[mukto-mona] An endorsement from a veteran foreign policy doyen will surely energize Obama campaign

Obama picks up an endorsement from a veteran foreign policy doyen

 

A.H. Jaffor Ullah

 

There is an adage in South Asia which goes something like this - when all the elephants in the monsoon deluge are gasping for air, the mosquito says, how deep is the water?  Something similar is going on here in America.  I am yet to read any articles written by foreign policy experts who said that Senator Obama does not have enough exposure to foreign policy experiences to make him unfit for the nation's number one job.  Still then, Senator Hillary Clinton who is novice as far as foreign policy is concerned had made this a big issue during primaries in Ohio and Texas in March 2008.    

 

Senator Clinton had pooh-poohed him far too many times by saying that he has virtually no foreign policy background whatsoever.  The Republican contender, Senator McCain, who considers him to be an expert on foreign policy, also thinks that way about the leading Democratic candidate for the White House.  To defend himself from such terse criticism Obama has always said that a sound judgment is more important than experiences.  Senator Clinton out of desperation during the primaries in Ohio came up with the famous 3:00 AM phone call to White House about an impending disaster about to be happening.  The question was who was better prepared to answer the phone - Obama or herself?  However, John McCain immediately gave the answer - of all 3 candidates for the White House he thinks he was the person who is most knowledgeable and had the experience to answer the phone call. 

 

Both Senator McCain and Clinton are in full accord about Obama's "lack" of foreign policy experience.  They also say that they are ready for the job from day one.  The whole idea behind such statement is to undermine the capability of the junior senator from Illinois.  Nowhere in the discussion however is mentioned whether they have the sound judgment vis-à-vis foreign policy in this dynamic and challenging world.

 

On April 2, 2008 I read the news in the Internet that caught my attention.  The Bloomberg news network carried the item from which I learned that the presidential aspirant, Senator Obama, had received the endorsement from a veteran foreign policy expert, ex-member of House of Representatives, Lee Hamilton.  Congressman Lee Hamilton also served as co-chairperson of 9-11 Commission.  Mr. Hamilton is considered by most foreign policy analysts in America as one of the top Democratic Party's top foreign policy figures.

 

Mr. Hamilton, who served as the co-chairperson of the commission that investigated the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and headed the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said he was impressed by Obama's approach to national security and foreign policy.

 

Giving a glowing plaudits Hamilton said, "I read his national security and foreign policy speeches, and he comes across to me as pragmatic, visionary and tough.  He impresses me as a person who wants to use all the tools of presidential power."

 

Congressman Hamilton's tribute is a slap to both Hillary Clinton and John McCain's assertion that Obama doesn't have the experience to deal with critical foreign policy matters. On February 25 Senator Clinton said in Washington, "He wavers from seeming to believe that mediation and meetings without preconditions can solve some of the world's most intractable problems, to advocating rash, unilateral military action without cooperation from our allies in the most sensitive region of the world."

 

The foreign policy sage, Mr. Lee Hamilton, also endorsed Senator Obama's seemingly controversial foreign policy statement in which he mentioned that if needed he as a president is willing to meet the chief of this nation's enemy such as the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad unconditionally.  Even President George Bush has criticized this notion of Senator Obama who also said that it is a dangerous idea.  Senator John McCain also dittoed Bush's approbation.  On the contrary Mr. Hamilton said he agreed with Obama's position on meeting with U.S. adversaries such as the leaders of Iran without conditions. Also, Obama's consideration of unilateral military action against terrorist hideouts in Pakistan is already U.S. policy. 

 

This much needed endorsement from Hamilton, who was on the short list of former President Bill Clinton's 1992 vice presidential picks, may provide the much-needed boost to Obama in Indiana, where polls show a tight race ahead of the primary.  Mr. Hamilton represented a congressional district from Indiana for 35 years and retired from active politics in 1999. Because of his extensive foreign policy background, Mr. Hamilton serves as the president and director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and serves on Bush's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and his Homeland Security Advisory Council.

 

In summary, it was a coup de grâce for Obama campaign to have received Mr. Lee Hamilton's endorsement and a glowing encomium at this critical juncture.  Both Hillary Clinton and John McCain fail to understand that no one really comes to the White House prepared to tackle the job of the president.  A good judgment is what is needed to be the president.  If the president chooses right kind of advisors, then he or she should be able to react to emergencies brought on by external events.  To have an open mind is a plus.  Senator Obama has said all along that he is willing to listen to America's adversaries unconditionally.  To this scribe, it means that Senator Obama is endowed with an open mind.  This endorsement by the heavyweight of foreign policy will remove the dark cloud that is hanging over Obama campaign.  It certainly was a good day for Barack Obama whose campaign is getting a shot in the arm almost every day.

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Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, a researcher and columnist, writes from New Orleans, USA

   

 

 

                        

 

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