ABC News: Obama Takes Issue With Bush Foreign Policy Speech--Hitler Reference (M.E.T)

[MurrayH81]

If Bush was refering to Obama, I don't see what the big deal is. It's the truth. Obama wants to sit down with Iran leaders and have tea time. Of course, most of the country are delusional idiots and wouldn't have any problem with that, especially naive young people who think they know everything.

Please explain how you with your superior 35 year old wisdom would not talk to Iran, while you are talking to North Korea (as President)?

Insight into your reasoning would be helpful as well.

I would encourage you to think carefully about how the other countries view their options before you answer. If you think about it, you may see that it is now to their advantage to develop nuclear weapons if you have been identified as a member of the 'Axis of Evil', because it ensures two things:

1. You will not be attacked, and you can go about your business (Pakistan).

2. You may get some bling out of it, if you don't over develop your weapons store (North Korea), or you decide to give up pursuing weapons (Libya).

That's my :2cents:. I am waiting to see your :2cents: now.

[JMS]

If Bush was refering to Obama, I don't see what the big deal is. It's the truth. Obama wants to sit down with Iran leaders and have tea time. Of course, most of the country are delusional idiots and wouldn't have any problem with that, especially naive young people who think they know everything.

Who are you calling a young person there 35?

I think the folks who don't want to talk to our enemies are youngsters myself. Folks who don't remember that

• FDR talked to both Hitler and Hiroheto before WWII.
  
• That FDR, Truman, and Eisenhower talked to Stalin the largest mass murder in the 20th century.
  
• That Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnston, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan all talked to the Soviet Union throughout the cold war.
  

Youngsters who don't realize that talking to your enemies has been the policy of this country for hundreds of years. Washington after all sent an Ambassador to Great Britian.

Republicans trying to blast Democrates with statements by stupid out of touch Republicans from yester year is very Rich. It's sad that the education level is such in this country it lets them get away with it.

No Republican should be quoteing WWII success stories. Their party were isolationists in WWII and were fine with Hitler doing his thing in Europe just so he didn't bother us.

[Duckus]

"We need to figure out a way to develop some leverage . . . and then sit down and talk with them," Gates said. "If there is going to be a discussion, then they need something, too. We can't go to a discussion and be completely the demander, with them not feeling that they need anything from us."

- Current US Secretary of Defense. May 14, 2008.

Bushes own Secretary of Defense is a Nazi appeaser.... :doh:

[WVUforREDSKINS]

Didn't really seem like a direct call out to me.

[Smoot Point Really]

Once Obama/Kerry/Gore/Clinton/Bush/McCain/Smoe enters the office they have to play by the same rules in effect.

No army would reach the 5 mile point from land.

It was a reference to Obama's line that Iran has been "strengthened"... I somehow doubt anyone would feel strengthened with an opposing Army to their east and west...

[GibbsFactor]

When will it all end?????

Fact is, both parties are freaking clueless.

[Corcaigh]

If Bush was refering to Obama, I don't see what the big deal is. It's the truth. Obama wants to sit down with Iran leaders and have tea time. Of course, most of the country are delusional idiots and wouldn't have any problem with that, especially naive young people who think they know everything.

Both the Secretaries of State and Defense have said that we should talk to Iran. Bush should call them appeasers too.

[DCMONEY]

Obama shouldn't take offense to anything Bush says because Bush is a touched individual. :laugh:

[GibbsFactor]

I honestly don't understand what the fuss is over Iran.

So crazy leader jad said some stupid things. We have Burma and Darfar going on and all we care about is a society that seems to be pretty well under control.

I just don't get it. Who here actually believes Iran is a threat to us in any shape or form? Honestly?

[Corcaigh]

Bush is a lame duck at this point. He should go back to not playing golf.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

I honestly don't understand what the fuss is over Iran.

So crazy leader jad said some stupid things. We have Burma and Darfar going on and all we care about is a society that seems to be pretty well under control.

