Obama Foreign Policy Team A Cast Of 300

Every day around 8 a.m., foreign policy aides at Senator Barack Obama's Chicago campaign headquarters send him two e-mails: a briefing on major world developments over the previous 24 hours and a set of questions, accompanied by suggested answers, that the candidate is likely to be asked about international relations during the day.

One recent Q. & A. asked, for example, whether Mr. Obama supported the decision by Iraq's prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, to include a timetable for American troop withdrawal in any new security agreements with the United States. The answer, provided to Mr. Obama with bullet points, was yes -- or "a genuine opportunity," as he put it in a speech on Iraq this week.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[sociocanuck]

Cast of 300?

This is SPARTAAAA!!!

[YRM]

G.O.P. Sen. Chuck Hagel being considered for secretary of defense. G.O.P. Sen. Richard Lugar for secretary of state. Helped Aiham Alsammarae, Iraq's former minister of electricity, escape Baghdad jail with Blackwater's help, after he was tried for stealing $650 million in reconstruction aid. Bought home in Chicago partly with money from Saddam bagman Nadhmi Auchi. Long-time political benefactor Antoin Rezko got contract to build power plant in Iraqi Kurdistan before being arrested on multiple counts of fraud. What is there about this candidate's foreign policy credentials that's not to like? For an article and source links, check out: http://www.thecityedition.com/Pages/Archive/Summer08/BushThirdTerm.html

[legoh]

3rd time trying to post this.

The article states: "Mr. Obama is not yet receiving the government intelligence briefing that is typically made available to a presidential candidate upon becoming his party"s nominee."

Why doesn"t doesn"t Obama get these briefings?
Does McCain get these briefings?

" Posted by Lorna

[barackobama4prez]

Impressive. You got my vote dawg...

[LeftLeanWing]

"Mr. Obama is not yet receiving the government intelligence briefing that is typically made available to a presidential candidate upon becoming his party"s nominee."

I wonder - Why Not ?

Is McCain receiving these intelligence briefings ?

[venicesurfer]

and yet, some polls show mccain leading obama on foreign policy and handling international crisis.

[rasthedestroyer]

WOW!!! imagine, listening and taking advice.. That's refreshing.

[KeysDan]

The advisory group would have been sufficient at 298, minus Sam Nunn and David Boren.

[legoh]

"Mr. Obama is not yet receiving the government intelligence briefing that is typically made available to a presidential candidate upon becoming his party"s nominee."


WHY?????

[NotMcCain]

Q: Would a team of 300 advisors be able to teach McCain how to get online?

2 advisors (a la Bush and McSame) just give you your daily talking points.

A team of 300? That requires the candidate to actually sort through and understand what's happening. Love the idea of having a mini-State Department at your fingertips.

I'm young. What will it be like to have a brainy president?

[ChetHolly]

While the Cable Networks keep looking for the points of contention, Obama is looking to build a organization to govern. Take their recent coverage an preoccupation with Polls favoring McCain as the better Commander and Chief. Rather then Polls, that most agree mean very little at this point anyway, the Media may consider examining competence and intellectual capacity.. How about comparing the candidates based on what they have done during their campaigns. Starting with Obama, as the NY Times lists he collected advisers who are separated into regions of the World based on their prior expertise to assist with information flow, he has organized an impressive ground operations that is still growing, He set up the internet organization that has led the way in connecting his campaign to the largest number of contributors in the history of Presidential elections, He has withstood the Clinton's time tested advantages to pull out the nomination and still manages maintain some sense of personal responsibility to his Family and his Health. McCain, ????? Please help!

[MoeSart]

Being "inevitable" was oh-so-wrong when Clinton was supposedly doing it. But, it's just great for Obama to do it.

There is the minor detail of actually winning the election to tend to, and considering the Dem's record in POTUS elections, their candidate should hardly be considered automatic.

[pupbayer]

Interestiing editing on the photo, huffpo. Why is the whole sign in front of him not shown? For those who haven't seen it, it is a very pretty shades of blue map of part of the globe. The part that does NOT show North America, much less the U.S., and Africa is front and center on it. I thought O was running for the President of the U.S. but a signboard in front of him features the continent of Africa and the U.S. is not even visible.

Why can't this man seem to get a sign made that is appropriate? After the presidential seal debacle, I find this one in just as bad taste. Or is he "sending signals" to someone?

[lucky54]

Holly S**t What's in your diet ???

[rasthedestroyer]

Dude are you kidding me? get your head out of your A$$.. Maybe he sending super secret spy messages from his lapel pin.... You know he is wearing one..

[legoh]

You wrote "Or is he "sending signals" to someone? Can you expand on that theory?

[BLib]

Bill Clinton and GWB have sent aid to Africa. Africa is the only continent where GWB is received warmly. I didn't see anyone hamming and hawing about that. Give me a break!

[BLib]

Here is the link of picture ( http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/hqblog#top). You do understand as President of USA he is essentially the leader of the free world. So many of our policies effect a wide array of countries. We need to work with them in relation to trade deals, national security, etc. Don't be so naive. In his speech he specifically addressed national security and global issues and his 5 point plan to lead the USA. The map shows the continents of South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. In his speech he was specifically talking about the Western Europe, Russia, Middle East (specifically Israel/Palestine, Iran, and Iraq), China, and Africa. I suggest you listen to the speech because it was quite effective in my opinion. All these people were complaing about him needing to have more national security cred now that he is laying out his vision you are complaining about a picture instead of the text of his message. This is breathtakingly petty.

[MPeter]

A great leader derives his or her strength and knowledge from the best minds he or she can reach. Obama is confident enough to know that he does not hold all the answers. His performance throughout the campaign has been stellar. The govt will be 100 times better than the mess we have today, if he governs half as well as he has run the campaign.

[dondon7777]

Way to go, Team Obama. This demonstrates a depth of understanding and execution found lacking in the current administration. It would be interesting and informative to see what the McCain camp has in comparison. It would be a good indicator of what to expect.