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September 27, 2008

US Presidential Candidates Debate Economy, Foreign Policy
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1E66B1B:A6F02AD83191E160EE234865C61A3FF42A201403E89ED254&
 
Mc Cain hails success of military surge in Iraq; Obama criticizes
decision to invade Iraq in first place, saying US should have focused on
Afghanistan 
The two major party candidates for president of the United States,
Republican Senator John Mc Cain and Democrat Senator Barack Obama met in
a spirited debate over the financial crisis and foreign policy Friday at
the University of Mississippi. As VOA's Greg Flakus reports from the
debate site in Oxford, Mississippi, the two candidates clashed
frequently over such issues as tax cuts, Iran's nuclear ambitions and
the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.      John Mc Cain, left, and Barack
Obama shake hands after first presidential debate (26 Sep 08)Although
this was to have been a debate focused exclusively on foreign policy
issues, the grave financial crisis that almost undermined the debate was
the top issue addressed during the first half of the debate. Both
Senators came to Mississippi from Washington, where they had been
involved in the effort to put together an emergency package to stem the
crisis. On Wednesday, Senator Mc Cain suspended his campaign and called
for a postponement of the debate in order to concentrate on the
financial crisis. Senator Obama said he would come to the debate alone,
if necessary, and for two days the fate of this first presidential
debate of the 2008 election was uncertain. On Friday, however, just
hours before the event was to take place, Senator Mc Cain said enough
progress had been made in Washington for him to come to the debate. In
their responses to questions about the crisis, the two senators gave
support to the general idea of a government bail out plan, but differed
over what needed to be done to restore the nation's economic health.
Senator Mc Cain said government needs to restore fiscal
responsibility."We have to, obviously, cut spending. I have fought to
cut spending. Senator Obama has 800 billion dollars in new spending
programs. I would suggest that he start by canceling some of those new
spending programs that he has," he said. Senator Obama fired back,
accusing Senator Mc Cain and Republicans of approving tax cuts for the
wealthy while neglecting the needs of average working Amer
icans."If we are spending $300 billion on tax cuts for people who do not
need them and we're not even asking for them and we are leaving out
health care, which is crushing on people all across the country then, I
think, we have made a bad decision and I want to make sure we are not
short-changing our long-term priorities," he said.      John Mc Cain at
first presidential debate (26 Septmeber 08)When the debate moved to
foreign policy, the exchange became more heated, with Senator Mc Cain
frequently suggesting that Senator Obama did not fully understand such
issues as the threat of a nuclear Iran or how to deal with Russia.
Senator Obama fought back with criticisms of the Bush administration's
policies, which he said Senator Mc Cain has largely supported. Senator
Mc Cain hailed the success of the military surge in Iraq and Senator
Obama attacked the decision to invade Iraq in the first place. One of
the fiercest exchanges between the two candidates came over the issue of
Iran and!
  what to do about its plan to develop nuclear weapons. Senator Mc Cain
emphasized the threat this would pose to Israel and attacked Senator
Obama for saying he would hold direct meetings with Iranian leader
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."What Senator Obama does not seem to understand is
that if, without precondition, you sit down across the table from
someone who has called Israel a stinking corpse and wants to destroy
that country and wipe it off the map, you legitimize those comments.
This is dangerous. It is not just naive, it is dangerous," he said.     
Barack Obama at presidential debate in Oxford, Mississippi (26 Septmeber
08)Senator Obama responded by defending his willingness to meet with any
foreign leader at any time if he believed it would make the United
States more secure."Now, understand what this means, meeting without
preconditions. It does not mean that you invite them over for tea one
day. What it means is that we do not do what we have been doing, which
is to say that 'until you agree to do exactly what we say, we will not
have direc
t contacts with you," he said. Senator Obama said one of Mc Cain's own
advisors, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, had endorsed the
idea of meeting with Iran's leaders without preconditions. Senator Mc
Cain said that was not true. In a recent meeting with other former
secretaries of state, Kissinger did say U.S. officials should meet with
the Iranians without preconditions, but he did not say the two
presidents should meet. The next scheduled debate will be between the
two vice presidential candidates, Republican Governor Sarah Palin of
Alaska and Democratic Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. That event is
scheduled for October 2 at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.


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