Tag: Barack Obama

Obama calls leaders of Qatar and Turkey about Libya

By David Jackson, USA TODAY

The White House via Getty Images

Seeking to keep allies supportive of the Libyan operation, President Obama spoke today to the leaders of Qatar and Turkey.

The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, has offered aircraft to help maintain a no-fly zone over Libya.

“The president underscored that Qatar’s contribution reflects a real leadership role in the region in support of the Libyan people and again the two leaders underscored the importance of the resolution and the importance of the protection of the Libyan people,” said White House spokesman Ben Rhodes.

Obama also spoke to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. A member of NATO, Turkey has objected to the idea of NATO taking the lead role in military action against another Muslim country.

Turkey also played a key role in the release of four New York Times journalists from Libyan custody.

Obama also spoke by phone today with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron.

A White House readout of the Turkey call:

The President expressed appreciation for Turkey’s ongoing humanitarian efforts in Libya, including its assistance in facilitating the release and safe passage to Tunisia of four New York Times journalists who had been detained in Libyan custody.

The President and the Prime Minister reaffirmed their support for the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1970 and 1973, in order to protect the Libyan people.

The leaders agreed that this will require a broad-based international effort, including Arab states, to implement and enforce the UN resolutions, based on national contributions and enabled by NATO’s unique multinational command and control capabilities to ensure maximum effectiveness.

They underscored their shared commitment to the goal of helping provide the Libyan people an opportunity to transform their country, by installing a democratic system that respects the people’s will.

via Obama calls leaders of Qatar and Turkey about Libya – The Oval: Tracking the Obama presidency.

March 23, 2011
I’m Proud of P.J. Crowley

I’m proud of Philip J. Crowley. As Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, Crowley had the guts to denounce the sustained (mis)treatment of Private Bradley Manning as “ridiculous” and “counterproductive” and “stupid.” For this burst of principled honesty, the Obama administrationcashiered him. Never has the moral obtuseness of the Obama/Hillary Clinton duumvirate been more clearly displayed.

Crowley and I have two things in common: We’re from the same hometown, and we made our first careers in the Air Force (I served for 20 years; Crowley for 26). Our hometown of Brockton, Massachusetts is a working-class town, proud of its reputation as the “City of Champions” (especially the heavyweight boxer Rocky Marciano and the middleweight boxer “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler), and prouder still of its pragmatic patriotism based on a sense of decency and fair play. By any standard, the treatment of Manning (solitary confinement, forced nudity, constant harassment) has been indecent and unfair. I have no evidence for this, but I’d like to think Crowley’s hard-hitting jabs against the Pentagon hailed in part from his roots as a Brockton Boxer.

But, more than anything, I suspect Crowley’s stance came from his twenty-six year career in the U.S. Air Force. Like him, I swore an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same. The U.S. Constitution protects us all from cruel and unusual punishment: an apt description of the military’s treatment of Private Manning.

Indeed, anyone who respects the U.S. Constitution can’t help but be appalled by the military’s treatment of Manning. It’s worse than ridiculous or counterproductive or stupid: it’s patently inconsistent with our nation’s ideals as expressed in our Bill of Rights.

Again, I commend P.J. Crowley for being a man in the arena, for standing up for what he believed in, for taking some hard swings before a milquetoast establishment forced him out of the ring. Pick yourself up, P.J., and hold your head high. For those who fired you, they deserve only to hang their heads in shame.

Photo: Newssofap

The Huffington Post

March 14, 2011
Chinese president concludes state visit to US

Chinese President Hu Jintao left Chicago for home on Friday after concluding a four-day state visit to the United States, during which Hu and his US counterpart Barack Obama agreed to build a China-US cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.

“It is also conducive to world peace and development,” Hu said.

In his speech, Hu elaborated on the domestic and foreign policies of the Chinese government and on how to advance China-US relations in the new era.

“Working together hand in hand, we will build and develop a China-US cooperative partnership based on mutual respect and mutual benefit and deliver greater benefits to the people of our two countries and the world over,” he said.

The Chinese president flew to Chicago on Thursday afternoon to continue his visit to the United States.

On Friday, Hu, accompanied by local officials, visited Walter Payton College Preparatory High School in downtown Chicago.

The high school houses the Confucius Institute in Chicago (CIC), which primarily focuses on the Chinese language and cultural education programs and is the only such institute targeting primary and middle school students in the United States.

Later in the day, Hu visited an exhibition of companies operating in the US Midwest. Most companies at the exhibition in Chicago’s suburban city of Woodridge are Chinese-funded ones.

During his tour of the exhibition, Hu encouraged Chinese companies operating in the US to play a bigger role in promoting economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

The success of Chinese companies in the United States is a specific example of the China-US mutually beneficial cooperation, he said.

The operation of these companies not only yields profits for themselves, but adds momentum to economic development in the US Midwest, he added.

At least 40 Chinese businesses now have operations in the Chicago area, and the number is growing. For example, Wanxiang America Corp., which makes solar panels, has opened plants and a headquarters around Chicago in the last two years.

