Obama: I Traveled To Pakistan In College

Talking Points Memo ^

[Sub-Driver]

Obama: I Traveled To Pakistan In College By Greg Sargent - April 7, 2008, 1:41PM

The Obama campaign says it's not disupting this account by The Huffington Post's Off the Trail of some remarks Obama made at a California fundraiser last night, including this:

"I traveled to Pakistan when I was in college -- I knew what Sunni and Shia was [sic] before I joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee..."

We don't recall this being public before, but if it has been, let us know.

Obama also suggested that he wouldn't be looking for a hawkish type to shore up his foreign policy credentials when searching for a veep...

"I would like somebody who knows about a bunch of stuff that I'm not as expert on," he said, and then he was off and running. "I think a lot of people assume that might be some sort of military thing to make me look more Commander-in-Chief-like.

[ARCADIA]

Wasn't Pakistan a much more moderate country back in the 1980s? Weren't they on our side during the Russian-Afghan War? Weren't we supplying Osama Bin Laden back then?

Just a hunch -- Obama's mother probably got a grant from all that money the US was pumping into Pakistan back then, doing some liberal project - micro-finance for women?

Mom and little sis then took the opportunity to do some cool sight-seeing - traveling the old Silk Route to China. Obama heard about this and went for a visit.

I don't think Mom let her precious Barry anywhere near the Afghan border.

This is just a junket by a liberal, wacky mom, who brought the kids along.

[RexBeach]

I stayed at a Hilton hotel in NJ the other day.

I think I’ll run for governor!

[AnotherUnixGeek]

I find it extremely curious that Obambi would have found his way to Pakistan in that era.... WHY? Who or what brought him there?

The usual reasons I know of for visiting Pakistan: mountain climbing in the Himalayas, return visits by Pakistani living abroad, and education in Islamic madrassas. Just saying.

[stylin19a]

holy cripes...I wasn't lookin for anything else...

good catch... I wonder if this has legs...

[KEmom]

“But Wright was a former Muslim and black nationalist who had studied at Howard and Chicago,..”

???WHAT???? This is the first time I have ever seen something like this. Although, I would not be 100% surprised, since he is good friends with Louis Farrakan, I’m still shocked that this hasn’t been brought up before, if true.

[WildcatClan]

Yup, he sure did, lol.

[furquhart]

Uhhhhhh...

That places the trip between 1979 and 1983...

Never mentioned before.

That would place it during the Afghan War and the extensive travel of foreign volunteers through that country.

[Beckwith]

“In 1986, Dunham did a one-year development project in Pakistan.

Obama graduated from Columbia in 1983, so his trip wouldn't have been to see his mother, who was there in 1986.

[nikos1121]

I went to the Greek Islands, on a nude beach...In fact, the island was gay and it gave me keen awareness of gayness...

[Unicorn]

I wonder where all the money came from for all this schooling.?

[WildcatClan]

I am guessing, typical white grandma.

[Beckwith]

I won’t be too surprised to learn that his mother converted to islam.

In an interview with the New York Times, published on April 30th, 2007, Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama’s younger half sister, told the Times, "My whole family was Muslim, and most of the people I knew were Muslim.

I assume Maya thinks of her brother, Obama, as a member of her family?

Although Anna is often described as an athiest, I assume Maya thinks of her mother as a member of her family?

How else would one interpret that statement?

[Republican Party Reptile]

I find it extremely curious that Obambi would have found his way to Pakistan in that era.... WHY? Who or what brought him there? Pakistan was not anywhere on the travel agenda of any of my fellow hippy-dippy student travelers who longed to explore Europe, Africa, Latin America, east Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and India/Nepal.

I also traveled to Pakistan in the 80's, did Lahor and then the Karakoram Highway route thru the tribal area (I know, it's almost impossible to imagine doing something like that today without a death wish, but it wasn't that long ago when the people weren't so radicalized and frontier Pakistan was, perhaps a bit off the beaten path, but still very do-able trip either on your own or with a guided tour) , great scenary, some of the most wild and beautiful places on earth.

[maclay]

Let's ask him to release his passport information, that'll tell us where he's been and when.

It is my understanding that his "passport information" doesn't include where he has been, only which details were included on the passport registration form.

[Beckwith]

This too . . .

At the University of Chicago Divinity School, Wright earned a masters degree in the history of religions with a focus on Islam.

[rogue yam]

Usually, there’s only one reason for most non-Pakis to travel to Pakistan (except for commercial reasons) - madrassa-based “training.”

Pakistan has had some tourism in years past. I spent about five weeks there in 1987 just traveling around, mostly in the north. It was physically very beautiful. The people were poor but pretty friendly and easy to do business with (with just a few exceptions). I'm really glad I went but of course I wouldn't even consider taking the same trip now.

[rogue yam]

Me too. Same same in reverse. 1987. Kashgar -> Gilgit over the Kharakoram (Sp?) Pass. Awesome!

[Stingray51]

Remember Bill Clinton’s mysterious dead-of-winter trip to Moscow in, what, 1969?

[Timeout]

Where did you find that quote?
I searched the article I had referenced and could find those words.
Thx