Posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 by campaign2008
A new poll from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows the American public increasingly concerned about rising energy and food costs. The national survey, conducted July 23-27 among 1,503 adults, shows Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) did not gain significantly from his trip to the Middle East and Europe last week. The survey indicates voters are split on which candidate is better on foreign policy. 43 percent listed McCain, while 42 percent named Obama.
48 percent of voters still view Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) as more capable than Obama of defending the country against a terrorist attack, but that lead has narrowed in the last month. In June, 55 percent selected McCain as better on terrorism. On Iraq, McCain has a slim 44 percent lead over Obama’s 41 percent.
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Posted on Thursday, July 31st, 2008 by campaign2008
The Wall Street Journal is hosting an online debate on trade policy between an economic adviser to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), Daniel Tarullo, and an economic adviser to Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Phillip Levy. Both have offered differed responses to collapse of the WTO talks in Geneva.In a Washington Post op-ed, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who advises McCain, assesses the changing conditions in Iraq and says a withdrawal from Iraq is not necessary to free forces for Afghanistan.
A new poll (LAT) shows a slim majority of Californians favoring increased drilling off their coast. McCain discussed his energy views with Colorado’s KRDO radio on Tuesday.
Obama praised the reauthorization on Tuesday of the global AIDS bill, which he said represents “a renewed and expanded commitment by the United States” to fight AIDS around the world.
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Posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 by campaign2008
Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) both had discussions Tuesday with the visiting Pakistani prime minister. Obama said he had a “productive and wide-ranging discussion,” in which he and Gilani discussed “how to more effectively deal with the central front in the war on terrorism—the threat from al-Qaeda and the Taliban originating from the Pakistani tribal areas—which threatens the United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.”
Gilani and McCain had a twenty-minute phone conversation (Pakistan Daily Mail) in which Gilani reportedly stressed the importance of a long-term strategic relationship between the United States and Pakistan.
NASA: In a statement on the fiftieth anniversary of NASA, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said he would “make sure that the NASA constellation program has the resources it needs so that we can begin a new era of human space exploration.”
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Posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 by campaign2008
Reader Bill Donahue writes:
Much has been made about the comments of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki regarding Obama’s 16 month timetable for withdrawal of U.S. Troops. The common spin is that al-Maliki is putting pressure on the Bush administration. It might also be fueled by Iraqi concern about the U.S. election as well as local elections there. The Prime Minister knows that a portion of the United States wants to leave Iraq. If we do so, he is on his own. It could motivate him to ally himself with the powerful al-Sadr militant faction or at least join the chorus of anti-American groups. Also, there are provincial elections forthcoming in Iraq as well. It may be to al-Maliki’s advantage to seem tough and independent in their own election cycle. The militant radical Montique al-Sadr incidentally also is a supporter of Obama’s plans. He wants US troops out so he, an Iran supporter, can take over. So, if he is going to stay in power, al-Maliki, might feel the need to run toward his “right” just as Obama is now running toward his “center.” Also, militant groups will play upon the election to get U.S. troops out. Curiously, streetwise Iraqis are not so sure they want the US out too soon. It would destabilize the country and re-open the sectarian violence. Then what have we accomplished and what do they have but more bloodshed?
Also, by publicly debating the issue of timetables to leave, and emboldening people like Moqtada al-Sadr, we have made the situation on the ground more uncertain. If we cannot be trusted to stay and finish what we start, it is no wonder people in Iraq or the entire region will “run” to their right where al-Sadr and Iran wait in the wings. If we leave and the country disintegrates into civil war again, the lives of hundreds of our troops will have been wasted. Is that the right thing to do for the sake of the troops who have died and those still fighting every day? Will setting artificial timetables destroy the progress made and endanger the sacrifice already made? Whether you agreed with the entry into Iraq or not, having done so we have an obligation to leave without causing more violence. A lot of people on the streets placed their trust in us once we were there. We cannot just create timetables that suit one person’s election campaign ambitions but threaten stability there. I wonder if we have not already done that by driving al-Maliki toward people like al-Sadr? Will setting artificial deadlines give power to the militant groups like al-Sadr? Let’s remember that al-Sadr who has killed American troops and has never been called to justice for it. Senator Obama may have just made al-Sadr’s militant group more powerful. The on again off again relationship of al-Sadr with the Prime Minister’s government will be influenced by the knowledge that the United States is leaving by a date certain. When Senator Obama moves to Afghanistan, the militants there will expect the same withdrawal syndrome in short order. We may not like the war, but we have a moral and pragmatic obligation to finish what we start and finish it well. Our credibility with other nations in the area I think will be damaged by Senator Obama’s plan of unconditional withdrawal. He wants to be tough on Iran and Afghanistan. Who is going to take us seriously when we abandon the people in Iraq that stood with us?
–Bill Donahue
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Posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 by Joanna Klonsky
As the presidential candidates continue to debate the success of the troop surge, the American Prospect has convened a diverse group of Iraq experts to weigh in. Included in the panel are CFR Senior Fellow for Defense Policy Stephen Biddle, Global Americana Institute President Juan Cole, and Center for American Progress Senior Fellow Lawrence Korb, among others.