Before leaving the US for home, Hu sent a message of thanks to US President Obama, expressing his belief that through the efforts of the two sides, China-US relations would be further developed to better benefit the peoples of the two countries and make a greater contribution to world peace, stability and prosperity.

The Chinese president began his state visit on Tuesday in Washington. The visit, Hu’s second as head of state, is aimed at enhancing the positive, cooperative and comprehensive relationship between the two countries.

Hu last visited the United States in April 2006.

President Hu, who began his visit on Tuesday, had extensive and in-depth discussions with Obama at the White House on Wednesday on major bilateral, regional and world issues.

The Global Times

January 22, 2011
Obama to Appoint Six Without Senate Okay

By Dan Weil

President Barack Obama will use recess appointments to install six executive branch officials, bypassing Senate confirmation. The appointments include James Cole, his controversial choice for deputy attorney general — the No. 2 spot at the Justice Department.

The six officials will bring Obama’s recess appointment total to 28, eclipsing the 23 made by former President George W. Bush at a similar point in his presidency.

With Republicans gaining six Senate seats in last month’s elections, confirmation would only grow more difficult for the White House appointees. Obama, who is vacationing in Hawaii with his family, announced the move in a news release, explaining only that the posts have “been left vacant for an extended period of time.”

But the White House and its allies in Congress are upset by what they see as Republican delays to consider Obama’s nominees, particularly Cole, a close friend of Attorney General Eric Holder. Republicans are concerned that he is soft on terrorism and too closely tied to A.I.G., the insurance giant bailed out by the government.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., incoming chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, blasts Obama’s move, calling the Cole appointment “absolutely shocking.” In a statement, King says, “The appointment indicates that the Obama Administration continues to try to implement its dangerous policies of treating Islamic terrorism as a criminal matter.”

The appointees have been on hold in the Senate for an average of 114 days, administration officials say. Another 73 candidates for politically-appointed jobs, including many judges, were waiting for confirmation when the Senate adjourned. Obama will have to re-nominate them if he wants them in office.

The recess appointments permit Cole and the other nominees — four ambassadors and the head of the Government Printing Office – to serve for one year before they must be re-appointed.

Deputy White House chief of staff, Jim Messina, says Obama felt he had no alternative, especially with Cole. “We’ve been working hard with the Republicans and have seen some movement forward,” Messina told The New York Times.

“There were some that, for whatever reason, they could not help us with and we felt were mission critical, and clearly the deputy attorney general is a critical position to help enforce the laws of the land.”

While the White House wants to put all the blame for delays on Republicans, that’s not accurate, experts say. The number of Senate-confirmed positions has jumped, nominees must submit substantial background information that requires extensive investigation, and a single senator can put a hold on any nominee, Paul Light, a New York University expert on the presidential nomination process, tells The Times.

“Obama has set the record for the slowest process since J.F.K.,” he says, referring to the amount of time it has taken to get his first group of about 550 appointees confirmed. “It’s really a mess.”

The other five nominees include ambassadors Matthew Bryza, Azerbaijan; Robert Stephen Ford, Syria; Frances Ricciardone Jr., Turkey; Norman Eisen, Czech Republic and William Boarman as public printer.

January 2, 2011
‘Baraklava’ Still Pleasing Crowds in Turkey

By Marc Champion

Much of the world considered Tuesday’s mid-term U.S. election a stinging rebuke to President Barack Obama. But among many in Turkey, it may only have increased his stature.

Owner of the Gulluoglu Baklava shop, Nadir Güllü, shows off his Obama baklava.

At the Karakoy Gulluoglu landmark bakery in Istanbul, the “Baraklava” – giant image of President Obama made in Turkey’s flaky, sweet baklava pastry – is still pleasing the crowds two years after it was made in honor of Mr. Obama’s election, says proprietor Nadir Gullu.

“Maybe the mistakes [that led to the Democrats’ drubbing in midterm elections] weren’t his, but the people around him,” says Mr. Gull. When he pulls out the Baraklava, “even Iraqis and Iranians start smiling and snapping pictures,” he says.

Mr. Obama remains personally more popular in Turkey than his policies or the U.S. itself, a curiosity, given the series of disputes and wrangles the two Cold War allies have had over Armenia, Israel, Iran and other issues since he came to power. But Turks appear to have disassociated Mr. Obama from the U.S. administration as a whole.

“Turks generally believe Obama is sincere, but has not been able to do what he wanted,” says Kerim Balci, a columnist who describes himself as speaking for Turkey’s “religious majority” and is now editor of a recently launched foreign policy magazine, Turkish Review.

According to Mr. Balci, among religious Turks sympathy for Mr. Obama’s stock may even have risen over the past two years. Often called “Black Turks” and excluded for decades from power by a dominant, military-backed secularist elite, religious Turks sympathized with Mr. Obama as the first black American president, he says. They likened his struggles to get things done once in power with similar entrenched resistance that has faced Turkey’s Islamic leaning government.

“They had sympathy for him when he was elected because he was black, and in the view of these religious Turks, now seems even more black,” says Mr. Balci.

