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Who made this quote : "I've always been in favor of foreign affairs...".

Sebelius Says U.S. Will Donate Part of H1N1 Vaccine Supply to Foreign Nations Before Meeting This Nation’s DemandThursday, October 22, 2009 By Chris Neefus      ....... Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) asked Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebilius why the United States should get vaccinations ahead of people in other countries, including those in countries that are producing the vaccine for the United States. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)When Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) had his turn to question Sebelus, he raised the issue of whether the United States was "entitled" to the vaccine more than other nations. "Why should we be more entitled, the U.S. be more   entitled to...

After reported currency intervention by Asian economies and Brazil, Europe today reiterated its desire for a strong dollar as well. Bloomberg: French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s counselor, Henri Guaino, said today in Paris that the U.S. is “flooding the world” with dollars and that the currency’s weakness may become “unbearable.” Eric Woerth, France’s budget minister, said the euro’s gains are hurting the region’s competitiveness.“We all note with considerable attention the statements made by American authorities as regards their support in favor of a strong dollar,” Trichet said in Luxembourg yesterday....“We want a strong dollar; we need a strong dollar,” French Finance...

Posted here for archival purposes only. # http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1289 # Note: The following text is a quote: Text of S. 1289: Foreign Evidence Request Efficiency Act of 2009 Show this version: Download PDF Full Text on THOMAS Go to Bill Status Compare to this version: Show changes: Side-by-side Highlighted Expand all sections Collapse all sections Link to this view This version: Enrolled Bill. This is the final text of the bill or resolution as approved by both the Senate and House, as it is sent to the President in the case of a bill. This is the latest version of the...

Senate Bill Would Permanently Overturn Mexico City Policy on Foreign Abortions Washington, DC -- The Senate version of a federal spending bill controlling the State Department would make President Barack Obama's decision to overturn the Mexico City Policy permanent. Obama overturned the policy during his first week in office and opened the door to funding groups that perform and promote abortions overseas. http://www.lifenews.com/nat5577.html ACTION: Contact your two U.S. senators and urge strong opposition to the Lautenberg amendment against the Mexico City Policy. Urge lawmakers to remove the amendment from the State, Foreign Operations Appropriations bill and to vote against the...

Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations.

Charles Krauthammer observes: You have the best generals in the world – McChrystal on counterterrorism and Petraeus on counterinsurgency – the best in the world who know exactly how this is done and who conclude you cannot do a counterterrorism strategy, only counterinsurgency. And all of a sudden he is relying on Biden, Rahm Emanuel, and himself to go against the advice of these experts? Hard to believe.It is. (And don’t forget David Axelrod.) More than one conservative colleague has remarked upon the inordinate role that advisers who lack the necessary credentials and expertise have in shaping foreign policy in...

Obama's colossal failure in Copenhagen simply highlights the fact that his perpetual worldwide campaign has ACHIEVED NOTHING! He hopes you won't notice.Obama took a big gamble by going to Copenhagen to push for the 2016 Olympics to be held in Chicago. Things didn't work out the way Obama wanted in Copenhagen and there were a lot of disappointed Chicago cronies of his who won't be getting the graft from Olympic building contracts they had expected for Christmas. But the weeklong buildup to Obama's Copenhagen visit followed by the stunning disappointment did have some benefits. It provided the perfect distraction from...

…But I Play One On TV…: My Two Cents on Squandering Presidential Prestige By David J. Aland 2 October 2009 The facts are grim: thousands of Americans killed since 2003, trapped in a scenario of corrupt government and failing infrastructure. Local chieftains enrich themselves with misdirected American dollars, and one in forty civilians die violently. Elections tainted, streets deadly – sectarian warfare goes unchecked, and nepotism abounds. The local commander has called on the President for help. It could be the script of an episode of “West Wing”, but it’s all too true. Chicago really is in bad shape, these...

(October 1, 2009) — It has long been speculated that the Kenyan Government has some sort of agreement with the Obama campaign to bolster his claims regarding his birth and parentage. The Post & Email can confirm this morning that this is not speculation. The evidence is the refusal of the Kenyan Ambassador in Rome, to admit to the parentage of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr.. The request made to the Ambassador is contained in a letter, a copy of which was consigned to The Post & Email by its author this week. On July 20, 2009, a concerned citizen of...

