Unfortunately, those years were before Barack Obama hit puberty. Larry Rohter reports for the New York Times:
To counter opponents’ accusations that he lacks experience in foreign policy, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois often cites his ties to relatives in poor villages in Kenya and the years he spent growing up in Indonesia. Now he has added a new personal detail to that résumé: a trip to Pakistan while a college student.
NRO’s Jim Geraghty is among those who finds it odd that Obama failed to mention this, given that US policy toward Pakistan has been a part of the campaign. It may be more surprising that Obama is claiming that spending a couple of weeks in Pakistan 27 years ago when he was 20 years old is some sort of foreign policy credential.
Then again, Obama foreign policy adviser Susan E. Rice told the NYT:
“At a time when our foreign policy and national security have so obviously suffered from a simplistic, black-and-white interpretation… [having] an American president who spent part of his formative years and young adulthood living in a poor country under a dictatorship brings an understanding of the complexity of things that others may not have. I’m not saying that official travels and Congressional delegations are without value, but there are limits to what you can glean from that.â€Â
Rice is referring to the fact that Obama lived in Indonesia from 1967-71. Obama is going to bring an understanding of the complexity of things that he gained between the ages of six and ten.
I’m hopeful that McCain will, at some point, mention that he’s lived in a country other than the US two years longer than Obama has.
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I remain somewhat hopeful that the press will recognize that Hawai’i is not quite the same as “the rest of the US” when it comes to racial tolerance et cetera. Biracial marriage in Hawai’i in the early 60s was, presumably, more common and more accepted than biracial marriage in either Mississippi or Massachussetts in the early 60s.
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Yeah, BumperStickerist, but was it a dictatorship? HUH?
since first I heard it I think it was the most ridiculous argument for foreign policy experience ever.
Obama should check stamps in my passport, may be he will appoint me his secretary of state?
…not to mention also that his schooling during the time in Indonesia was in a mosque
…not to mention also that his schooling during the time in Indonesia was in a mosque
Very very much not to mention. Bad to mention. Very bad.
Saul and alpuccino are obviously Mosque-ists.
Saul and alpuccino are obviously Mosque-ists.
‘sall good. hee.
Well, this is awesome news! I spent almost a year after high school bumming around Spain, southern France, and Italy with only a backpack. Even made it to Zurich and Munich a couple times.
I should be President Obama’s Secretary of State!
Paris Hilton is named after a city in France- perhaps she could be ambassador to France ?
[…] of my best friends are Muslims/foreigners/poor” when he cite his “experience”. To counter opponents’ accusations that he lacks experience in foreign policy, Senator Barack […]
Technically, she’s named after a hotel in France. ;-)
His “relatives in poor villages in Kenya” are the local boss-men and their harems, and the fucking prime minister.
They’re “in poor villages” like the guards were “in concentration camps.”
I like German food. I traveled there and studied the language in high school. I also drank a boatload of beer. I think that makes me qualified too.
Ich bin ein Frankfurter.
I’ve eaten bratwurst, pizza, enchiladas, and Kung Pao chicken, and I’ve drunk French wine.
Not all at the same time, though, so maybe I’m not qualified after all.
Waitaminnit — Obama travelled to Pakistan as a young man?! Does nobody understand what that means? Why isn’t this guy on TSA’s no-fly list?
I lived in Germany between the ages of six to ten. Spent a little time traveling through Austria, Switzerland, and Italy as well…with my parents. Hey, I’m just as qualified to be prez as BarryO.
What?
No, I’m white. Does that mean I’m disqualified?
I spent those formative years in Missoula, MT. Could I be Head of the Bureau of Land Management, please?
When I was seven, I kissed a neighbor girl. She was a Blackfoot Indiana. BIA, at least.
Spent my first eightteen on a farm. Can I be Sec. of Agriculture?
I attended the first grade multiple times. Can I be Sec. of Education?
I have a car. Sec-Trans, here I come.
My wife and daughter are asian. I am qualified to be the ambassador to VietNam, China, and Japan. NorKo – No thanks.
I lived in a house. Now I live in a city. Pencil me in for HUD.
I lived in a house. Now I live in a city.
With a little diet and exercise you should be small enough to fit in the house again in no time. Obesity is a national epidemic.
Ed Guy,
Are you switching from Dept of Ed to HHS?
I’d offer to run both, but I merely want to thrive. Someone else can have that piece of pie. How about nishi?
Can I be in charge of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms?
