Obama Begins Two-Day Visit to Afghanistan

Washington Post ^ | Saturday, July 19, 2008; 2:18 PM | Candace Rondeaux Washington Post Foreign Service

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 19 -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama arrived in the Afghan capital Saturday for a two-day visit to the war-torn country as the debate over the U.S.-led military mission here moves to center stage in the U.S. election.

Obama arrived at Kabul International Airport on Saturday morning, but his itinerary was closely guarded for security reasons amid a surge in Taliban activity in recent weeks. Afghan and U.S. officials in Kabul confirmed that the Illinois senator was part of a congressional delegation visiting the country. But most declined to discuss whom he was scheduled to meet, with some denying that Obama was even in the country hours after he had landed.

Soon after his arrival, Obama flew by helicopter to the northeastern city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province to meet with U.S. soldiers at a base there, according to the Associated Press. His visit to the normally quiet province comes 12 days after at least 47 people were killed in a U.S.-led airstrike in the area that has fueled intense discussions about foreign military operations in Afghanistan. Afghan officials have said the majority killed in the bombing were women and children traveling in the area as part of a wedding party.

The Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked insurgents have regrouped in eastern Afghanistan, especially near the Pakistani border. Nangarhar's governor, Gul Agha Sherzai, a former warlord, briefed Obama and other members of the delegation about the situation there, according to Sherzai's chief of staff.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

So he flew by helicopter to Jalalabad Air Field by Helicopter...Conference Table described in some news reports may have been there....

[proudpapa]

QUESTION of the DAY:

Does anyone really believe the Taliban would try to hurt Obama?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

They wouldn't dare:

[Maine Mariner]

I am beginning to think we are witnessing the rise of the Great Leader, a cult of the personality.

Here is Obama sitting with the soldiers,
Here is Obama working out
Here is Obama swimming in the Mississippi River (forthcoming)
(shades of Mao swimming in the Yangtze (Yellow?) River during the height
of the cultural revolution.

[Islander7]

“.....cult of the personality.......”

Been saying this for months!! His minions simply will not listen to anything negative about him. No matter how much proof is offered, he is ‘IT’, the savior of the world.

[Texas4ever]

Just saw him on an e-news video, He looks like a little kid. He needed a booster seat!!!

Wow it is amazing how young he looks compared to the Generals and Presidents. He is just a stinking kid!

[Caipirabob]

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

LOL!

The photo may be from Kuwait...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Talking about it on this thread:

Barack Obama addresses troops in Afghanistan...(but likely in Kuwait)

[Carley]

Time for basketball during such a critical mission.

The lightweight will be the death of us.

[Red Steel]

“I am beginning to think we are witnessing the rise of the Great Leader, a cult of the personality.”

The Chicago Tribune fawning over Obama: “The candidate’s stomping grounds”

Here is Obama chowing down.

Here is Obama pumping iron.

Here is Obama’s first kiss.

Here is Obama getting a trim.

Here is Obama meeting Michelle.

Here is Obama shooting hoops.

Here is Obama meeting over Big Macs

Here is Obama walking and talking.

Here is Obama’s summer job.

and more an Adobe Flash illustration....

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-obama-chicago-htmlstory,0,734093.htmlstory

[Son House]

Just heard his recent speech to Troops in Kuwait, funny how he now talks about “support”, given how many times he voted against giving them support. Even the ‘retired national guard’ hero Democrat Tim Walz MN who ran on ending the war, realized how important “support” and voted to fund the Troops, against Democrat wishes...

[Son House]

Clinton, Obama vote ‘no’ on Senate Iraq bill
Other presidential candidates: Dodd joins in ‘no’ vote; Biden votes ‘yes’

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18862112/

Courting the anti-war constituency, Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama both voted against legislation that pays for the Iraq war but lacks a timeline for troop withdrawal.

.....

“Enough is enough,” Obama, an Illinois senator, declared, adding that President Bush should not get “a blank check to continue down this same, disastrous path.”

Their votes Thursday night continued a shift in position for the two presidential hopefuls, both of whom began the year shunning a deadline for a troop withdrawal.

On a vote of 80-14, the Senate cleared the measure and sent it to Bush.

[Son House]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18106281

The former president had been complaining the news media paid too little attention to Obama’s record on the war. Then, he pointed an accusing finger at Obama.

“You said in 2004 there was no difference between you and George Bush on the war, and you took that speech you’re now running on off your Web site in 2004. There’s no difference in your voting record and Hillary’s ever since. Give me a break. This whole thing is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen,” he said.

That prompted Obama’s allies to rush to his defense. Illinois’ other Democratic senator, Dick Durbin, appeared Sunday on MSNBC.

“There has never been a single moment since Barack Obama expressed his opposition to this war when he has wavered. He has been strong, and to call this a fairy tale is just unfair.”

One thing everyone agrees on is that Obama made a speech in 2002, as an Illinois state senator who strongly opposed a war with Iraq. It was one week before Clinton voted in the Senate to authorize the use of force against Iraq. But in an appearance Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press, Clinton accused Obama of having failed to follow through:

“If he was against the war in 2002, he should have strongly spoken out in 2004,” she said. “He should have followed what he said in his speech, which was that he would not vote for funding in ‘05, ‘06 and ‘07.”

In fact, Obama said nothing in that 2002 speech about not voting for war funding — that was two years before he was even elected to the Senate. Obama did say in a campaign speech in 2003 that he would have voted against $87 billion in war funding approved by the Senate.

But it is also true that Obama repeatedly voted for such war funding once he got to the Senate; he defended that stance in a December 2006 interview.

“I don’t see any inclination on the part of those of us in Congress to cut off funding. I think that if we are going to have America’s young men and women there fighting, that we have an obligation to make sure that they’ve got the best equipment, the body armor, the resources they need to come home safely,” Obama said.

Clinton also accused Obama on Meet the Press of having kept quiet too long on Iraq, saying, “When he became a senator, he didn’t go to the floor of the Senate to condemn the war in Iraq for 18 months. He didn’t introduce legislation against the war in Iraq.”

Obama did not give a floor speech against the war until June 2006. He did, however, introduce legislation a year ago — around the same time he opened an exploratory committee for a presidential bid — that called for U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by next April.

[Marine_Uncle]

Wonder he did not demand to ride on a flying carpet.

[Ax]

Can’t you just imagine this? Taliban/AlQaeda troops coming out of their caves in Afghanistan under a flag of truce, asking for an audience with their hero, Baraq Hussein Osama? I’m sure they see their brother Osama... ooops I mean Obama as an extension of the spineless squish Clinton’s determination to fight off islamofacism with an indictment instead of steel-spined military response.

[Marine_Uncle]

They love and adore him.

[PhilDragoo]

Good Morning, Afghanistan! You're the first of our fifty-seven-state tour! Before I sing the Muslim call to prayer, the sweetest sound on earth, let me tell you I've already lined up support from Iran, Syria, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Libya, Hamas, Louie Farrakhan of Nation of Islam, Bill Ayers who bombed the Pentagon (eat your hearts out, commissioned officers--you can't do that) and we hope to meet with Osama--did I say 'Osama'--that's right, Osama bin Laden to make the full enchilada. Let me remind you I'll slash our military--your military--so bad it'll make the Clintons' 40% look puny by comparison. Okay, now, here goes with that call to prayer--join in, ev'rybody on the final chorus--

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Excellent!