Archive for May 13th, 2008
Barack Obama – Change We Can Believe In?
During the CNN/YouTube Democratic Debate last July, Barack Obama was asked, “…would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea…?”
“I would”, responded Obama, “And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them — which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration — is ridiculous.”
Apparently it is not so “ridiculous” today.
According to the New York Times yesterday, Susan Rice, a foreign policy advisor for the candidate said, “Mr. Obama believes that engagement at the presidential level, at the appropriate time and with the appropriate preparation, can be used to leverage the change we need.”
Forgetting Barack Obama’s boldly spoken words last year, Dr. Rice said. “But nobody said he would initiate contacts at the presidential level; that requires due preparation and advance work.”
Sounds to me like Obama was all for talking to Ahmadinejad before he was all against it.