I just don't get it. Who here actually believes Iran is a threat to us in any shape or form? Honestly?

Well, I would honestly agree that they are not the biggest threat to this country.

[Midnight Judges]

Nothing would help Obama more than for Bush and Cheney to join the 2008 Presidential debate on John McCain's behalf.

It's brilliant for Obama to draw them in like this.

[Smoot Point Really]

Nothing would help Obama more than for Bush and Cheney to join the 2008 Presidential debate on John McCain's behalf.

It's brilliant for Obama to draw them in like this.

Actually, he won't win this debate... He should've just ignored it and pretended they were talking about someone else. He should look to the economy, which most people think is a strength of his. He already looks weak on Iran and looks like an appeaser... Hell, some even think he is still a Muslim (at least the NY Times is now willing to admit he was born into that religion, even if his campaign was denying it vehemently). Now the debate centers around why he actually thought they were talking about him...

[Sonny Joe Hog]

I believe that it is wrong for any American to bring up our internal political differences in a foreign venue.

[twa]

Both the Secretaries of State and Defense have said that we should talk to Iran. Bush should call them appeasers too.

You should know we are (and have been) talking to Iran,Syria,NK and most any country both thru direct contact and third parties.

Negotiating is another matter.

JMS, ain't Obama been crawfishing on any talks with Hamas or Iran?

If he can't take the heat now ,he is gonna be in trouble later.

btw, I agree he was referring to Obama and any other idiot that will negotiate with terrorists.(Obama has plenty of company)

[Corcaigh]

You should know we are (and have been) talking to Iran,Syria,NK and most any country both thru direct contact and third parties.

Negotiating is another matter.

Of course they've been talking. This is about senior government officials from both sides sitting down together in public.

So 'talking' doesn't involve about outcomes? What are they talking about then? Football?

[Smoot Point Really]

I just don't get it. Who here actually believes Iran is a threat to us in any shape or form? Honestly?

I do... Have you seen what is going on in Lebanon? What about Iraq? We have one Iran to deal with now... If they spread and there are two or three... What if they develop the capability to launch a nuclear weapon?

I believe Iran could be controlled without us having to put boots on their soil, but you have to have the threat of boots if you want any diplomatic leverage. That is the biggest problem I have with BHO's Iraq/Iran policy. You remove the troops from Iraq and you have very little to "discuss" with Iran. There is nothing you have as leverage other than "business opportunities" that they can probably get from other countries.

[InsaneBoost]

Who gives a ****

[Smoot Point Really]

I believe that it is wrong for any American to bring up our internal political differences in a foreign venue.

There are people all over the world who think we should deal with Hamas, Hezbollah, and even Al Quaida... That is what is so humorous about BHO standing up and volunteering himself as someone who might be confused with an "appeaser".

He should've just kept his mouth shut and if someone asked him about it he could say that he didn't believe it applied to him since his policy is vastly different from what the President was pointing out. Instead, he criticizes the President and puts himself in a position where people identify him with the people the President was talking about. It was a pretty dumb move, IMO.

[ntotoro]

I just don't get it. Who here actually believes Iran is a threat to us in any shape or form? Honestly?

Iran and Syria have been funding this little group called Hezb'allah in Lebanon. Don't know if you've followed current events much, but they've been causing a pretty big stink lately. Actually, for a while.

Plus, they're getting bigger and badder weapons lately.

[twa]

Good point ...Smoot Point Really

He might also look at Bush's comments in context,before volunteering himself

transcript

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/05/20080515-1.html

White House transcript

May 15, 2008

…The fight against terror and extremism is the defining challenge of our time. It is more than a clash of arms. It is a clash of visions, a great ideological struggle. On the one side are those who defend the ideals of justice and dignity with the power of reason and truth. On the other side are those who pursue a narrow vision of cruelty and control by committing murder, inciting fear, and spreading lies.

