Neocon & McCain Advisor Robert Kagan LIKES Barack Obama!!!

[BobbyVan]

If this isn't enough to give you second thoughts about Obama, I don't know what is.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042702027.html

Obama never once says that military force should be used only as a last resort. Rather, he insists that "no president should ever hesitate to use force -- unilaterally if necessary," not only "to protect ourselves . . . when we are attacked," but also to protect "our vital interests" when they are "imminently threatened." That's known as preemptive military action. It won't reassure those around the world who worry about letting an American president decide what a "vital interest" is and when it is "imminently threatened."

Nor will they be comforted to hear that "when we use force in situations other than self-defense, we should make every effort to garner the clear support and participation of others." Make every effort?

Conspicuously absent from Obama's discussion of the use of force are four words: United Nations Security Council.

Obama talks about "rogue nations," "hostile dictators," "muscular alliances" and maintaining "a strong nuclear deterrent." He talks about how we need to "seize" the "American moment." We must "begin the world anew." This is realism? This is a left-liberal foreign policy?

Ask Noam Chomsky the next time you see him.

Of course, it's just a speech. At the Democrats' debate on Thursday, when asked how he would respond to another terrorist attack on the United States, Obama at first did not say a word about military action. So maybe his speech only reflects what he and his advisers think Americans want to hear. But that is revealing, too. When it comes to America's role in the world, apparently they don't think there's much of an argument.

[PM Martin]

1. I like Obama and I don't like this endorsement.

:(

[debatepro]

20. Kagan is full of CRAP!!!!

Read the article and speech … and try to use your critical thinking and common sense skills.

Kagan's quotes contradict his thesis which is Obama is an Interventionist all over the place.
All right, you're thinking, but at least he wants us to lead by example, not by meddling everywhere and trying to transform the world in America's image.

This is classic softpower rhetoric not neocon interventionism.
There is more to building democracy than "deposing a dictator and setting up a ballot box." We must build societies with "a strong legislature, an independent judiciary, the rule of law, a vibrant civil society, a free press, and an honest police force."

This next one is totally a neocon argument...LOL
Okay, you say, but at least Obama is proposing all this Peace Corps-like activity as a substitute for military power.

Kagan:
Obama never once says that military force should be used only as a last resort. Rather, he insists that "no president should ever hesitate to use force -- unilaterally if necessary," not only "to protect ourselves . . . when we are attacked," but also to protect "our vital interests" when they are "imminently threatened."

If you go by this logic Obama never said he believed in Pre-emptive war either. There were lots of things missing from Obama's speech like IMMINENTLY THREATENED!!! and PRE-EMPTIVE war!!! Where does Kagan get these quotes from.

1. If you think Obama doesn't think that military force is indeed a last resort then you probably can't be convinced.
2. Neocons and Students of Softpower (Obama) see Imminent Threats differently. For neocons/hardcore realist imminent threat is anything you can manufacture (Gulf of Tonkin, Iraq, speed boats in Iran, etc). we all just have a different view of what is an imminent threat... at least in Obama's case he HAD THE JUDGMENT AND UNDERSTANDING TO KNOW THAT IRAQ WASN'T an IMMINENT THREAT. Can we say that about the other candidates?
3. Also here is a link to the speech Obama gave at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that Kagan is pulling his quotes from. Find "imminently threatened" in that speech.
http://obama.senate.gov/speech/051122-moving_forward/in...

Like i already said... Kagan cherry picks, then appropriates neocon definitions of threats and views of the world and then applies them to Obama. The only difference is that everyone on the planet knows that Cheney and Obama have a different definition of Imminent threat... heck look at Iraq ... Obama has a more credibility evaluating Iraq's as an imminent threat than Clinton. (Thats Mate)

[donheld]

2. Oh stop the presses I just changed my vote

:sarcasm:

[FrenchieCat]

3. Sure.....She votes for war, votes to call Iran army terrorists, and

yet some fuckward individual's opinion makes you think twice.

Good to know that fuckwards make you think!

[BobbyVan]

5. Obama: Iran threatens all of us

http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/281249,CST-NWS-OBAMA03.article

Sen. Barack Obama said Friday the use of military force should not be taken off the table when dealing with Iran, which he called "a threat to all of us."

[FrenchieCat]

9. And Hillary?

Hillary Clinton calls Iran a threat to U.S., Israel
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/02/america/NA-GEN-US-Clinton-Iran.php

[griffi94]

4. big deal

i'm sure if obama didn't end the iraq war, or even started a brand new war, he would be doing it for hope and change. that's completely different. :rofl:

[LSparkle]

6. Kagan's got his 3D/Distorto glasses on ...

If you twist words around, you can find a rationale to endorse ANYONE. A candidate can't PREVENT people from endorsing him (or even complimenting him). When it's Chris Dodd standing there next to Obama, I believe it ... When it's Kagan or Farrakhan (who have no true ties to Obama), I look the other way.

[high density]

7. Yeah I let the neocons dictate which candidate I vote for

:crazy: :crazy:
:crazy:
:crazy: :crazy:
:crazy:
:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

[BobbyVan]

8. All I know is that Republicans hate Hillary with a passion

and they kind of like Barack Obama.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

[FrenchieCat]

10. Not really.

It means that no matter what, they hate Hillary just that much more.

Is that supposed to be "good"?

[BobbyVan]

13. Yeah, Republicans love Obama because he's beating Hillary - their worst enemy

Ask yourself why Republicans hate Hillary so much...

Then you'll see the value of supporting her.

[high density]

11. No, I'm not wondering.

But they will vote for Barack Obama in the general election that's fine with me. In fact that's what we need unless everybody wants a rerun of the 2004 election where the Republican wins.

[BobbyVan]

14. If Obama wins with Republican voters, that means he owes them something.

Hillary can win with a coalition of women, progressives and working class voters.

With Republicans pushing him over the top, Obama would have to govern as a "unifier" -- i.e., betray his liberal base.

[high density]

19. It doesn't mean that to anybody but you Clinton folks

You guys feel that everything needs to be repaid in some way. I don't see Obama running a Republican platform so I think these claims are completely baseless.

[earthlover]

22. Hillary likes McCain....what does that say in your world?

I really do get a bit puzzled about why it is that we just assume that we have to HATE those who disagree with our political views. Dems are supposed to HATE the Reps, if they LIKE them, they are suspect? ANd vice versa? This is not the logic of a democracy, it is the logic of a Stalinist state!

[cali]

12. poor desperate, pathetic hillie heathers

you guys are sooo lame. good for amusement purposes though. It's enjoyable mocking this kind of desperation.

[jakem]

15. like, likes him - likes him?

:yawn:

[BobbyVan]

16. If the king of the neocons likes what he sees in Barack, that's concerning

Hillary, on the other hand, scares Kristol and the gang to death.

This isn't just about putting a Democrat in the White House, it's about defeating the forces that have animated Bush's evil regime. Hillary is their #1 enemy. Barack doesn't threaten them nearly as much. In fact, as you can see, they kind of like him.

[cali]

18. hilly went along with the neocons on Iraq and Iran

and cluster bombs. I can dig up stuff like this about hilly dear.

Seriously, what Kagan says has nothing to do with Obama, anymore than what Ann Coulter says has to do with Hillary. It's just pathetic to try and tar him by association when there's not associaton there.

But hey, you want to be pathetic, go for it!

[saracat]

17. Of couse he does.Obama is a corporatist! He loves Big Business and

wants to "negotiate" with the Repugs! Whats not to love for the GOP?

[sniffa]

21. I wish I could have my vote back

and now I may not spend my weekend in RI working for him. x(