Obama Finds the Honey Pot on Foreign Policy

Barack Obama has found the honey pot of American foreign policy electoral politics . Obama said in a mass e-mail today,

"the next president must make sure that Osama bin Ladin and al Qaeda’s core leadership are captured or killed. If Pakistan or any other nation won't act against bin Ladin and his cohorts, we will."

I've long believed that, to be elected president, a Democrat needs to identify a foreign power that he would attack if president and make this known to the American people. This is because much of America likes war and many of those who don't like war still like power and strength.

I live in Brazil now, and Brazil doesn't have a single war on the horizon. Amazingly, Brazilians are able to live from day to day without entertaining fears of foreign powers and without plotting to attack anybody else.

But, Americans are very different. Most Americans would have a massive void in their psyches without some war planning going on. Every single American election revolves, at least in part, around who we will attack if the various candidates are elected.

That's why I support Barack Obama (and Hillary Clinton) when they identify a foreign target and promise to attack that target, if need be. Just as children need food and clothing, Americans have a psychic need for a war on the horizon, and they're not going to elect any candidate who doesn't at least offer the prospect of such a war. If Democrats nominate a candidate who doesn't offer the prospect of at least some strategic strikes, then that candidate will be defeated.

The challenge for Democrats is to nominate someone who knows how to rattle sabers rhetorically without actually banging too many heads militarily on the physical plane, in the realm of international affairs. Bill Clinton was a master at this. He used the military several times, showed strength and determination, but very few people were killed from America and elsewhere. He even prevented some killing in Bosnia-Herzegovia.

Realistically, in every Democratic administration some non-white people (around 100-200) will have to die somewhere in "pin-point surgical strikes" that prove to the American electorate that the Democrats are able to make war when necessary. It doesn't matter where the strikes occur, and with careful planning a Democratic president might be able to accomplish the same political effect by bombing barren wheat fields, if he asserts that he believes the "enemy" lies there. The only political alternative to this limited sacrifice is that the Republican will take the presidency and kill 100-200 non-whites PER DAY. And so Democratic presidencies are less the lesser of evils by an exponentially wide margin, and letting Republican win is unthinkable when you consider the costs in human lives.

In any case, Barack Obama has found the honeypot and struck the perfect tone in his new promises to seek out and kill Osama Bin Laden. He might just as well promise to kill Adolph Hitler; Americans woudn't care. They just want to know that he's got some killing in him and that, under an Obama administration, we won't be hopelessly and desperately condemned to four years of peace.

Obama says:

"Dear Francis,

The war we need to win

>America must stop fighting
the wrong war and start
fighting the war we need to win:

Take Action with Obama

After September 11th, we had a calling to write a new chapter in American history.

Americans were united. Our friends around the world stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us. We had the opportunity to devise new strategies, build new alliances, safeguard our values, and serve a just cause.

If only we had seized that opportunity.

Unfortunately, we did not finish the job against al Qaeda in Afghanistan. We did not capture or kill Osama bin Ladin. And this administration drove us into war on the wrong battlefield with no appreciation of how many enemies we would create and no plan for how to get out.

Now, six years later, we are overdue for a major change of course in our foreign policy. America must stop fighting the wrong war and start fighting the war we need to win.

The next president must end the war in Iraq, refocus on Afghanistan and the Taliban resurgence, and pressure Pakistan to root out al Qaeda once and for all.

Most importantly, the next president must make sure that Osama bin Ladin and al Qaeda’s core leadership are captured or killed. If Pakistan or any other nation won't act against bin Ladin and his cohorts, we will.

Sign on to my plan and spread the word:

http://action.barackobama.com/newleadership

The time has come to turn the page on a failed approach.

The next President of the United States must commit to getting our troops out of Iraq and taking the fight to the terrorists.

We must reinforce our mission in Afghanistan with additional troops. We must press Pakistan and President Musharraf to close down terrorist training camps and stop the Taliban from using Pakistan as a safe-haven.

If Musharraf acts, we will stand with him. But if Pakistan will not act against Osama bin Ladin and the terrorists who killed 3,000 Americans, we will.

These are achievable goals, and when I am president we will wage the war we need to win with a comprehensive strategy.

Read the plan, declare your support, and spread the word that it's time to change direction:

http://action.barackobama.com/newleadership

The first step to making America safer is getting our troops out of Iraq and onto the right battlefields in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But that's not enough.

We must develop the military and intelligence capabilities to neutralize terrorist networks and secure the world's most deadly weapons.

Recruiting, training, and equipping our forces to fight more targeted and agile counter-terrorism missions are central to our success.

President Bush's refusal to engage our enemies diplomatically has been a complete failure.

We must immediately reverse this strategy and begin the hard and sustained work of rebuilding peace and stability through the power of diplomacy. We must revive our international relationships and rebuild our moral stature in the world. And we must counter the extremists’ message of hate with a program to advance hope in the most desperate corners of our interconnected world.

And we must remember that how we achieve these goals is as important as the goals themselves.

In the dark halls of Abu Ghraib and the detention cells of Guantanamo, we compromised our most precious values. The illegal wire-tapping of American citizens and the arbitrary suspension of habeas corpus undermined the foundation of our Constitution. The days of a stubborn executive branch changing the law to fit its whims must come to an end.

Read more about my commitment to protecting America without compromising our values:

http://action.barackobama.com/newleadership

If you're ready to write a new chapter in American history and redefine our role in the world, join our movement.

We're ready to turn the page.