, 2008--

I''m sure he could''ve went there on his own but the press would''ve stood outside waiting for him to answer questions.

And because you guys are so petty, you would''ve used those opportunities to accuse him of pandering.

with you haters out there Obama can''t win. Just look at how he answered criticism about his trip. He said: "Well first John McCain says that I should make this trip and now they say that I''m taking a victory lap. You can''t have it both ways."

"the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy"
The Downing Street Memo July 23, 2002

Now it''s true that the perpetrators, Bush/Cheney, are out of it, they can''t run for re-election.
But McCain, who supported them every step of the way, and still supports them, is running.

[taotxzen]

Posted by taotxzen at 10:23 PM : Jul 26, 2008

you got nothing *****,,,

Posted by terrorislamv

Sorry fourth generation Texan dingleberry. I believe you are working on an all-time best clueless night there sparky.

[taotxzen]

Posted by taotxzen at 10:28 PM : Jul 26, 2008

hahaha

greenspan,,, LOL

hahaha

Posted by terrorislamv


I know he is no Howard Stern...

[taotxzen]

Mohamed ElBaradei, chief UN nuclear inspector progress report to the UN Security Council on disarming Iraq is as follows: breifing March 2003, just prior to the launch of the Iraq invasion:


Conclusions

At this stage, the following can be stated:

* There is no indication of resumed nuclear activities in those buildings that were identified through the use of satellite imagery as being reconstructed or newly erected since 1998, nor any indication of nuclear-related prohibited activities at any inspected sites.

* There is no indication that Iraq has attempted to import uranium since 1990.

* There is no indication that Iraq has attempted to import aluminium tubes for use in centrifuge enrichment. Moreover, even had Iraq pursued such a plan, it would have encountered practical difficulties in manufacturing centrifuges out of the aluminium tubes in question.

* Although we are still reviewing issues related to magnets and magnet production, there is no indication to date that Iraq imported magnets for use in a centrifuge enrichment programme.

[whitemale08]

It always has been about the Federal Reserve System.

Every so called "rogue nation" are the same countries that don''t have a private central bank to borrow money from the IMF and World Bank in Federal Reserve Notes ("dollars")

Look at the remaining countries and see why we will soon war with them...

North Korea (although they seem to be taking the bait)

Libya (now they do have a private central bank) now alies

Syria

Iraq (Greenspan drops footballs of Federal Reserve Notes from airplanes)

Iran

Cuba

[taotxzen]

Here is a taste:

It Was Oil, All Along

%u2028by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship

Oh, no, they told us, Iraq isn''t a war about oil. That''s cynical and simplistic, they said. It''s about terror and al Qaeda and toppling a dictator and spreading democracy and protecting ourselves from weapons of mass destruction. But one by one, these concocted rationales went up in smoke, fire, and ashes. And now the bottom line turns out to be....the bottom line. It is about oil.

Alan Greenspan said so last fall. The former chairman of the Federal Reserve, safely out of office, confessed in his memoir, "...Everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil." He elaborated in an interview with The Washington Post''s Bob Woodward, "If Saddam Hussein had been head of Iraq and there was no oil under those sands, our response to him would not have been as strong as it was in the first gulf war."
Remember, also, that soon after the invasion, Donald Rumsfeld''s deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, told the press that war was our only strategic choice. "...We had virtually no economic options with Iraq," he explained, "because the country floats on a sea of oil."

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

Shades of Daniel Plainview, the monstrous petroleum tycoon in the movie "There Will Be Blood." Half-mad, he exclaims, "There''s a whole ocean of oil under our feet!" then adds, "No one can get at it except for me!"
No wonder American troops only guarded the Ministries of Oil and the Interior in Baghdad, even as looters pillaged museums of their priceless antiquities. They were making sure no one could get at the oil except... guess who?

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)

Here''s a recent headline in The New York Times: "Deals with Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back." Read on: "Four western companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power."

There you have it. After a long exile, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Total, and BP are back in Iraq. And on the wings of no-bid contracts -- that''s right, sweetheart deals such as those given Halliburton, KBR, Blackwater. The kind of deals you get only if you have friends in high places. And these war profiteers have friends in very high places.
Let''s go back a few years to the 1990''s, when private citizen *** Cheney was running Halliburton, the big energy supplier. That''s when he told the oil industry that, "By 2010 we will need on the order of an additional 50 million barrels a day. So where is the oil going to come from? While many regions of the world offer great oil opportunities, the Middle East, with two-thirds of the world''s oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies."

(cont)

[taotxzen]

(cont)
Fast forward to Cheney''s first heady days in the White House. The oil industry and other energy conglomerates have been handed backdoor keys to the White House, and their CEOs and lobbyists were trooping in and out for meetings with their old pal, now Vice President Cheney. The meetings are secret, conducted under tight security, but as we reported five years ago, among the documents that turned up from some of those meetings were maps of oil fields in Iraq -- and a list of companies who wanted access to them. The conservative group Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club filed suit to try to find out who attended the meetings and what was discussed, but the White House fought all the way to the Supreme Court to keep the press and public from learning the whole truth.
Think about it. These secret meetings took place six months before 9/11, two years before Bush and Cheney invaded Iraq. We still don''t know what they were about. What we know is that the oil industry is enjoying swollen profits these days. It would be laughable if it weren''t so painful to remember that their erstwhile cheerleader for invading Iraq -- the press mogul Rupert Murdoch -- once said that a successful war there would bring us $20 a barrel of oil. The last time we looked, it was more than $140 a barrel. Where are you, Rupert, when the facts need checking and the predictions are revisited?

We all know Saddam was paying $25,000 per family if one of them would strap bombs on themselves to kill Americans where ever they could find them!

Posted by WellHell3
-------------------
Would you like to support this assertion with some documentation, Rowdy?

[taotxzen]

terrorislamv

Bush lied like the sorry @ss dog that he is, If you want I can run proof all night long. Just say the word.

[whitemale08]

AP Reports ''''Bush Lied'''' Study Funded by Ultra-leftist George Soros
http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/
warner-todd-huston/2008/01/23/ap-bush-li
ed-study-not-revealed-funded-george-soro
s



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Posted by terrorislamv at 10:10 PM : Jul 26, 2008--

You just love being lied to by your British friends...

David Kay appointed by George W. Bush post Iraq War said: "There are no Weapons of Mass Destruction to be found in Iraq."

He concluded his report and George Bush, Cheney and Condileeza Rice modified their lying propaganda to the public and said that he had "Weapons Programs".

Then later Santorum comes out on Hannity and Colmes and says that they found "yellow cake and WMD" in Iraq but Donald Rumsfield holds a press conference and admits that that was destroyed material after the 1st Gulf War.

How long, how long do you neo-cons want us Americans to keep falling for this garbage.

[taotxzen]

What does Bradjulina think about the situation between Hamas and Israel?

[taotxzen]

I have Brittany Spears view on the global trade deficit...