I have been awaiting this day with anticipation since reading Roger Cohen's Op-Ed "Obama's Message to Europe" in the July 7th New York Times. In fact, during the following lunch hour, I made sure to tell all of my coworkers about Obama's planned speech in Berlin. At one point, I managed discussed the event with my boss while on a field trip car ride. We covered all of the talking points, from the controversy surrounding the proposed venue of the Brandenburg Gate (the site of the famous JFK "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech), the main differences between Obama and McCain as candidates, and how renewable energy fit into the respective platforms.
When we came to the topic of foreign relations, I mentioned the American concern in Obama's youth compared to McCain's military background. My boss seemed confused on this subject, so I tried to explain how the two candidates have different approaches to foreign policy; Obama favors soft diplomatic efforts while McCain favors Military action, and that given our involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, the issue was among the most important. But after this explanation, my boss still wore the appearance of confusion, and for a moment, I grew self conscious in my less than sufficient German skills. As if reading my momentary self doubt, my boss spoke up, saying "But Bush didn't have military or foreign policy experience either, right?"
I paused to think, I mean, he did manage to serve with the National Guard while others were in Vietnam. After deliberating, I offered the simple answer of, "No, not really, not like McCain." At this my boss took his eyes of the road, and replied with the Gem of all European-American discourse, "And you voted for Bush twice!"
This was not the first case that I encountered this assertion in Germany. Between my roommates, coworkers, and loose friends, Bush was not given much slack. He is viewed here as a poor diplomat, a terrible communicator, and ignorant on foreign policy. As you can imagine, when the trump card of "You elected Bush twice!" is played, little more than a shrug can be returned, and with that the conversation often ends.
Despite the dislike for Bush, every German that I have met holds a decent opinion of the US, especially when Barack Obama's name comes up. While the Germans don't know much about Obama, they respond well to his un-Bush characteristics and strengths. Tomorrow, Germany and all of Europe will have the opportunity to get to know Obama better.
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Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend Obama's speech in Berlin, but don't worry. My lack of attendance is no detterant whatsoever from preparing a great post on the event. I have managed to convince my friend Chris, a TREE intern working in Berlin, to write a guest column tomorrow and hopefully share some cool pictures, as he will be taking the day off from work to attend the speech.
In preparation for tomorrow's speech and First-Ever "One Sun, One Tree" Guest Column, I have decided to give a little bullet-point introduction to Obama's foreign policy tour.
Preview for tomorrow: What to expect
- Over the last seven days, Obama has reinforced the intent of his travels abroad. He is on a fact-finding mission in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a US representative in Europe. Obama and his staff have repeatedly stressed that they are not abroad to broker deals of any nature, saying, "The United States of America has one president at a time — that president is George W. Bush. Senator Obama will not be engaged in any way, shape or form policy-making.”
- That being said, Obama has the clear motivation to establish himself as a competent politician on foreign policy matters. So far he has done well. In Iraq, Afghanistan, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel, Obama has met with the political and military leaders of all of the involved parties, including Gen. David Petraeus, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, King Abdullah of Jordan, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barack, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abaas.
- In Berlin, we can expect Obama to address the importance of the European-American alliance. Nostalgic references to the Triumph of the West in the Cold War are widely speculated in the hopes of connecting past accomplishments with present and future challenges, like the coalition effort in Afghanistan and the need for greater cooperation in the entire Middle East.
- A showcase of some of Senator Obama's greatest strengths: oration that rivals the European beloved JFK in content and delivery, and the just-as-important listening skills that complete the great communicator package.
9 comments:
Franz, please tell me you own that pin. In forty years it's going to be like an original poster advertising Woodstock - memorabilia of a legendary time.
I'm sorry to dissapoint you, Drew. I cannot claim ownership to such a cool pin. I borrowed the picture from Chris, today's Guest Columnist. I'll keep my eyes open for you, though.
I heard Obama was going to do some Chris Angel-ish magic tricks like floating over water.
No, but I am seriously interested in what he has to say today. He truly has some noteworthy qualities that haven't been tarnished by his rise to fame.
Haha,
Yeah, Anonymous, I heard that, too.
I am mesmerized whenever I hear Obama speak.
I love that global warming was the second of the new dangers of which Obama spoke, acknowledged how Germany has taken a leading role in reducing carbon emissions, and talked about the whole world needing to come together to save our planet.
F4anx,
Thanks for making it so easy to hear Obama' speach in its entirety.
While I thought that it was good, especially in pointing out the importance of German and European cooperation, the July 25th Wall Street Journal, while commenting on the speech in its editorial, noted an inconsistency when it stateed in pertinent part that:
"For our money, the best line in Barack Obama's speech yesterday in Berlin came in the form of a quote from Ernst Reuter, the city's mayor during the period of the Soviet blockade and the American airlift, in 1948:
"But in the darkest hour," said Sen. Obama, "the people of Berlin kept the flame of hope burning. The people of Berlin refused to give up. And on one fall day, hundreds of thousands of Berliners came here, to the Tiergarten, and heard the city's mayor implore the world not to give up on freedom. 'There is only one possibility,' he said. 'For us to stand together united until this battle is won…. The people of Berlin have spoken. We have done our duty, and we will keep on doing our duty'."
This, from a U.S. Senator whose consistent message to the people of Baghdad, a similarly besieged city, also dependent on America's protection, has been, in effect, to give up.
Mr. Obama reiterated this view earlier in the week while traveling in the Middle East, in an interview with ABC's Terry Moran. Mr. Moran asked the Illinois Democrat whether -- "knowing what you know now" -- he would reconsider his opposition to last year's surge of U.S. troops in Iraq. "Well, no," Mr. Obama replied.
What Mr. Obama "knows now" is that the surge he opposed has saved Iraq, much as Harry Truman's airlift saved Berlin and underlined America's intention to defend Europe throughout the Cold War. The surge has also saved American lives in Iraq, with combat-related deaths (so far, there have been seven this month) at an all time low.
Mr. Obama offered his own unwitting testimony to this fact by not donning body armor upon his arrival in Baghdad and during a helicopter tour with Gen. David Petraeus. "There have been few if any attacks of late on our aircraft, and the situation did not require them to be wearing body armor," explained Gen. Petraeus's spokesman.
Mr. Obama also knows that Gen. Petraeus opposes setting a fixed timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq. This military judgment ought to count for something, particularly since Congressional Democrats have long scolded President Bush for failing to pay sufficient heed to the advice of generals...
But the significant debate is not over whether and when the U.S. will withdraw. It's over whether the U.S. will win. In his Berlin speech, Mr. Obama was at his most forceful when he insisted that "this is the moment when we must defeat terror," adding that "the threat is real and we cannot shrink from our responsibility to combat it." This is well-said and true.
But it squares oddly with a political campaign whose central premise is that losing in Iraq -- and whatever calamities may follow -- is a matter of little consequence to U.S. or European interests. It squares oddly, too, with Mr. Obama's broader promise to "stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, the voter in Zimbabwe" and virtually every other global cause."
Anonymous, for the sake of organization, I'll respond to your comment in the following post's comment section.
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