In Ankara, Mr. Obama’s sliding popularity is a real concern among policy makers, though. A weak administration could prove more difficult for Turkey in sensitive areas from relations with Israel, to negotiations with Iran, analysts say.

Other politicians are drawing the opposite conclusion, that Mr. Obama will discount the possibility of a second term and carve his own swathe through the last half of his presidency, says Mr. Balci. “They think: now we’ll have ‘our’ Obama, finally,” he says, though he believes that view is “utopian.”

Despite all the disputes the government has had with Washington, the idea is now dawning that Mr. Obama could be a one-term president, says Suat Kiniklioglu, a parliamentarian and foreign affairs spokesman for the ruling Justice and Development party. If that turns out to be true, he said, “both Turkey and Europe might have to grapple with another president from the Republican, Tea Party strain and that would be very hard to deal with, for many of us.”

That kind of president wouldn’t get a baklava at Gulluoglu’s. Asked what would have happened had he made one of former U.S. President George W. Bush, Mr. Gull said: “Some people told me they’d smash my shopfront windows.”

via ‘Baraklava’ Still Pleasing Crowds in Turkey – Washington Wire – WSJ.

November 4, 2010
US President Obama condemns plans to burn the Koran

US President Barack Obama says plans by a small church to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11 are a “recruitment bonanza” for al-Qaeda.

Mr Obama said if the burning went ahead in Gainesville, Florida, it could endanger US military personnel serving in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The plan has drawn widespread international condemnation.

Interpol has issued a global alert, warning the burning could provoke “violent attacks on innocent people”.

The US State Department has advised American citizens abroad to be on the alert for possible attacks and to avoid areas where demonstrations might take place.

Terry Jones, the pastor behind the threat, leads a congregation of 50 followers in the city of Gainesville.

He has said the burning would be a way to stand up to terrorism.

In an interview with ABC television, Mr Obama said he hoped Mr Jones “understands that what he’s proposing to do is completely contrary to our values as Americans, that this country has been built on the notion of freedom and religious tolerance”.

“And as a very practical matter, I just want him to understand that this stunt that he is talking about pulling could greatly endanger our young men and women who are in uniform,” the president said.

“Look, this is a recruitment bonanza for al-Qaeda. You could have serious violence in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan. This could increase the recruitment of individuals who’d be willing to blow themselves up in American cities, or European cities,” he said.

“I hope he listens to those better angels and understands that this is a destructive act that he’s engaging in,” the president said.

Later on Thursday, US officials said they was considering contacting Mr Jones directly to urge him to reconsider his plans.

Mr Jones had told USA Today he could potentially cancel his plans if officials spoke to him directly.

Defence Secretary Robert Gates was considering “taking this unusual measure of calling this pastor and trying to convince him that it is not the right thing to proceed with,” said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.

‘Diseased mind’

Mr Jones said on Wednesday that his plan to burn the Islamic holy book was intended to draw attention to his belief that “something’s wrong”.

“It is possibly time for us in a new way to actually stand up, confront terrorism,” Mr Jones told reporters outside his church.

US officials say they cannot intervene as the church’s actions would probably be protected by the US constitution’s guarantee of freedom of speech.

Interpol, the international police organisation, has issued an alert to all of its 188 member states, warning of “a significant threat to public safety”.

“If the proposed Koran burning by a pastor in the US goes ahead as planned, there is a strong likelihood that violent attacks on innocent people would follow,” it said.

The agency said it was acting partly in response to a request from the Pakistani Interior Minister, Rehman Malik.

Earlier, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari said in a statement that “anyone who even thought of such a despicable act must be suffering from a diseased mind and a sickly soul”.

“It will inflame sentiments among Muslims throughout the world and cause irreparable damage to interfaith harmony and also to world peace,” he said.

Interpol concern

Mr Zardari’s comments echoed a chorus of condemnation from both Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

Malaysia called it a heinous crime, while Indonesia said it would damage relations between Islam and the West.

In the UK, Downing Street said it would not condone the burning of any book.

“We would strongly oppose any attempt to offend any member of any religious or ethnic group. We are committed to religious tolerance,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron.

The plan has also sparked condemnation from Iran, the Vatican, Nato and the top US Afghan commander.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called it “disgraceful” while the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), which represents more than 50 states and promotes Muslim solidarity, said Mr Jones was following an “outrageous path of hatred”.

“The culture of peaceful co-existence and intercommunal and inter-religious tolerance that the international community is trying to achieve is under threat from marginal and extremist fanatics,” said OIC secretary general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu.

On Monday Gen David Petraeus, the top US commander in Afghanistan, warned troops’ lives would be in danger if the church went ahead with its bonfire.

The website of Mr Jones’ church was no longer accessible on Thursday, after the company hosting it withdrew it from the internet.

Rackspace told the AFP news agency the site had “violated the Offensive Content section of its Acceptable Use policy”.

Muslims consider the Koran to be the word of God and insist it be treated with the utmost respect. Any intentional damage or show of disrespect to the holy book is deeply offensive to them.

BBC

September 9, 2010