This struggle is waged with the technology of the 21st century, but at its core it is an ancient battle between good and evil. The killers claim the mantle of Islam, but they are not religious men. No one who prays to the God of Abraham could strap a suicide vest to an innocent child, or blow up guiltless guests at a Passover Seder, or fly planes into office buildings filled with unsuspecting workers. In truth, the men who carry out these savage acts serve no higher goal than their own desire for power. They accept no God before themselves. And they reserve a special hatred for the most ardent defenders of liberty, including Americans and Israelis.

And that is why the founding charter of Hamas calls for the “elimination” of Israel. And that is why the followers of Hezbollah chant “Death to Israel, Death to America!” That is why Osama bin Laden teaches that “the killing of Jews and Americans is one of the biggest duties.” And that is why the President of Iran dreams of returning the Middle East to the Middle Ages and calls for Israel to be wiped off the map.

There are good and decent people who cannot fathom the darkness in these men and try to explain away their words. It’s natural, but it is deadly wrong. As witnesses to evil in the past, we carry a solemn responsibility to take these words seriously. Jews and Americans have seen the consequences of disregarding the words of leaders who espouse hatred. And that is a mistake the world must not repeat in the 21st century.

Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: “Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.” We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history. (Applause.)

[Midnight Judges]

You should know we are (and have been) talking to Iran,Syria,NK and most any country both thru direct contact and third parties.

Negotiating is another matter.

JMS, ain't Obama been crawfishing on any talks with Hamas or Iran?

If he can't take the heat now ,he is gonna be in trouble later.

btw, I agree he was referring to Obama and any other idiot that will negotiate with terrorists.(Obama has plenty of company)

This post is interesting. You acknowledge that Bush is talking to Iran in a round about way, and call anyone an idiot who would negotiate with Iran or N. Korea (presumably because Obama has not proposed negotiating with anyone else). But you call them terrorists thus increasing the grey area.

So you are making the assumption that Bush's indirect dealings with Iran are not negotiations but "talks." What do you suppose they are talking about? The weather? Predictions for the 2008 Redskins? No. They are talking about the conflict in Iraq and posturing themselves to reduce attacks on our troops and allowing the Iraqi Government to maintain what little control it may have. They are negotiations in the purest sense of the word.

I think you are making a purely partisan distinction between "negotiate" and "talk."

[Smoot Point Really]

I don't believe we are talking to Iran... If we are, it is nothing substantive. They tell us all we need to know in the Press and so do we... Given the public statements by both countries, we don't have anything to talk about. Have you seen what BHO wants to tell the Iranians? It's basically a waste of time. The guy is talking for the sake of talking. He is removing "pre-conditions" for talking, but then applying the same conditions as part of the negotiations. What does this actually accomplish? If they want to negotiate, they will meet the pre-conditions... His answer to the "pre-conditions" route is that we seem "arrogant"... Whatever... It's still the same conditions and you have an impasse now or later.

[War Paint]

Who are you calling a young person there 35?

I think the folks who don't want to talk to our enemies are youngsters myself. Folks who don't remember that

• 
  
• FDR talked to both Hitler and Hiroheto before WWII.
  
• That FDR, Truman, and Eisenhower talked to Stalin the largest mass murder in the 20th century.
  
• That Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnston, Nixon, Carter, and Reagan all talked to the Soviet Union throughout the cold war.

Youngsters who don't realize that talking to your enemies has been the policy of this country for hundreds of years. Washington after all sent an Ambassador to Great Britian.

With all the things you listed, what good did it do? Thank you for proving my point. Trying to have tea time with the enemy is pointless.

[Bang]

Who are you calling a young person there 35?

I think the folks who don't want to talk to our enemies are youngsters myself. Folks who don't remember that

[*]FDR talked to both Hitler and Hiroheto before WWII.

.

I've been studying the era for about 20 years and have never heard of a single conversation between the two. I just spent twenty minutes googling and have not found about this conversation. ( except a few other message board guys saying it happened without anything to back up the claim)

I'm always ready to learn more about the era,, maybe you're a better googler than me and can show me something about the conversation(s) FDR had with Hitler?

~Bang