<p>For President Barack Obama, last week was rather like a major exam on his skills as a diplomat and architect of foreign policy. In his debut at the United Nations and as host to the G-20 economic powers in Pittsburgh, Obama was given more scrutiny by foreign leaders and domestic constituencies than at any other time in his first year in office.</p>

UN-Doing America: My Two Cents on Faith-Based Diplomacy By David J. Aland 25 September 2009 It has been said that diplomacy is the art of letting someone have it your way, or, as Will Rogers put it, “the art of saying ‘nice doggie’ until you can find a rock.” Americans have long been accused of having little diplomatic sophistication, but, as a European friend once put it: “It’s part of the charm.” Lately, it appears our President is trying to foist charm off as sophistication, and it’s failing. President Obama’s speech this week to the General Assembly of the United...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate voted Thursday to triple foreign aid to Pakistan, with lawmakers saying the legislation could change the crisis-driven nature of U.S.-Pakistan relations and create ties based more on long-term interests. The Senate voted by voice to approve the measure that approves $1.5 billion a year over the next five years for democratic, economic and social development assistance. The measure, a result of House-Senate negotiations, could be passed in the House as early as Friday, sending it to President Barack Obama for his signature.

WASHINGTON — President Obama is exploring alternatives to a major troop increase in Afghanistan, including a plan advocated by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to scale back American forces and focus more on rooting out Al Qaeda there and in Pakistan, officials said Tuesday. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who spoke Tuesday in National Harbor, Md., wants to scale back troops in Afghanistan. The options under review are part of what administration officials described as a wholesale reconsideration of a strategy the president announced with fanfare just six months ago. Two new intelligence reports are being conducted to...

Tell me something I have not already heard from a number of former State and Defense people already. What makes this sooooo juicy is not how he defines Obama foreign policy but how this former “HW” Secretary of State defends the current Secretary of State. “Frankly I don’t know how she’s lasted. ”The conversation starts with Eagleburger’s analysis of the Honduras situation, which he correctly describes as the democratically elected government trying to preserve democracy for Hondurans … and remove a President who was hoping to be Latin America’s next in a long line of dictators. Click here for background.

The swine flu pandemic could kill millions and cause anarchy in the world's poorest nations unless £900m can be raised from rich countries to pay for vaccines and antiviral medicines, says a UN report leaked to the Observer. The disclosure will provoke concerns that health officials will not be able to stem the growth of the worldwide H1N1 pandemic in developing countries

In recent days, I’ve been expressing dismay at Hillary Clinton: in this column, for instance, and in this Corner post. Can you stand some more quotation of her? In an interview, she said, “There are some days when we’re dealing with very difficult security issues when you kind of wish, ‘Oh man, I wish I didn’t know that.’” Yeah, it’s terrible when the world does that to you. Say you want to come to terms with the Iranian regime — want to reason with them. But you find out that, really and truly, they’re bent on acquiring nuclear weapons —...

There is now not even a hint of an effort to make the narrative on Afghanistan consistent. From the AP: President Barack Obama’s national security adviser did not rule adding more U.S. forces in Afghanistan to help turn around a war that he said on Sunday is not now in crisis. James Jones, a retired Marine general with experience in Afghanistan, said the United States will know “by the end of next year” whether the revamped war plan Obama announced in March is taking hold...

He could have said the election’s irrelevant from our standpoint since we have to play the cards we’re dealt; he could have noted, as Obama’s often done in the past, that true power resides in the supreme leader so it’s only his legitimacy that’s at issue; or he could have told the truth and said that all Iranian elections are shams since true reformers aren’t allowed on the ballot. Instead, so desperate are these tools to get Iran to the bargaining table and show Americans some sort of dividend from Hopenchange diplomacy that Gibbs actually acknowledges Ahmadinejad as the “elected...

This is my first posting, I hope it goes well!

