Obama and foreign policy.

Broken hand or not, you just can't keep someone with strong opinions quiet, though it will keep this post pretty short. This post is somewhat by request.

A lot of criticism has been leveled at Barack about his inexperience and naivety when it comes to foreign policy. However while the senator does have less experience than either McCain or Clinton, his judgment has proven so far to be superior in my opinion. Look at what he said about the Iraq war back in 2002 before it began. He has also taken criticism for saying that he would use unilateral strikes against targets within Pakistan, especially from members of the Bush administration including the president himself. However that same administration just recently launched that exact kind of attack against a high level Al Qaeda target within Pakistan.* A third criticism often leveled against senator Obama is over remarks he made that he would be willing to meet with leaders of Iran, and other states that the US has deemed bad actors. First of all, the senator never said he would be willing to personally visit any heads of state without first going through the process of opening lines of communication and negotiation. Secondly, that is exactly the kind of communication we need with other countries during times of war to avoid misunderstandings that could lead to disaster and to open up the possibility of peace. During the cold war the US talked to Russia all the time. It was actual face to face talks that led to the brokering of a deal with North Korea. More communication is always a positive step.


*- link goes to a site which links to an unavailable msnbc article which links to a Washington post article which you have to register to see. Sorry that reference is such a pain in the ass but I'm sure you can find more info on it online if you'd like.