Posts Tagged ‘diplomacy’
Former Assistant Secretary Of State On Paltalk
Murphy
Of all the problems, domestic and foreign, that face President-elect Obama, none is more perennially critical than the quest for peace in the Middle East.
Joining us to talk about the prospects for a solution to that quagmire on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com Monday November 10 will be former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Murphy.
Murphy spent 34 years as a career foreign service officer. After service in the U.S. Army he joined the foreign service of the State Department and from 1955-68 served in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
In 1971, President Nixon nominated him as ambassador to Mauritania and in 1974 he became ambassador to Syria. He then served as ambassador to the Philippines and Saudi Arabia. From 1983-1989 he served as assistant secretary of state under President Reagan. During that period he was. particularly active in the Israeli-Arab peace process.
Murphy has received the president’s Distinguished Service Award three times and the State Department’s Superior Honor Award twice. In 1985 he was named career ambassador, a title held by only five officers serving at any given time.
Retiring from government service in 1989, Murphy joined the Council on Foreign Relations in New York as senior fellow for the Middle East and has continued to visit that region several times a year.
Murphy is a frequent commentator for NPR, CNN, BBC and FOX News. He has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, The International Herald Tribune and the Christian Science Monitor. He is a trustee of the American University of Beirut, on the Board of the Near East Foundation and former chairman of the Middle East Institute in Washington.
To talk to Murphy at 5 PM New York time Monday November 10 CLICK HERE. There is no charge.
Paltalk is the largest multimedia interactive program on the Internet with more than 4 million unique users.
News Talk Online is also syndicated by CRN Digital Talk Radio to an additional 12 million households.
Hamas Comments On Obama Win
The Hamas terror group believes the election of Barack Obama is an “historic victory” for the world and an opportunity to change U.S. foreign policy toward engagement with America’s foes.
Ahmed Yousef, Hamas’ chief political adviser in the Gaza Strip, made those comments in an interview with World Net Daily’s Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein.
Yousef, speaking to Klein by cell phone from Gaza, said Hamas is drafting a letter of congratulations to be sent tomorrow directly to Obama. He disclosed the current draft of the letter praises the president-elect as “another John F. Kennedy, or great Roosevelt.”
“We want to be one of the first to congratulate him,” Yousef said. “This is an historic day, a turning point. I think this is the very first time in history that one country’s election concerned everyone everywhere all over world,” said Yousef.
“Everybody is looking forward to Obama’s change, for a change in the U.S. policy, particularly in the Israeli-Palestinian equation, which is the mother of all conflicts.” Yousef told Klein he believes an Obama administration will be more willing to engage in dialogue with Hamas.
Today on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com, Elizabeth Bagley, who served as special assistant to Ambassador Sol Linowitz for the Camp David Accords, said she believed Obama would make as one of his first priorities re-engaging in peace talks in the Middle East.
Obama has named as chief of staff Congressman Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), who was born in Israel and whose father was a member of the Irgun.
As Catholics Vote So Votes The Country
Once again, the Catholic vote proved to be representative of how the rest of the nation voted in the presidential election.
Fifty-four percent of voting Catholics cast their ballots for Barack Obama.
Elizabeth Bagley, who was responsible for getting out the Catholic vote for Obama, says, around the world, people are celebrating his election. Because they feel he represents a return to diplomacy by the United States.
Bagley, who served in the diplomatic corps in both the Clinton and Carter administrations, believes the Bush administration repeatedly squandered opportunities to diplomatically solve some of the most serious problems of the world. A former U.S. ambassador to Portugal, Bailey, during an appearance on News Talk Online on Paltalk.com, said Clinton left office having brought the Israelis and the Palestinians close to resolution. Yet the Bush administration refused to build on those efforts, against the wishes of Secretary of State Colin Powell.
She believes one of Obama’s first orders of business will be to attempt to help broker a lasting peace in the Middle East. She also believes Obama will try to initiate diplomatic efforts with Iran.
Who Won The Debate? Perhaps The Voters
The first 2008 presidential debate is over and, the morning after the night before finds a raging secondary debate being conducted. Over who “won” last night’s verbal dual.
In The McCain Obama 2008 Debate Room in Paltalk Studio A on Paltalk.com, voters were given the opportunity to share their own reactions. The lively discussion lasted into the wee hours of Saturday morning.
“Obama wiped the floor with McCain,” one Democratic said.
“Everyone is saying McCain won,” was the comment of a Republican.
But does it really matter who “won” the debate? Was that the purpose? To determine who is the better debater? Or is reason they debate to clarify their positions to the American people?
In some areas, the two, naturally, disagreed. In a few, there was agreement. And in several, what they agreed upon was that they “fundamentally disagreed.”
There was also opportunity for each candidate to correct or clarify accusations made by the other.
If one was listening closely, one heard that John McCain and Barack Obama both basically favor a bailout of Wall Street and checks and balances to prevent a recurrence of the financial mess the nation faces. Details remained elusive. So they settled on differing over the reason for the crisis.
McCain made the most dramatic suggestion about how to better prioritize the federal budget as a result of the nation’s financial woes, by cutting out huge amounts of spending … a “spending freeze” is what he called it. Obama countered that would be “using a sledge hammer when you need a scalpel.” This is the kind of fundamental difference that could help someone who is undecided determine who to vote for.
Palin The New Dick Cheney
Rattling sabres
If you want to be the next vice-president of the United States, maybe you need to emulate the current veep.
Not only do Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin find common ground in their love of hunting, but they also seem to be fellow sabre rattlers.
Wasn’t it Cheney who threatened to station U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf should Iran fail to ensure that it isn’t developing nuclear weapons?
Whatever happened to Teddy Roosevelt’s philosophy of walking softly and carrying a big stick? The Iranians presumably know that the U.S. packs firepower without having to be reminded by Cheney.
Now Palin is taking a page out of Cheney’s playbook, telling ABC’s Charles Gibson the United States must be ready to take on Russia if necessary over Georgia.
