Monday, April 20, 2009

Obama says reaching out to enemies strengthens US

THIS IS WHY I VOTED FOR OBAMA.

By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer
Sunday, April 19, 2009

D
efending his brand of world politics, President Barack Obama said Sunday that he "strengthens our hand" by reaching out to enemies of the United States and making sure that the nation is a leader, not a lecturer, of democracy.

Obama's foreign doctrine emerged across his four-day trip to Latin America, his first extended venture to a region of the world where resentment of U.S. power still lingers. He got a smile, handshakes and even a gift from incendiary leftist leader Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, and embraced overtures of new relations from isolated Cuban President Raul Castro.

"The whole notion was that if we showed courtesy or opened up dialogue with governments that had previously been hostile to us, that that somehow would be a sign of weakness," Obama said, recalling his race for the White House and challenging his critics today.


READ THE REST HERE: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/18/international/i003028D24.DTL

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