Palin enters diplomatic arena
Candidate meets two heads of state during trip to U.N.
By JULIET EILPERINWashington Post
Sept. 23, 2008, 11:04PM
TODAY'S LINEUP
Palin will continue to meet with foreign leaders today when she sits down with some of the U.S.'s closest allies in the developing world. She will meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Indian Prime Minister Manhoman Singh and Pakistani Prime Minister Asif Ali Zardari.
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NEW YORK — Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin made her diplomatic debut on Tuesday, meeting with two heads of state who had traveled to New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
Palin, who met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, engaged in small talk and policy discussions as part of her effort to augment her foreign policy credentials. Palin, who has traveled outside North America once, also met former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at his New York office.
Sen. John McCain's campaign sought to highlight the sessions with several photo-ops, though they limited the media's access, at one point barring print reporters from observing Palin's initial exchange with Karzai.
Shuttling from one meeting to another, Palin traveled across New York with the buzz of a high-profile personality. Her motorcade shut down traffic, and for a time police officers barred entry to her hotel. Tourists pulled out video cameras to film the governor at one point, prompting several police vehicles to drive on the sidewalk to protect the SUV in which Palin was riding. Traffic backed up, crowds gathered behind barricades and a supporter yelled, "We love you, Sarah!"
Palin also received her first national security briefing on Tuesday from U.S. director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, and several of his aides — a standard practice for the two parties' nominees.
In a press briefing with reporters, Palin's senior foreign policy adviser Stephen Biegun said the Alaska governor did not issue policy pronouncements during the sessions with Karzai and Uribe, each of which lasted about a half-hour. Biegun said her goals were "to establish a relationship and to listen."
Biegun and McCain's senior foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, accompanied her to Tuesday's sessions.
Evaluating her experience
Palin's talks with the leaders resemble the trip Democratic nominee Barack Obama took over the summer, when the first-term senator met with military and foreign leaders in Iraq, Afghanistan, Britain, France and Germany. At the end of a trip designed to bolster his foreign policy credentials, Obama said, "The value to me of this trip is, hopefully, it gives voters a sense that I can in fact — and do — operate effectively on the international stage."
The senate office of Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday released a "partial list" showing that the Delaware senator has met the leaders of nearly 60 countries, territories and international organizations. The list ran to 150 names and included nine Israeli prime ministers, four Soviet leaders and two Russian presidents, Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama.
Foreign diplomats said they knew little about Palin, especially compared to Biden, who serves as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
"The assumption is that she has not had great international experience," said one diplomat from a major European country. "Apart from that, nobody knows her. Biden is quite a well-known figure" in his capital, the diplomat said. "He's been there many times. Palin, well, she is an absolute stranger."
In the brief moments when Palin was visible to the press — after reporters protested, her aides allowed a single print journalist to watch the first minute of her afternoon sessions — she sought to forge a personal bond with Karzai.
He told Palin about his son, who was born in January 2007. With both of them smiling, and with Palin patting her heart at one point, Karzai told the governor his son's name is "Mirwais, which means, 'The Light of the House.' "
"Oh, nice," Palin replied.
"He is the only one we have," Karzai said.
Speaking later in the day at the Asia Society, Karzai described his meeting with the vice-presidential nominee as "very good. I found her quite a capable woman. She asked the right questions on Afghanistan." He added, "She was concerned and she said how can she help, so I'm very pleased with that meeting."
Both Karzai and Uribe discussed the topic of energy with Palin, Biegun said, with both of them describing it as "a national security issue."
Palin also journeyed Tuesday to the offices of Kissinger, with whom she met for more than an hour. The governor talked with the former secretary of state about some of America's most sensitive international relationships, Biegun said, with countries such as Russia, Iran and China.
NEW YORK — Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin made her diplomatic debut on Tuesday, meeting with two heads of state who had traveled to New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
Palin, who met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, engaged in small talk and policy discussions as part of her effort to augment her foreign policy credentials. Palin, who has traveled outside North America once, also met former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at his New York office.
Sen. John McCain's campaign sought to highlight the sessions with several photo-ops, though they limited the media's access, at one point barring print reporters from observing Palin's initial exchange with Karzai.
Shuttling from one meeting to another, Palin traveled across New York with the buzz of a high-profile personality. Her motorcade shut down traffic, and for a time police officers barred entry to her hotel. Tourists pulled out video cameras to film the governor at one point, prompting several police vehicles to drive on the sidewalk to protect the SUV in which Palin was riding. Traffic backed up, crowds gathered behind barricades and a supporter yelled, "We love you, Sarah!"
Palin also received her first national security briefing on Tuesday from U.S. director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, and several of his aides — a standard practice for the two parties' nominees.
Comments
I think it is very important for a political novice, such as Palin, to learn how to deal with a US installed puppet, as opposed to someone who is a legitimate world leader.
Ag News
NEW YORK — Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin made her diplomatic debut on Tuesday, meeting with two heads of state who had traveled to New York for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.
Palin, who met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, engaged in small talk and policy discussions as part of her effort to augment her foreign policy credentials. Palin, who has traveled outside North America once, also met former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at his New York office.
Sen. John McCain's campaign sought to highlight the sessions with several photo-ops, though they limited the media's access, at one point barring print reporters from observing Palin's initial exchange with Karzai.
Shuttling from one meeting to another, Palin traveled across New York with the buzz of a high-profile personality. Her motorcade shut down traffic, and for a time police officers barred entry to her hotel. Tourists pulled out video cameras to film the governor at one point, prompting several police vehicles to drive on the sidewalk to protect the SUV in which Palin was riding. Traffic backed up, crowds gathered behind barricades and a supporter yelled, "We love you, Sarah!"
Palin also received her first national security briefing on Tuesday from U.S. director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, and several of his aides — a standard practice for the two parties' nominees.
Comments:
Colombia is now one of US’s main acceptance of foreign aid. It has had a 40 year Guerrilla war it has been unable to win on it’s own. US military hardware and advisors are keeping in operation. Again, this is not a true independent country, it is a solid client state of the US. I’m sure John McCain, (foreign affairs is one of the few areas he know about) want to make sure Palin doesn’t confuse fighting gorillas with Guerillas.
Palin like to hunt Polar Bears, which are extinct
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