Shawn Brimley, Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, says the surge has been “overly simplified” by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who has insisted that the strategy was successful. “A change in strategy, plus the Sunni Awakening, the decision of Sadr to stand down his militia, and the use of concrete barriers in Baghdad to separate Sunni and Shia were all extremely important factors that, along with the additional troops, combined to help lower the violence,” he says.
Brookings’ Michael O’Hanlon says it is “incontrovertible to me that several major factors, including certainly the surge, were hugely important–and also synergistically important, in that the sum of effects was much greater than the sum of the parts.”
Matthew Duss, research associate at the Center for American Progress, says the Awakenings movement, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr decision to “freeze” his militia, and the sectarian cleansing that led to “the separation of Sunni and Shia Iraqis into protected enclaves” all contributed to the decrease in violence in Iraq. The surge “encouraged, supported and consolidated each of these other phenomena, but very likely could not have succeeded without them,” he says.
Lt. Col. (ret) John Nagl says it is “past time to think about how to transfer some of the hard-earned lessons from countering insurgency in Iraq to the campaign in Afghanistan.”
To read the entire debate, click here.
For more on the candidates’ stances on Iraq policy, see this CFR.org Issue Tracker on the issue.
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Posted on Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 by campaign2008
After touring a California oil field on Monday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) again called for offshore drilling (WashPost). He disputed claims that offshore drilling might not yield benefits for years, saying some oil producers told him there are some cases in which oil could be available “within a matter of months.” He said the timeframe would depend “on the location and whether you use existing rigs or have to install new rigs.”
In an interview with Larry King on Monday night, McCain discussed his views on Iraq, and clarified a statement last week that Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) proposed sixteen-month timetable for withdrawal from Iraq seemed “pretty good” (ChiTrib). He said that sixteen-month goal should not be “hard and fast,” but rather should be “condition-based.”
Obama will meet (MSNBC) with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
Posted in Energy Policy, General Election, Iraq, Morning Update, Pakistan | 0 Comments »
Posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 by campaign2008
“[D]id nuclear arms help the Soviet Union from falling and disintegrating? For that
matter, did a nuclear bomb help the U.S. to prevail inside Iraq or Afghanistan, for that matter? Nuclear bombs belong to the 20th century. We are living in a new century.”
–Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams that aired Monday.
Posted in General Election, Iran, Military, Quote of the Day | 0 Comments »
Posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 by Joanna Klonsky
In Politico’s new “Dear 44” series, experts from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Center for American Progress Action Fund debate a different policy issue facing the next president each week. This week, Aram Zamgochian (PDF), project director for Middle East and Africa Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Brian Katulis, Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, discuss what the next administration’s policy toward Iraq should look like.
Zamgochian touts efforts by the Chamber of Commerce to help U.S. companies “identify credible investment opportunities, find sound local partners and develop policies to help them compete” in Iraq. He says such investment is “the true long-term insurance policy to guarantee against instability in a region that is crucial to our national security and business objectives.”
Katulis, on the other hand, urges the next president to follow the advice of the Iraq Study Group report. Though the report needs updating, he says, “its fundamental premise that a new strategy is needed to managing multiple and interlinked challenges in the Middle East — among them Iran, the Arab-Israeli conflict and Iraq — remains relevant and should guide the next administration’s efforts as it redeploys U.S. troops from Iraq.”
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Posted on Monday, July 28th, 2008 by campaign2008
In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said too much U.S. financial assistance to Pakistan has been military aid, and “not enough of it has been in the form of building schools and building infrastructure in the country to help develop and give opportunity to the Pakistani people.” He also discussed Afghanistan and the troop surge in Iraq.
On ABC’s This Week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) stressed the importance of basing Iraq policy on the “conditions on the ground.” He also discussed the economy, calling Wall Street “the villain” in the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Posted in General Election, Iraq, Morning Update, Pakistan | 0 Comments »
Posted on Friday, July 25th, 2008 by campaign2008
Several of the world’s leading papers focused their news coverage today on the overwhelming response U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) has garnered thus far on his tour of Europe. Germany’s Deutsche-Welle says Obama received a welcome the country “usually reserves for rock stars and soccer players.” Der Spiegel says the candidate displayed the full range of his charisma in a moving speech in which he invoked a transatlantic “shared destiny” and promised to restore U.S.-European relations. In a news analysis, the New York Times says Obama’s speech was vague on diplomatic specifics, but says the emotional response his tour has prompted represents Europe’s hope for a “more flexible, less ideological America.”
Today Obama heads to France and Britain. Salon looks at favorable French public opinion of Obama, though the AFP reports his French tour could be “low-key” compared to his reception in Germany. The Daily Telegraph, meanwhile, previews his trip to Britain.
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Obama’s presumptive opponent in the U.S. general election, has sought an answer to the press response Obama’s tour has prompted. In an interview with FOX News, McCain discussed his differences with Obama on Iraq policy and criticized Obama for making policy statements on Iraq and Afghanistan before actually leaving to visit those countries. The Washington Post says McCain may soon announce his selection for a vice presidential running mate in an attempt to win back media attention.
Meanwhile, pundits questioned whether Obama’s high profile trip would help or hurt him with American voters, particularly as new polls showed McCain gaining ground (LAT) in four potential swing states.
CFR’s Daniel Senor examines Obama’s trip to Iraq and Afghanistan in a new interview.
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