In what could prove both a significant addition to his foreign policy credentials and a boost for the close Indiana primary, Ex-Rep. Lee Hamilton of Indiana, former head of the 9/11 commission and Iraq Study Group, endorses Illinois Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination in advance of the party's May 6 primary thereSen. Barack Obama of Illinois this afternoon scored the endorsement of former Rep. Lee Hamilton, one of the Democratic Party's leading foreign affairs experts. ... LA Times ...
"National security" is a perfect example of a term used by the Bush administration to mean precisely its opposite. After almost 8 years of national insecurity -- fighting and losing an unnecessary war, depleting America's financial and military resources, and turning skeptics into enemies and friends into skeptics -- real national security is a serious concern for presidential contenders.
Lee Hamilton's endorsement of Obama will have an immediate impact, throwing some support Obama's way in Indiana. More important, another heavyweight in national security and foreign policy has praised Obama's judgment.
"I read his national security and foreign policy speeches, and he comes across to me as pragmatic, visionary and tough,'' Hamilton said in an interview yesterday. "He impresses me as a person who wants to use all the tools of presidential power."
Hamilton, 76, also sided with Obama, 46, on two foreign policy stances that have been criticized by Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, and Senator John McCain of Arizona, 71, the presumptive Republican nominee. Both have dismissed the Illinois senator, saying he doesn't have the experience to deal with critical foreign policy matters.
... Hamilton said he agreed with Obama's position on meeting with U.S. adversaries such as the leaders of Iran without conditions. Also, Obama's consideration of unilateral military action against terrorist hideouts in Pakistan is already U.S. policy, Hamilton said. ... Bloomberg...