Let’s just say that their mission statement would be modified somewhat.
Obviously, I think living abroad can be a valuable life experience. But why in the world would he try to elevate it? That might work for a college application, but come on.
Having said that, I want to be Ambassador to Bali.
I once smoked a huge doobie while I was home from school, battling a nasty infection.
I’m interviewing for Joint Chief of Staff.
In college, I briefly dated a French girl from Paris.
Please, oh please, do not make me Ambassador to France.
Obama Says Real-Life Experience Trumps Rivals
JD, I also want to point out the fact that your wife and child are asian may actually be evidence that you are a non-racist. I recognize considering this site’s posters, that is highly unlikely but as I am constantly reminding other people, there are other races besides black to discriminate against and the fact that one does not discriminate against persons of all different races may mean something. I don’t know what. Obama’s wife could probably tell me.
“Can I be in charge of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms?
Let’s just say that their mission statement would be modified somewhat.”
Remember: Convenience store, not Federal Bureau.
Time in Pakistan? Did he spend it in a Madrassa???
I understand that while living in Hawaii he enjoyed looking up into the night sky to enjoy the stars on clear nights. Wouldn’t that qualify him for running NASA?
My boss considers me completely useless at work and depends upon me for nothing.
I’m applying to be Obama’s Vice-President.
Well, 75% of my best male friends are Jooooos. So I guess I know where I’m elected to go.
Oh, so you’re just going to run the whole damned country as their proxy, are you?
I think that puts me in line for CIA chief.
Pablo – brilliant!
I lived in Mexico for a spell. I like their food. I know how to swim pretty good. If’n none of you mind, could I put in for INS Chief? I am a US Citizen… not that that matters.
Alternatively – I once porked a whore in vegas. Is that vacancy in NY still open?
Just to watch her die.
When I hear that lonesome whistle, I hang my head and cry.
Matt Esq – I may have married her, but that was just a ruse so I could subjugate and oppress her, and punish her with babies.
Is it true that when he was schooled at his Indonesian madrassa he was told that “fruit juice” were gay Zionists?
There were certainly some object lessons for O to have learned in his early foreign policy experience…
From “Dreams from My Father”:
One lesson might be, given such witness to conditions in Indonesia, could one ever assert that any comparative in America could be construed as poverty? Another might be, from a worldly step-father, of the futility of wealth redistribution.
Apparently his vast experience of youth failed to actually deliver education to him, even in the self-proclaimed lessons placed before him.
By those standards, I guess I qualify as a gynocologist… heh heh heh
One lesson might be, given such witness to conditions in Indonesia, could one ever assert that any comparative in America could be construed as poverty?
If poverty is relative… then I would say from Obama’s perspective 95% of the US is in poverty. When he was in Indo, of course, he was not so blessed… because this is a racist nation… I mean, always keeping the Blacks down… you know, teh Man.
Another might be, from a worldly step-father, of the futility of wealth redistribution.
In terms of this one, seems to me he is trying to rebel against his not-really-my-daddy. Instead of taking his step-dad’s advice… of course, like any other liberal, he figures he knows better. sorry, he figures that human nature has nothing to do with it.
Hey, I got crosswise with the IRS once and survived :-) and I can count money in English and Spanish. I wanna be Treasury, and I promise to give SBP my full support in his New Vision for the BATF. Convenience store, Ha! Look out, Cabelas!
Regards,
Ric
It may be more surprising that Obama is claiming that spending a couple of weeks in Pakistan 27 years ago when he was 20 years old is some sort of foreign policy credential.
What does it say about their target audience that they even consider that as a valid selling point? That is precisely what drove me from the Democrat Party, double digits all the way down.
ER, Obama claims to have been mostly instructed by his stepfather while in Indonesia, but, as you underscore my points, it didn’t stick.
. I wanna be Treasury, and I promise to give SBP my full support in his New Vision for the BATF. Convenience store, Ha!
Actually, I had in mind something closer to gummint cheese. A whole new meaning for “shall issue”.
Heh.
#50 SBP: one word: quota.
Regards,
Ric
Dreams from My Fatherâ€Â
Well, I knew that snake was my old sweet dad, from a worn out picture that my mother had.”
At first, I watched my mother give over her money to anyone who stopped at our door or stretched out an arm as we passed on the streets. Later, she realized she had also managed to finally solve the transcendent problem facing all real Humans: “who is going to feed the bed bugs?”. Me.
I get gas sometimes. I could be Secretary of Energy.