Obama likely to visit Iraq, Afghanistan, Britain, France and Germany next month

[TeamJordan23]

I think it would be wise to add Pakistan to the trip if there is adequate security

Barack Obama to visit Britain
By Toby Harnden in Unity, New Hampshire

Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is to fly to Britain next month as part of an ambitious foreign trip that will also take him to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as to France and Germany.

Only skeleton details of Mr Obama's trip have been agreed but an announcement of an outline programme is expected over the weekend.

"You will be hearing something very soon," a senior Obama aide told The Telegraph.

During Mr Obama's visit to Britain, likely to take place around the middle of July, he will call on Gordon Brown and, if time permits, David Cameron, the Conservative leader.

A fundraising event to attract campaign donations from wealthy Americans is also understood to be under consideration.

A recent Telegraph poll showed that Mr Obama is overwhelmingly preferred to Mr McCain in Britain and Europe.

Three times as many Britons said they would vote for him as those who indicated they would back Mr McCain, if able to cast a vote in the US election.

But Democratic strategists are concerned that scenes of "Obamamania" in Europe could damage the candidate back home.

In 2004, John Kerry, the Democratic nominee, was mocked for "looking French" while in 2000, George W Bush turned his relative lack of foreign travel into a political asset.

Mr Obama, 46, has not been to Iraq since 2004, a fact that his opponent John McCain, 71, the presumptive Republican nominee and a regular visitor to Baghdad, points out frequently.

His extensive foreign trip – unusual at the height of a presidential campaign – is designed to burnish his comparatively thin foreign policy credentials.

Continue Reading: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/2208856/Barack-Obama-to-visit-Britain.html

[anonymous171]

1. Oh god, Obama, please don't go to fucking France.

[TeamJordan23]

2. For Blacks in France, Obama’s Rise Is Reason to Rejoice, and to Hope

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/arts/17abroad.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I think Obama is a smarter politician than Kerry. There will be no mockery of his visit. Plus, the times and political atmosphere are different right now than they were in 2004.

[FrenchieCat]

14. It is not just Blacks in France.......it is most French in France.

My family in France comes from both the straight up Gallic French side, as well as Black French side who trace their ancestry to the Islands. My three aunts and one uncle still living and various cousins are White, but I also have mixed race cousins (who identify with the Antillian community in France) married to Antillians (who make up the largest Black communities in France), as well as a 1/4 Black nephew (My biracial brother married a White French woman). I also have a Moroccan Uncle married to my French aunt. They are all rooting and thrilled about Barack Obama.

[FrenchieCat]

4. Go to France, and Germany and Italy......

Have giant crowds there, and show Americans that the world will change with your presidency!

[Labors of Hercules]

15. Viva la FRANCE, GERMANY and ITALIA!!!

and every other SANE, PROGRESSIVE and NON-REPUBLICANIZED place on Earth!!

[gcomeau]

3. I maintain that a trip to Europe during the campaign season is an error.

Iraq and Afghanistan... ok, if he thinks he needs it. But I don't see him getting much benefit from a Europe trip at this point in time, that should happen after November 4th.

People are probably counting on him getting the kind of welcome that will hammer home a stark contrast to Bush and the public image he's been busily stomping into the ground worldwide the last 7 years... but I don't think that's going to sway many minds in the voter groups Obama needs to be winning over right now. He should be here hammering the economy.

[FrenchieCat]

6. You are incorrect.

I believe that Obama going to Europe is a winner.

McCain has been everywhere, and no one cared.

Watch Obama go places and everyone want to be there.

The meme is that Some Americans are skeptical that Obama has the Foreign creds
required to be effective on Foreign relations. Watch him prove them wrong.

He has been hammering his policies on the economy, and will again.

A week abroad is exactly what the campaign needs.

There will be worldwide coverage.

It will be sweet.

I wrote about the fact that this is what he needed to do here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6214741

[TeamJordan23]

8. I agree it will help him a lot and renew hopes world hopes in America again. nm

[dailykoff]

5. Let me guess, he'll be out of the country when FISA comes up again.

Convenient.

[FrenchieCat]

7. Let me guess, you will harp on the FISA matter, whatever the thread is about.

I understand and respect your view on FISA.....but your constant harping on it is wearing me out.

I realize that it is everything to you and your view of Obama and his principles has grown dim...but
my principle says we try and win this election, and stop dogging out our nominee to the level in where every thread is an invitation for you to refer to FISA, in particular since you have made your views on the FISA issue clear.

I suggest that you put your objections in capital letters in your sig line about how much you are disappointed about OBama in reference to his stance on FISA, and then you can participate in threads without hijacking them for the sake of the 4th amendment and your belief that Obama should fillibuster a bill that will still pass.

in otherwords, your disappointment in Obama in reference to FISA is duly noted....as it has been.

[dailykoff]

9. If he's going to this much trouble to help out his pals in the WH

without damaging his campaign -- which means he finally figured out that FISA is a loser, not some magic elixir he needs to win in November -- I respect him even less.

[FrenchieCat]

10. Put that in your sig line as well.

I believe that many have gotten your number and your message. Again, I've put you in the column of skeptical wavering supporters.

Now, do you have any comment in reference to this OP? :shrug:

If not, here are some excellent threads for you to continue to discuss your lessening respect for Barack Obama. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6421263

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3532965

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3533048

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3532120

[dailykoff]

11. I strongly suspect that this trip IS about fisa.

I respect your support for Obama but I think you underestimate the importance of his statement last week symbolically and the importance of this legislation to the Bush administration legally.

Symbolically, it signals that Obama has no moral center, and is ready to exonerate the Bush admin for their whole sickening litany of crimes, domestic surveillance being the tip of the iceburg.

Legally, getting this bill rammed through is crucial to the cover-up of those crimes, and you better believe there will be plenty of other grossly unconstitutional immunity bills for Obama to cave to in the future.

[FrenchieCat]

13. Please do not underestimate or overestimate what I think......

as I will be clear as a bell in my expression of such.

You can be symbolic about how you practice your politics, and you will not hear me tell you that you should do otherwise.

What I am saying is that this OP was not about FISA........
But all of your posts in this thread have been.

I am politely asking you to to cut it out.

Start another thread about FISA.

I'm looking at a bigger picture that takes me to a place where we will be able to do something about a lot of things, and not just symbolistically.

The bill will pass, whether Obama fights or doesn't fight this legislation, and whether he wins or doesn't win the election. Find a symbol in that.

[slinkerwink]

16. who's Ignored?

[FrenchieCat]

17. I'm tempted to go there for now myself.

It's the kind of repetition that afterwhile makes one roll eyes and mutter under breath; we got it, we got it.

[totodeinhere]

12. Boy, talk about being cynical.