Attention Free Republic members. I have found something very important to EVERY American as this affects you directly. The UN Ambassador from Honduras had his visa cancelled for terrorism. I don´t know when exactly that occurred but I am working on that. What I want to know and you should demand from Obama and Congress is why is this man in Washington DC roaming around where he can cause harm. To complicate things further his son had his visa cancelled for human smuggling...being a coyote or smuggling illegal immigrants into the US to be real clear. These are the type...

Given the Treasury's need to flog on the order of $3 trillion worth of its unbacked paper this year just to keep the government's doors open - and that is a four- or fivefold increase over 2008 - the foreign buyers not only have to show up for the Treasury auctions, they have to show up in droves. It's not for nothing that the Goldman Sachs Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner is hotfooting it around the world lately, last week to Saudi Arabia and the UAE... last month to China. The purpose of his trip, Geithner told reporters in...

My Prediction. When Obama's long form Birth Certificate is produced, it will show that Obama was not born in any Hawaii Hospital. It will say that Obama was born at 6085 Kalanianaole Highway, Honolulu, HI. The evidence for the "Birth" will be given by Obamas Grandparents word. No independent evidence. Investigators have established that the Obamas never lived at that address, and at the time it was owned/occupied by a Professor at an Hawaii University. We will then be in a position where Obamas Place and Time of Birth will be in question. It will open up the posibility that...

During Judge Sotomayor’s public Senate confirmation, she was asked if she would use foreign laws to interpret American laws. The question, asked by Senator Coburn, arose from Judge Sotomayor having repeated stated in the past that she approved of the use of foreign laws to interpret the American constitution, particularly the fifth, eighth, and fourteenth amendments. Judge Sotomayor’s answer to Senator Coburn was “I will not use foreign law to interpret the Constitution or American statutes. I will use American law, constitutional law to interpret those laws except in the situations where American law directs the court.” Unfortunately, no one...

"It is our true policy to steer clear of entangling alliances with any portion of the foreign world." ~ George Washington I have written before about the critical need for Congress to reassert its authority over foreign policy, and for the American people to recognize that the Constitution makes no distinction between domestic and foreign matters. Policy is policy, and it must be made by the legislature and not the executive. But what policy is best? How should we deal with the rest of the world in a way that best advances proper national interests, while not threatening our freedoms...

I've been following the Sotomayor confirmation hearing via the blogs when I can, haven't seen any of it on TV, but what I've read on the blogs is pretty much what I expected. She is pulling an Obama flip-flop on her earlier views to get into power. Here is a liberal law professor's views: I was completely disgusted by Judge Sotomayor's testimony today. If she was not perjuring herself, she is intellectually unqualified to be on the Supreme Court. If she was perjuring herself, she is morally unqualified. How could someone who has been on the bench for seventeen years...

KABUL (AFP) – Four foreign soldiers were killed and dozens of Afghans, mostly Taliban militants, have been killed in two days of violence across insurgency-hit Afghanistan, authorities said Saturday. One soldier serving with the US-led coalition was killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday. "A coalition service member was killed during an attack on a convoy in eastern Afghanistan... today," the coalition said in a statement, without giving further details including the exact location of the incident. The British defence ministry said one of its soldiers with the separate NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was killed...

June 9, 2009 The Anti-Reagan By Patrick Buchanan Despite his boldness, Barack Obama seems as fated to fail as were Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter. And for the same reason: a belief in his own righteousness and moral superiority, and a belief that his ideals and his persona count mightily in the modern world...

Poll question for the day: Should President Obama continue to apologize for America while on foreign soil? A Daily PollAlso, a few more days for the weekly poll: A Weekly Poll "Is America good?"

Venezuela and Bolivia are supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program, according to a secret Israeli government report obtained Monday by The Associated Press. The two South American countries are known to have close ties with Iran, but this is the first allegation that they are involved in the development of Iran's nuclear program, considered a strategic threat by Israel.

Surely a country with 100 nuclear weapons, numerous extremist groups linked to al Qaeda and, in all likelihood, Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al- Zawahiri themselves holed up somewhere in its remote regions should put the fear of God into all of us.

