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Barack Obama

Barack Obama216 posts

Barack Obama was elected as the 44th President of the United States in 2008, and the first African-American President. He won re-election in 2012. He is married to Michelle Obama, a former lawyer, and has two daughters, Sasha and Malia.

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10 Sep, 2014

Authorizes $25 million aid

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Obama authorizes $25 million in immediate military aid to the Iraqi government, including the Kurdistan Regional Government, to help with military education and training. A White House memorandum says the funds are intended…

…to aid their efforts to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Schedules ISIS speech for primetime

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The White House says Obama’s ISIS speech is scheduled for 9 p.m. EDT and will be delivered from the State Floor. The speech was previously expected to be scheduled outside primetime slots. Press secretary Josh Earnest:

[Obama will] discuss with the American people the threat posed by ISIL and to lay out the United States’ strategy for degrading and ultimately destroying the terrorist group.

ISIS speech

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Obama addresses the nation in a televised speech on ISIS from the State Floor of the White House (full text). He says the U.S. will take action against terrorists wherever they are:

First, we will conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes against these terrorists.  Working with the Iraqi government, we will expand our efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions, so that we’re hitting ISIL targets as Iraqi forces go on offense.  Moreover, I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are.  That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq.

The U.S. personnel deployed to Iraq in June have completed their mission of supporting the security forces now that the country has formed a new government, and an additional 475 servicemembers will be sent to provide training, intelligence and equipment to Iraqi and Kurdish forces. The U.S. will also support the development of National Guard units to help Sunni communities secure their own freedom from ISIL’s control.

Congress must authorize assistance to Syrian opposition:

In the fight against ISIL, we cannot rely on an Assad regime that terrorizes its own people — a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost.  Instead, we must strengthen the opposition as the best counterweight to extremists like ISIL, while pursuing the political solution necessary to solve Syria’s crisis once and for all.

The U.S. will chair an international summit under the UN banner to mobilize international support and to provide humanitarian aid to Sunni and Shia Muslims as well as religious minorities:

Working with our partners, we will redouble our efforts to cut off [ISIS’s] funding; improve our intelligence; strengthen our defenses; counter its warped ideology; and stem the flow of foreign fighters into and out of the Middle East.

The strategy depends on engagement with the international community and support from the U.S.’s coalition partners:

Secretary Kerry was in Iraq today meeting with the new government and supporting their efforts to promote unity.  And in the coming days he will travel across the Middle East and Europe to enlist more partners in this fight, especially Arab nations who can help mobilize Sunni communities in Iraq and Syria, to drive these terrorists from their lands.

Congressional support will be welcomed:

My administration has also secured bipartisan support for this approach here at home.  I have the authority to address the threat from ISIL, but I believe we are strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together.  So I welcome congressional support for this effort in order to show the world that Americans are united in confronting this danger.

The conflict will not be another Iraq war:

It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.  This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground.  This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.  And it is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year:  to use force against anyone who threatens America’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order.

11 Sep, 2014

Coalition signs up against ISIS

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Governments in the Middle East are signing on to President Obama’s coalition against the Islamic State. Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and even the Gulf Cooperation Council, pledge to ‘stand united’ and willing to contribute with the US war effort against the ISIS threat. Some complications consist of exactly what effort each Arab nation provides and if Assad allows US air power to cross Syrian airspace without retaliation. A former officer of the US navy believes that Assad’s air defenses are overrating. Harmer:

Once they turn on the tracking radar … we’re going to have a dozen anti-radiation missiles go after it. I can’t imagine the Assad regime would be dumb enough to impede our progress.

UK, Germany: No air strikes

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A day after President Obama tells American that the US will be joined by “a broad coalition of partners,” Britain and Germany announce they will not be participating in airstrikes against ISIS. British foreign secretary Philip Hammond says Parliament decided against participating in airstrikes in 2013, and it won’t be “revisiting” the matter. German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his country would not participate either.

To be quite clear, we have not been asked to do so and neither will we do so.

14 Sep, 2014

Condemns third beheading

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Cameron:

This is a despicable and appalling murder of an innocent aid worker. It is an act of pure evil. My heart goes out to the family of David Haines who have shown extraordinary courage and fortitude throughout this ordeal. We will do everything in our power to hunt down these murderers and ensure they face justice, however long it takes.

Obama:

The United States strongly condemns the barbaric murder of UK citizen David Haines by the terrorist group ISIL.

16 Sep, 2014

Will expand Ebola program

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Obama is expected to announce the expansion of a $763 million U.S. plan to help West African nations combat the Ebola virus later Tuesday during his visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Officials say the administration has asked Congress for an additional $88 million for the program. The Department of Defense, which is heading up the program, has requested the re-programming of $500 million. The expansion will include deploying 3,000 troops to the Liberian capital, according to a White House statement:

U.S. Africa Command will set up a Joint Force Command headquartered in Monrovia, Liberia, to provide regional command and control support to U.S. military activities and facilitate coordination with U.S. government and international relief efforts. A general from U.S. Army Africa, the Army component of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), will lead this effort, which will involve an estimated 3,000 U.S. forces.

The White House says ‘many’ of the troops will be stationed at an ‘intermediate staging base’ where they will supervise movement of medical staff, supplies and heavy equipment.

