"The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away. Waiting to take you away, take you today..."
Posted on 07/19/2008 8:16:33 AM PDT by Schnucki
US Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama has arrived in Afghanistan, at the start of a high-profile international tour.
Mr Obama, who flew to Kabul as part of a US congressional team, is expected to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
He is later expected to visit Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and Britain.
Correspondents say Mr Obama is hoping to address security issues, seen as the weakest aspect of his presidential bid.
Opinion polls suggest Americans regard Republican John McCain as a better potential commander-in-chief.
After landing in Kabul, Mr Obama flew by helicopter to the east of the country where he was to visit troops, a US military spokesman said.
The area has seen an upsurge in fighting with pro-Taleban rebels in recent months, notably along the border with Pakistan.
Last Sunday, nine US soldiers were killed after a Taleban attack on a remote military outpost in the area.
In a speech earlier this week, Mr Obama promised to commit at least two more combat brigades - up to 10,000 men - to Afghanistan, if he wins November's election.
He also said the US military should focus on that country rather than Iraq.
'One president at a time'
Asked what message he would convey to Afghan and Iraqi leaders, Mr Obama said: "I'm more interested in listening than doing a lot of talking."
Speaking to reporters before leaving, he added: "I'm going over there as a US senator. We have one president at a time, so it's the president's job to deliver those messages."
Mr Obama also said he would talk to commanders both in Afghanistan and Iraq to find out about their concerns.
This BBC's Martin Patience in Kabul says the visit is widely seen as an attempt by the Democratic hopeful to strengthen his security credentials.
He will be accompanied by news anchors from America's major television networks during his foreign tour.
Correspondents say the McCain campaign will seize on every perceived misstep during Mr Obama's trip, and will also point out that Mr McCain's earlier visits to Iraq and elsewhere attracted far less public attention.
In his own foreign policy speech, the Republican candidate said Mr Obama's strategy of winning in Afghanistan by pulling out of Iraq "has it exactly backwards".
"It is precisely the success of the surge in Iraq that shows us the way to succeed in Afghanistan," he said on Tuesday.
“at the start of a high-profile international tour.”
It’s high profile because the Obama campaign and his friends in the media are making it as high-profile as possible.
Do these people realize how silly they look? One contrived trip overseas is supposed to make Obama a foreign policy expert.
Sometimes I listen to myself, he said. It’s like the tree in the forest. :0
"The Magical Mystery Tour is waiting to take you away. Waiting to take you away, take you today..."
Just thought I's clear it up a bit.
Obama spent a whopping 2hr and 45 min. in Afghanistan before flying out. That’s leadership!
he only spent 3 hours in Afghanistan.
“he only spent 3 hours in Afghanistan.”
It sounds like he is overnighting there. He was in Jalalabad for only 3 hours.
Where did he do that?
What’s he talking about in this picture? No warm friendly smiling faces in that crowd.
Photo maybe from Kuwait....
Barack Obama addresses troops in Afghanistan
Althought the data with the photo seems to indicate Kuwait....
Where did he do that?
IN KUWAIT!
File photo shows US President George W. Bush (right) shaking hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in New York. US President George W. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have agreed to set a "time horizon" for US troop withdrawals as part of a long-term security pact (AFP/File/Jim Watson)
Iraq's Sunni Arab bloc rejoins government (They're BAack!!)link.
Obama takes his White House campaign to the battlefields,/b>
Of course many of the photos are not with troops on the Afghanistan battlefront....though the Leftist press would like us to believe they are....
Jason Burke The Observer, Sunday July 20, 2008
...The tour, aimed at boosting his foreign affairs credentials with voters at home and introducing himself to world leaders for the first time, started with visits to American troops on the front line...
Maybe he's the one with his hands over his ears?
LOL/
Our troops are forced to stand behind this clown. Wonder if he told them off line how he plans on decimating our military if he gets elected.
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