Obama the Visionary: End Nukes, admit Turkey to EU

[ProSense]

Monday, April 06, 2009

Obama the Visionary: End Nukes, admit Turkey to EU

Barack Obama continues to shake up the world with his new ideas, demonstrating himself again among the more creative and bold leaders the world has seen in the past half-century. In Prague on Sunday, he called for the US to lead a drive to abolish nuclear weapons:

' The existence of thousands of nuclear weapons is the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War. No nuclear war was fought between the United States and the Soviet Union, but generations lived with the knowledge that their world could be erased in a single flash of light. Cities like Prague that had existed for centuries would have ceased to exist. Today, the Cold War has disappeared but thousands of those weapons have not. In a strange turn of history, the threat of global nuclear war has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up. More nations have acquired these weapons. Testing has continued. Black markets trade in nuclear secrets and materials. The technology to build a bomb has spread. Terrorists are determined to buy, build or steal one. Our efforts to contain these dangers are centered in a global nonproliferation regime, but as more people and nations break the rules, we could reach the point when the center cannot hold. . . Just as we stood for freedom in the 20th century, we must stand together for the right of people everywhere to live free from fear in the 21st. And as a nuclear power -as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon - the United States has a moral responsibility to act. We cannot succeed in this endeavor alone, but we can lead it. So today, I state clearly and with conviction America's commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.'

What he says about the continued threat of nuclear arsenals, and about the dangers of proliferation and use in terrorism, is all true. But while commentators say these things all the time, seldom do politicians dare be so frank and so decisive. I believe that only in retrospect will historians come to see the true, pivotal significance of Obama's epochal speech. More from the LAT

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[firedupdem]

1. K&R! n/t

[ProSense]

2. Obama speech draws praise in Mideast

Obama speech draws praise in Mideast

By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer

BEIRUT – Syria's foreign minister praised President Barack Obama's address to the Arab and Islamic world in Turkey, and many Arabs were cheered by the American leader's promises to push for a Palestinian state.

On his first visit as president to a predominantly Islamic nation, Obama reached out to Arabs and Muslims in his Ankara address, saying the United States "is not and never will be at war with Islam." He also spoke of the Arab-Israeli peace process, saying he will "actively pursue" the goal of creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

In an interview published Tuesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Obama's speech "reflects a clear attention toward the two-state solution."

Al-Moallem said Obama's words were "important" and "positive." But he hinted that Arabs expect Washington to pressure the new hard-line Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept the creation of a Palestinian state.

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