Posted on 07/19/2008 8:23:47 PM PDT by TornadoAlley3
Obama Makes Stop On Way To Afghanistan In Whirlwind Tour Of Middle East, Europe CHICAGO (CBS) A group soldiers serving overseas, including some from the Chicago area, were overjoyed Saturday when presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama visited in Kuwait.
As CBS 2's Susan Carlson reports, Obama stopped in at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait before making his first trip to Afghanistan. Camp Arifjan is a major gateway for U.S. soldiers moving into and out of Iraq.
The soldiers applauded thunderously when Obama arrived; one of them could barely contain herself as she sported a Chi-town sign.
When the cheers settled down, the first thing Obama said to the soldiers was, "Thank you."
"I am so grateful to all of you," Obama said.
Obama also talked briefly about military strategy.
"In speaking to commanding officers here, what's clear is we've really perfected a lot of systems to move equipment, supplies and obviously troops in and out of Iraq, as well as some of the work that's being done to coordinate our activities in Afghanistan," he said.
Obama also impressed the soldiers with his basketball strategy on the court. He joked to those watching, "You came out here because you wanted to see me get beat by your fellow soldiers."
and he took time to do a lot of hand shaking before moving on to his next stop.
In Afghanistan, Obama was officially part of a congressional delegation on a fact-finding tour expected to take him to Iraq. But he traveled Saturday amid the publicity and scrutiny accorded a likely Democratic nominee for president rather than a senator from Illinois. Security was tight and media access to Obama was limited by his campaign, and his itinerary in the war zones was a closely guarded secret.
Obama and others in the delegation received a briefing inside the U.S. base in Jalalabad from the Afghan provincial governor of Nangarhar, Gul Agha Sherzai, a no-nonsense, bullish former warlord.
"Obama promised us that if he becomes a president in the future, he will support and help Afghanistan not only in its security sector but also in reconstruction, development and economic sector," Sherzai told The Associated Press.
The area where the meeting took place is not far from where Osama bin Laden escaped U.S. troops in 2001 after his al-Qaida terrorist group led the attacks on Sept. 11. With the ousted Taliban regime resurgent and given the al-Qaida goal of terrorizing the U.S., Obama has argued that the war in Afghanistan deserves more attention as well as more troops.
Obama's first overseas tour since securing the Democratic nomination — he is scheduled to travel to Europe through next week — could be key to honing his foreign policy strategy with less than four months before the election. His rival for the presidency, Republican Sen. John McCain, has criticized Obama for not spending more time in the region and for developing a policy without more firsthand knowledge.
In that vein, Obama was expected to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday.
Obama plans to visit Iraq next, for the second time. Afterward, he will stop in Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and the United Kingdom.
Did you mean it’s “race” to see Obama running for President of an an Obama nation? Recall how Janet Reno was the first female Attorney General and Madeline Albright was the first female Secretary of State. So we must have the first black president, or at least partially so.
Supply units are often over 50 percent Black.
Infantry units are over 80 percent White.
Ranger units are over 90 percent White.
Yep. That is about right. Heaven forbid the BO would have to go to the "hot" areas where the white folk are at, instead of being with the ones that would not vote for a Conservative black for POTUS.
See the pic in #127 for more "diversity". < /sarc>
We have some black acquaintances from our children's school who are life time Navy.
They just shipped out for Japan this last week.
He and his wife are both registered Republicans, so his wife says, but are saying that Obama is their main man.
They admit that Obama does not have the credentials to be President but claim that America is so strong it can survive four years of the wrong man being in office.
They both point to Jimmy Carter as an example.
They do not see voting based on skin color to be any kind of racism.
Lauren,
I am a government contractor who deals exclusively with the DoD. I travel and work with Army, Navy and USMC types, both commissioned and enlisted. I am former military and have been able to blend more easily than some of my civilian peers. Most of the terminology has not changed. What I have found is that the support for Obama vs McCain definitely appears to be generational, based upon Obama’s youth vs McCain’s age. The fact McCain has a military background does not appear to sway many to his side. They see McCain continuing the rotating deployments. Many do not plan to make the military a career (lifers) so it matters little that Obama will degrade the military. Lack of concern for the future is not an exclusive trait of our non-serving youth.
This is simply my observation of the troops I deal with. The support for Obama spans racial lines but, of course, blacks do support him in greater percentage.
During my deployment, I observed many soldiers who were euphoric over Obama running in the primaries. Unfortunately, many in the military adore him.
W was in a war zone and he is the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. His saftey comes first...... Moreover, he is the CIC of the troops. He went to boost their morale NOT for a PHOTO-OP.
WHO ARE YOU? Anyone who trust this president and understands the military knows this...
Yes, there are a lot of blacks and hispanics in the military. But, the majority do not care one thing for him, I am from a military family. So, please do not continue expounding on the small numbers who do like the MARXIST. Thanks!
Guess you didnt notice the % differences? did you?
10% does not translate to 90% in a group photo-op
in less of course...
I saw it on the news. The troops were very enthusiastic, that’s a fact. They’re serving you and I and they’re more than entitled to their response. I don’t believe that they’re ill-informed for appreciating the candidates’ visit. Bless them.
But now you are saying:
We know that most of these trips are photo ops for the candidates. A poster above even explained about being “selected”. So what’s new. They all do it.
That's some pretty good flipping.
Pancake time!
If meeting the Obamanator is voluntary, you would expect a majority of black folks to turn up.
Maybe because the Armed Forces are about 70% white, and ,funny thing these Obama Photo op’s seem to defy the law of averages.
Goebbels eat your heart out.
I went through the BNCOC at Benning and took part in their field training (as OpFor) a number of times. I recall entire classes with zero black guys...zero, spanish guys, yes...black guys, no.
A deck stacked with REMFs.
That is very damn good. I’m going to steal that.
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