Obama Cuts Trip Short

[Laura PourMeADrink]

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) -- President Barack Obama left Central America earlier than scheduled, cutting short a tour dominated by the U.S.-led military action in Libya.

The president eliminated a visit to Mayan ruins from his itinerary Wednesday, permitting him to leave a few hours earlier. Aides have taken pains to portray Obama as fully engaged in the deployment of missiles and warplanes in North Africa even as he devoted his public time to bridge-building with Latin American leaders.

But he couldn't escape the juxtaposition of missions.

The three-country, five-day tour meant to re-establish U.S. leadership in the region. The president traveled to Brazil, Chile and El Salvador, countries that have undergone political transformations over the past decades.

© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_OBAMA_LATIN_AMERICA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-03-23-03-06-19

[liberal N proud]

1. It's about fucking time he deals with these matters

:sarcasm:

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. agree

[gateley]

2. That sucks. I'm sad his girls

(and he and Michelle) won't get a chance to visit the ruins - they are AWESOME!

[CountAllVotes]

3. yeah real sad alright

I haven't visited the ruins either. :nopity:

He needs to get his butt back here and deal with a few problems!

:dem:

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. Pardon me

but what leads you (and others) to assert that he isn't dealing with things? :shrug:

[gateley]

8. Like he's slacking if he's not planted behind his desk in the Oval Office?

:eyes:

I think he's dealing with problems pretty much 24/7.

And I still think it would be a wonderful opportunity for those girls, and give a moment of respite, maybe, and sense of awe to Obama.

But then, I'm not selfish, not always thinking of me, me, me. :shrug:

[DevonRex]

14. Fox News agrees.

[Cameron27]

6. Sucks more that he's ordered

other parent's children into harm's way. Let MO & the girls stay & visit the ruins, but when you've decided that someone else's life is worth sacrificing for a "cause," you'd better at least look like it weighs heavily on your mind.

[lunatica]

9. Saving Libyan children from being slaughtered isn't important huh?

But I'm pretty confident you don't care about that. It seems much more important to be as critical as you can possibly be.

[Cameron27]

12. You read minds?

Whether or not this undeclared war is justified, when the CIC decides that American & collateral civilian lives are worth the sacrifice, he better look & act like it's the hardest damned decision he's ever made, and the responsibility weighs heavily on his mind.

[timo]

10. moved into harms way???

hell how about all the kids who GOT KILLED over this numbskull deal??? or how about the kids whose parents got smoked in the tomahawk missile dump???? this prooves once again of the giant disconnect between Washington politicians, and THE REAL WORLD!!! but screw it lets tour it up and live BIG on tax payer money, because SCREW THEM WHILE WE CAN!!!!!!

[Cameron27]

13. I hate that term btw,

"in harms way," I just couldn't think of anything else to stick in there at the time I posted.

[timo]

18. I didnt mean to cause you discomfort

I was just being snarky, to make my point of how fucked our leadership is!!

[Cameron27]

19. lol, thanks

but I didn't take it personally at all. I understood exactly what you were saying & I completely agree. :toast:

[CountAllVotes]

17. how can one be out looking at old ruins

When in the meantime they are ruining the lives of living humans? :grr:

[bigwillq]

16. I'm sure they'll be able to go again.

No need to be sad for them.

[gateley]

20. I hope so - if one has the opportunity it's quite an experience. Especially for

Americans, IMO, since our Republic is so YOUNG and the Native history wasn't preserved much.

[woolldog]

5. Should have done that a long time ago. nt

[boomerbust]

11. Pssst! SWEET SIXTEEN

He will be in front of his HD big screen watching the Badgers go all the way to the Final Four.

[countingbluecars]

15. Seems appropriate.

The business part of the trip was over. His scheduled meetings with leaders were over. I see no real problem here.