18 Sep, 2014

Approves aid to opposition

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Congress votes 78-22 to approve training and arming the Syrian opposition. The new authorization to train the moderate Free Syrian Army expires Dec. 11. The bill does not decide on whether Congress will extend the training authorization or take up a broader authorization of military force against ISIS. Some senators are also pressing to add a passage that resembles a declaration of war to an annual defense policy bill pending in the Senate. House leaders oppose the addition, and the leaders of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee could begin drafting their own authorization of force as soon as next week. Obama:

We are strongest as a nation when the president and Congress work together … These terrorists thought they could frighten us or intimidate us. Americans, we do not give in to fear.

19 Sep, 2014

Obama: ‘Exercise of democracy’

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Obama congratulates Scotland in a statement:

We welcome the result of yesterday’s referendum on Scottish independence and congratulate the people of Scotland for their full and energetic exercise of democracy. Through debate, discussion, and passionate yet peaceful deliberations, they reminded the world of Scotland’s enormous contributions to the UK and the world, and have spoken in favour of keeping Scotland within the United Kingdom.

24 Sep, 2014

UN climate change speech

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Obama tells the UN that no nation is immune from the Climate Change. He asks for cooperative change among nations.

We cannot condemn our children and their children to a future that is beyond their capacity to repair.

Obama at the UN: No Nation Is Immune From Climate Change

30 Sep, 2014

Bilateral talks

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Modi meets with Obama at the White House for a bilateral discussion. The two democratic countries have been trying to rekindle a bilateral relationship that had been flagging. Obama:

We … reaffirmed that as two of the world’s largest democracies that we have so much in common it is critical for us to continue to deepen and broaden the existing framework of partnership and friendship that already exists.

The talk made no mention between differences in policy with Ukraine and Iran, nor any indications on how to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Economics was the theme of the talk. Modi:

The President and I spoke about many of our common economic strategies.

However, there were no indications of reforming a tax law that has made investors reluctant to invest in India, and no mention of India’s refusal to honor a new World Trade Organization pact unless the organization addresses Delhi’s issues with food security.

5 Oct, 2014

War Powers Dispute

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Senator Tim Kaine continues to put pressure on President Obama’s authority to wage war on ISIS forces. Kaine has been battling the President on his unilateral decision to fight ISIS since June, and a “spirited discussion” between Kaine and Obama confirms the dispute is ongoing.

I could not disagree more. You don’t ask people to sacrifice their lives until the nation has debated and committed to the mission. It’s immoral.

7 Oct, 2014

Leon Panetta interview

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In an interview with Charlie Rose, Panetta criticizes the President for not making earlier strides to fight Syria and act upon intelligence to thwart the ISIS threat.

Too often, in my view, the president relies on the logic of a law professor rather than the passion of a leader.

8 Oct, 2014

Party isolates president

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Seeing the president as a liability to their campaigns, Democrats running for office this Fall choose to isolate President Obama. While the President spoke at fundraising events in Manhattan and plans to attend a backyard gala at the home of Gwyneth Paltrow, he will not receive invitations from Democratic senators like Mark Pryor in Arkansas. He’s been spurned by congressmen in Colorado, North Carolina, and Virginia where he had considerable wins during both presidential elections in 2008 and 2012. The democratic Senate nominee in Iowa does not want him to speak at party events. Senior aide to the President Dan Pfeiffer explains:

Every campaign has got to figure out — and this is true in this election, and it’s going to be true for every election going forward for Democrats for as far as the eye can see — is which Democrats are only going to be able to win if they turn out enough of the Obama coalition, whether we’re in a midterm or a presidential …. And the campaigns and the candidates are working through how best to go about doing that.

9 Oct, 2014

Gushes over Obama

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Paltrow hosts a Democratic fund raiser with Barack Obama as the guest of honor at her home in Brentwood. Paltrow gushes as she introduces Obama:

I am one of your biggest fans, if not the biggest. You’re so handsome that I can’t speak properly.

Hosts Democratic fundraiser

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Paltrow hosts a fundraiser for President Obama in the backyard of her Brentwood mansion. After congratulating the president for endorsing equal pay for women, an issue she said is “very important to me as a working mother,” she compliments the President:

You’re so handsome that I can’t speak properly …

15 Oct, 2014

Cancels fundraising trip

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Obama cancels a trip to raise funds for Democrats before the November elections. White House:

The President’s travel today to New Jersey and Connecticut has been postponed. Later this afternoon, the President will convene a meeting with cabinet agencies coordinating the government’s Ebola response.

Confident serious outbreak can be prevented

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A White House pool report says Obama stated that the administration is confident of preventing a serious outbreak. He added that he has met, hugged, and even kissed healthcare workers at Emory who have treated Ebola patients. Obama:

We are going to have to make sure that we do not lose sight of the importance of the international response to what is taking place. I’m confident that we can prevent a serious outbreak of the disease here in the U.S.

17 Oct, 2014

Obama shows frustration

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President Obama is reported to show frustration in private meetings about the Ebola response, as medical officials have given information that later turned out to be wrong, guidance to local health teams has been inadequate, and it’s unclear which patients belong in which threat categories. Obama:

It’s not tight.

Axelrod:

Part of the challenge is to be assertive, to be in command, and yet not feed a kind of panic that could easily evolve here. It’s not enough to doggedly and persistently push for answers in meetings. You have to be seen doggedly and persistently pushing for answers.

People familiar with the situation say the President has placed a lot of blame on the CDC for the inadequate response. They say that a ‘business-as-usual’ attitude that persisted after Duncan’s case changed abruptly when Vinson was infected. Aide:

This Frontier thing took it out of the abstract thing and to this level where people could identify with and made them scared

They say the White House has begun to return to normal with the appointment of Klain to head the response to the virus.