News in hot spots appears to aid Obama

[DeepModem Mom]

Politico: News in hot spots appears to aid Obama
By JONATHAN MARTIN | 7/20/08


Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Barack Obama met in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday.
(Jonathan Martin)

Barack Obama’s long-awaited and much-hyped trip overseas, in large part intended to overcome a perception that he’s not up to the job of commander-in-chief, seems to have come at the perfect time as recent events in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran have played into his message.

Afghanistan, which Obama has long said should be the central front in the battle against Islamic extremism, returned to the front pages last week when militants breached a compound and killed nine U.S. soldiers, adding heft to reports over the last several months that the Taliban is resurgent there.

Then, in a reversal, the Bush administration sent Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William J. Burns, the third-ranking official in the State Department, to Switzerland this weekend for a formal meeting with Iranian officials and representatives from other countries about Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. The meeting was, the New York Times noted, “the highest-level session between the countries during the Bush administration.” After being attacked for months by Republicans for his willingness to meet unconditionally with Iran, the State Department’s negotiations amounted to political cover for Obama. “I welcome news that the Bush administration has shifted course and will send an envoy for direct talks,” Obama crowed Wednesday.

But it’s Iraq where Obama got perhaps his most significant bon voyage gift.

First, the White House and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki jointly announced Friday that they were in support of a “general time horizon” for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, marking a break from the Bush administration’s previous refusal to discuss a timeline. Saturday, the German magazine der Spiegel published an interview with Maliki in which he was asked to predict when U.S. troops may leave Iraq. He replied, “As soon as possible, as far as we're concerned.” “U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months,” Maliki said. “That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.”...

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11901.html

[Cha]

1. So Obama "crowed"..he didn't just

sound "elated"?

The timing of all this is a gift, also, to those of us who want Obama for President.