WASHINGTON, May 8 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President Barack Obama said after a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Moscow and Washington had a great chance to "reset" relations. "We have an excellent opportunity to reset the relationship between the United States and Russia on a whole host of issues," Obama said on Thursday after talks in Washington with Russia's top diplomat. Lavrov called the talks "productive," noting their "constructive, business-like nature." He also said that Russian-U.S. relations should be based on mutual respect. Obama said that he had discussed a wide range of issues with Lavrov, including...

[I]t would also be useful to eliminate even the slimmest shadow on Barack Obama’s legitimacy, sort of like taking the oath the second time. In fact as soon as this amendment is passed, he should take the oath a third time, perhaps the fourth of July, 2010.

The rich world’s bloated health-care systems can learn from India’s entrepreneurs ___ This is just one of many innovations in health care that have been devised in India. Its entrepreneurs are channelling the country’s rich technological and medical talent towards frugal approaches that have much to teach the rich world’s bloated health-care systems. Dr Jawali is feted today as a pioneer, but he remembers how Western colleagues ridiculed him for years for advocating his inventive “awake surgery”. He thinks that snub reflects an innate cultural advantage enjoyed by India. Unlike the hidebound health systems of the rich world, he says,...

Security Before Politics (Obama Crossed the Red Line, Publication of CIA Memos) By Porter J. Goss Saturday, April 25, 2009 Since leaving my post as CIA director almost three years ago, I have remained largely silent on the public stage. I am speaking out now because I feel our government has crossed the red line between properly protecting our national security and trying to gain partisan political advantage. We can't have a secret intelligence service if we keep giving away all the secrets. Americans have to decide now. A disturbing epidemic of amnesia seems to be plaguing my former colleagues...

In an interview on CNN.com on Friday titled “Zakaria: Obama disappoints as world leader,” author and CNN anchor Fareed Zakaria threw cold water on the media’s laudatory coverage of President Obama’s trip to Europe: “Although he brought a lot of star power -- the talk of the week -- at least in certain circles in Washington, New York and London -- has been that President Obama is failing in his role as leader of the free world.” He cited a columnist overseas to support his opinion, something that hasn’t really been done in the media’s coverage of the trip. Zakaria...

Russia's Dmitry Medvedev hailed Barack Obama as "my new comrade" Thursday after their first face-to-face talks, saying the US president "can listen" -- even if little progress was made on substance. The Russian president contrasted Obama as "totally different" to his predecessor George W. Bush, whom he blamed for the "mistake" of US missile shield plans fiercely opposed by Moscow. ..."

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2009 – The security and political situation in Iraq continues to improve, but ethno-sectarian agendas and other obstacles remain, according to Defense Department findings. Pentagon officials today released a congressionally mandated quarterly report on Iraq that focuses on December through February, a period during which pivotal security arrangements between Washington and Baghdad took effect. “With the signing and implementation of the strategic framework agreement, the relationship with Iraq has become more mature and what we would consider a more normalized U.S.-Iraqi relationship through economic, diplomatic, cultural and security ties,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said today. A...

A cyberespionage network, known as GhostNet, possibly operating out of China, is making use of malicious websites and phishing emails to take control of hundreds of sensitive government machines across 103 countries, researchers revealed this weekend. A pair of Canadian researchers at the Munk Center for International Studies at the University of Toronto said GhostNet struck "high-value targets," such as foreign embassies and ministries, and even a NATO network. So far, some 1,300 computers have been infected by servers that trace back to China. The researchers, Ron Deibert and Rafal Rohozinski, released their 53-page report Sunday after 10 months of...

Can Private Security Guards Act As Cops? That's Exactly What They May Soon Be Doing On The Far These private security cars patrol Michigan Avenue between 100th and 116th streets, and a proposed city ordinance would give them many police powers. They're private security guards, already on patrol, but they may soon have the powers of Chicago Police officers. As CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports, the private security officers now on patrol on the city's Far South Side are expected to have their powers expanded as part of a citywide ordinance now being prepared. But officials are questioning...

