Giuliani slams Obama for lack of political transparency after adviser visits Syria

Haaretz ^ | 8-21-08 | Natasha Mozgovaya

[SJackson]

Former Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani lashed out Wednesday against a one-time U.S. ambassador to Israel and adviser to Barack Obama who traveled to Damascus in July for talks with a top Syrian official.

Giuliani, a prominent supporter of John McCain's campaign, said Daniel Kurtzer's visit to Syria shows Obama's inexperience and lack of political transparency.

"If Senator Obama is truly going to bring transparency to Washington, this is surely no way to do it," Giuliani is quoted as saying in The New York Times.

"And maybe this is a playing-out of his negotiating with dictators and people like that without preconditions. [Kurtzer] said something to the effect of, 'we have to see if this does any good or what the repercussions of this were or whether they were being used,'" he added.

The criticism came after The New York Sun reported that Kurtzer, who is now a top foreign policy advisor to Obama campaign, met Syrian Foreign Minister Walled Moallem during his trip to Syria.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]

----------------------------

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Russia just threatened to nuke up Syria a few days ago. This is getting interesting.

[cookcounty]

Good on Giuliani. Time to call Obama on the fake reformer ploy.

[mountainlion]

The book “The Obama Nation” says that Rezko, Ozamas chief financier came form Syria and visited many times while he was in state office. I wonder what other terrorist ties Nobama has?

[ken21]

oba mao 8

does need to be b*tch slapped!

by julie.

[mewzilla]

From this past February...

WTF? Hussein & Clinton Advisors Meet With Syrian President Assad

[ZULU]

I wish Giuliani would just ...... fade ....... away.

But he might wind up as McCain’s AG if Obama loses.

Oh well, you can’t have everything.

[mewzilla]

This wasn't the first visit.

What I wanna know is WTH has Giuliani been...?

[ZULU]

I’d like him to go back there - wherever it is - I can’t stand the guy.

[mewzilla]

Well, even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while :)

Giuliani's got a point, but he might've made it months ago...

[mewzilla]

Meanwhile, from May....

Obama drops Malley over Hamas ties, keeps Brzezinski

[ZULU]

“Giuliani’s got a point”

Besides the one on top of his head? Well, a guess even a broken clock keeps correct time once every 12 hours
:)

I just hate the guy. The only good thing I can say about him is he isn’t a Democrat - but he was actually just above McCain on my wish list and look where I am - campaigning for McCain.

Life is cruel.

[mewzilla]

300 millions American and this is the best we can do for prez!?

Sigh.

[cake_crumb]

Obama campaign's Mideast advisor meets culvertly with Syrian officials...and a Canadian oil company, discusses US foreign policy, asking Syrian officials to speed up negotiations with Israel in order to give the next president a leg-up on Mideast policy, then jets off to meet Obama on his Mideast Mystery Tour.... and expects us to believe it wasn't campaign related??

I got news for Obama and Kurtzer: meeting with representatives of a hostile country and discussing US foreign policy with them is a LOT worse than the secret NAFTA meeting that Obama didn't know about before he not only knew about it but approved it. A LOT worse.

[Southack]

Good for Giuliani (for once!).

[cake_crumb]

"And maybe this is a playing-out of his negotiating with dictators and people like that without preconditions"

Yeah, what an awful thing to say about the Anointed One.

[ZULU]

I was not criticizing what JulieAnnie said about the Obamanation, just expressing my distaste for JulieAnnie.

[ZULU]

I think the Marxist Media picked BOTH candidates.

They manipulated the debates. And they will probably try the same thing with the Presidential debates - asking Obama questions designed to make him sound “Presidential” and addressing questions to McCain which are embarrassing and irrelevant.

[CaptRon]

"That is surely not the way to be conducting foreign policy: to engage in missions whether you're not certain whether you're being used or not," Giuliani told The New York Times.

I've got a better question. What are they doing conducting foreign policy at all? I cannot remember these types of trips by candidates' representatives in any other campaign.