Obama Inexperience about Foreign Affairs
International Crisis and National Security Probabilities
Oct 22, 2008
Obama will face an international crisis during the first six months of his presidency, according to his running mate, Senator Joe Biden. In a speech at a fund raiser in Seattle, the Senator said that he could guarantee that the world will want to find out if Obama is up to the job, which he assured listeners he is. Biden was quoted as saying, “Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking.”
International Crisis Ahead
As reported on Fox News (10/20/08)) Biden said “Remember I said it standing here. If you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis to test the mettle of this guy. And he is gonna have to make some really tough---I don’t know what the decision’s gonna be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you its gonna happen.” Speaking in San Francisco, Biden said Obama’s challengers will “find out this guy’s got steel in his spine. However, Democratic strategist and pollster Doug Schoen said that Biden’s comments are “probably an uncomfortable truth.
Republican Campaign Response
In a memo to the media on October 20, 2008, the McCain campaign responded, “We don’t want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are fighting two wars.” Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani responded by saying that, “Biden continues to harbor doubts that Obama is ready to be commander- in -chief.”
The Kennedy Comparison
Kennedy came into office at a time when the United States was prosperous and the most powerful nation in the world. Obama will become president when America has lost its international prestige and faces the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. It has the largest national debt in its history. Kennedy was dealing from strength and Obama will be dealing from weakness making him a vulnerable leader. Because of the strength of the United States, Kennedy could be a hawk on foreign policy. Obama has already agreed to sit down and talk to American enemies without any preconditions.
America has many enemies around the world including China, Russia, Iran and many Latin American countries. Which one will test Obama’s mettle and how it will be done remains to be seen. But if we take Senator Joe Biden’s remarks seriously, an international crisis will occur within six months after Obama become president. Whether he has the experience to meet it is still an unknown.
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