A month ago I visited Kibera, the largest slum in Africa. This suburb of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, is home to more than one million people, who eke out a living in an area of about one square mile -- roughly 75% the size of New York's Central Park. It is a sea of aluminum and cardboard shacks that forgotten families call home. The idea of a slum conjures up an image of children playing amidst piles of garbage, with no running water and the rank, rife stench of sewage. Kibera does not disappoint. What is incredibly disappointing is...

China prepares to buy up foreign oil companiesChina is preparing to open a new phase in its race for the world's resources by using its huge currency reserves to buy foreign oil and gas companies. By Richard Spencer in Beijing Last Updated: 8:20PM GMT 22 Feb 2009 This proposal may risk a backlash from countries who fear that China is using the world's economic crisis to tilt the balance of trade and diplomacy in its favour. A conference of officials from the National Energy Administration has agreed to consider establishing a special fund for China's state-owned companies to buy oil...

Senate approves restriction on foreign hires The Senate voted Friday to restrict the hiring of foreign workers by banks that are receiving government bailout funds while undergoing vast layoffs. The legislation by Sens. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, would require the banks to seek American workers before turning to foreign nationals when they're hiring. It aims to prevent replacement of Americans by foreigners working under the H-1B visa program, which allows employers to bring in workers for high-skilled and advanced-degree jobs. The measure has a two-year life and if signed into law would apply to the...

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) – The US administration signalled a new spirit of international cooperation this weekend but called for its allies to do more and painted a bleak picture of the war in Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden used the Munich Security Conference in the southern Germany city to say that Barack Obama's White House sought a "new tone" in foreign relations, particularly with regard to Russia and even Iran. "I come to Europe on behalf of a new administration determined to set a new tone not only in Washington, but in America's relations around the world," he said on...

A citizen of India, Rajendrasinh B. Makwana attempted to sabotage the computer database at Fannie Mae. He was, according to news reports, employed as a so-called temporary foreign worker who had been authorized to work in the United States temporarily under the provisions of the H1B visa that had been issued to him. Here’s how this appalling situation can be summed up: This is the real threat to society, not the sinking of Fannie Mae. But the strange case of Makwana does bring up a number of issues. The main one is the use of H1B visa workers – and...

Senator Barack Obama, though impressive in his oratorical abilities, may not have the foreign policy experience that many would like to see, or that his opponents possess. It is reasonable to expect that he may rely on the foreign policy advisors he has chosen to a greater extent than would a new president more adequately grounded in foreign affairs and national security matters. Over the past month, controversy has erupted over the issue of Senator Obama's foreign policy advisers and the impact that they might have on a future President Obama's policies toward Israel, and on American foreign policy in...

Former Vice President Al Gore brought a stark message to the Senate on Wednesday: A new climate change treaty is critical to continuing human life on Earth. The Nobel Peace Prize winner urged the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to push for a U.S.-brokered treaty in December in Copenhagen, Denmark, where the United Nations will host a climate change conference. Only the United States can lead such an effort, he said. “This is the one challenge that could completely end human civilization, and it is rushing at us with such speed and force,” said Gore, who won an Oscar for the...

Gore: Earth in 'grave danger' Tom LoBianco (Contact) UPDATED: Former Vice President Al Gore told lawmakers Wednesday morning that the earth is in "grave danger" and that the nation must break its dependence on oil. Mr. Gore said Congress must pass a cap and trade bill and increase tax breaks for renewable energy sources before going before the U.N. climate change conference this December to negotiate new carbon-reduction benchmarks. "Climate change will be increasingly central to our foreign policy and national security, and it will be a focal point of this committee's efforts as well," said Sen. John Kerry, the...

A New Zealand man has landed himself in a real-life version of Burn After Reading, the Coen brothers' film about two fitness centre employees who get their hands on a disc containing the memoirs of a CIA agent, with comic - and deadly - consequences

WASHINGTON (AP) - Financial documents filed by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton show that her husband earned nearly $6 million in speaking fees last year, nearly all of it from foreign companies. The documents obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press indicate that $5 million of the former president's reported $5.7 million in 2008 honoraria came from foreign sources. .. Kuwait's National Bank, a Hong Kong-based company, .. firms and groups in Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico and Portugal.