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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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9 Nov, 2010

Visits Indonesia

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Barack-Obama-and-Michelle-006President Obama arrives in Jakarta on a brief trip to Indonesia, where he lived for four years as a child.

Obviously, much has been made of the fact that this marks my return to where I lived as a young boy. I will tell you, though, that I barely recognised it as I was driving down the streets. The only thing that was there when I first moved to Jakarta was Serena [a shopping mall]; now it’s one of the shorter buildings on the road.

15 Feb, 2012

Obama, Walker meet

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Walker greets Obama on the Milwaukee airport tarmac and presents him with a Milwaukee Brewer’s baseball jersey that has Obama’s name and the number 1 written on the back. Obama is visiting the Master Lock Company to highlight the Midwest’s manufacturing sector. Obama:

What’s happening in Detroit can happen in other industries.

Walker:

The bottom line is we’re one of the biggest, most dependent on manufacturing of any state in the country. We appreciate the fact that the president’s focusing on manufacturing.

29 May, 2013

Obama welcomes Chafee

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Upon hearing that Chafee plans to affiliate with Democrats for his 2014 gubernatorial re-election run, Obama issues a statement through the Democratic National Committee.

I’m delighted to hear that Governor Chafee is joining the Democratic Party. For nearly 30 years, Linc Chafee has served his beloved Rhode Island as an independent thinker and leader who’s unafraid to reach across party lines to get things done. I enjoyed working with Linc when he was a Republican in the United States Senate, and I look forward to continuing that collaboration on the issues that matter not just to the Democratic Party, but to every American.

White House Press Secretary Carney tells reporters at the daily press briefing.

The president welcomes Governor Chafee to the party. Governor Chafee’s been a longtime supporter of President Obama, and – not as a party member, but as a supporter of the president and his policies both – but I don’t have any other response.

28 Jun, 2014

Will keep acting alone

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In his weekly radio address, President Obams says he will continue to act on his own as long as Republicans continue to block his economic agenda.  Obama says that he has taken actions to attract jobs, raise wages and assist people with paying students loans.  He says if trying to help people upsets the Republicans in Congress then they should join him so they can work together.

12 Aug, 2014

Iraq statement

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From outside his vacation house in Chilmark, MA, Obama gives a statement (full text) on the latest developments in Iraq. He states that US forces have:

successfully conducted targeted airstrikes to prevent terrorist forces from advancing on the city of Erbil, and to protect American civilians there.

He also addressed the humanitarian efforts to help citizens that are stranded on Mount Sinjar without food or water and noted that the US has deployed a USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team to assst:

Some people have begun to escape their perch on that mountain, and we’re working with international partners to develop options to bring them to safety.

19 Aug, 2014

Reacts to James Foley’s murder

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Obama tells reporters on Martha’s Vineyard that “the entire world is appalled” by Foley’s murder:

No just God would stand for what they did yesterday or every single day,” he said. “A group like ISIL has no place in the 21st century…They have rampaged across cities and villages killing innocent, unarmed civilians in cowardly acts of violence. They abduct women and children and subject them to torture and rape and slavery. There has to be a common effort to extract this cancer so that it doesn’t spread.

His full remarks can be seen here

27 Aug, 2014

‘Interventionism created ISIS’

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Paul criticizes Clinton’s foreign policy in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, saying that interventionism led to the rise of ISIS:

To interventionists like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, we would caution that arming the Islamic rebels in Syria created a haven for the Islamic State. We are lucky Mrs. Clinton didn’t get her way and the Obama administration did not bring about regime change in Syria. That new regime might well be ISIS.

He adds:

[…] Those who say we should have done more to arm the Syrian rebel groups have it backward. This is not to say the U.S. should ally with Assad. But we should recognize how regime change in Syria could have helped and emboldened the Islamic State, and recognize that those now calling for war against ISIS are still calling for arms to factions allied with ISIS in the Syrian civil war.

28 Aug, 2014

‘We don’t have a strategy yet’

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Obama says that his administration hasn’t yet developed a strategy to combat ISIS, as speculation mounts that the U.S. will bomb ISIS in Syria. To reporters:

I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. We don’t have a strategy yet. I think what I’ve seen in some of the news reports suggests that folks are getting a little further ahead of where we’re at than we currently are.

‘Iraqis responsible for their own security’

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Obama says that any security gains made by the U.S. against groups like ISIS will be temporary, and that lasting improvements to the situation will need to be domestic:

The idea that the United States or any outside power would perpetually defeat Isis, I think, is unrealistic. We can rout Isis on the ground and keep a lid on things temporarily, but then as soon as we leave, the same problems come back again. We’ve got to make sure Iraqis understand that in the end they are responsible for their own security.

3 Sep, 2014

US will ‘degrade and destroy’ ISIS militants

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At a news conference in Estonia, Obama promises to “degrade and destroy” ISIS, the group responsible for beheading a second America journalist, Steven Sotloff.

We will not be intimidated. Those who make the mistake of harming Americans will learn that we will not forget and that our reach is long and that justice will be served.

He also vows that the U.S. would continue to lead the battle against “the kind of barbaric and empty vision that [ISIS] represents.”

5 Sep, 2014

Rubio: Congress doesn’t need to OK airstrikes

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Sen. Rubio (R-Fla.) says Obama does not need authorization from Congress to launch airstrikes in Syria, and should act immediately against ISIS. In a letter to Obama:

Just as the U.S. has conducted operations against terrorists elsewhere, there is no legal reason preventing you from targeting ISIL in Syria

10 Sep, 2014

‘Has the authority to act against ISIS’

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The Obama administration says he will ask Congress to quickly authorize training and arming Syrian opposition forces in his prime-time speech on his anti-ISIS strategy due Wednesday night in Washington. The President will push forward on other areas of the anti-ISIS strategy without formal approval from lawmakers, potentially including widening airstrikes in Iraq and possibly expanding the air campaign to Syria. Following an hour-long meeting with congressional leaders, the White House says Obama told them he ‘has the authority he needs to take action,’ but will still welcome action from action from Congress that would…

…aid the overall effort and demonstrate to the world that the United States is united in defeating the threat.

11 Sep, 2014

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.

18 Mar, 2015

Obama reacts to Netanyahu’s statement

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President Obama states he will re-evaluate the relationship the U.S. has with Israel in light of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statement that he will never allow a two-state solution. Press Secretary:

The United States will re-evaluate our approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It has been the longstanding policy of the United States that a two-state solution is the best way to address this conflict. The president still holds that view. [Netanyahu’s statement] undermines the values of democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an important part of what binds the United States and Israel together.

2 Apr, 2015

‘It is a good deal’

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Obama claims that the framework agreement with Iran over nuclear issue is a ‘good deal’ and would prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

I am convinced that if this framework leads to a final deal, it will make our country and the world safer. [The deal would] cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon.

Obama On Iran Nuclear Deal - Full Speech

11 Apr, 2015

Clinton ‘would be an excellent president’

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During a press conference in Panama at the Summit of the Americas, Obama talks about Clinton as next President:

She was a formidable candidate in 2008, she was a great supporter of mine in the general election, she was an outstanding secretary of state, she is my friend, I think she would be an excellent president.

Asked whether he hopes she campaigns on his record:

I’m not on the ballot. So I’m not going to step on her lines. When she makes a decision to announce, I’m confident that she will be very clear about her vision for the country.

14 Apr, 2015

Wants Cuba terror list removal

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Obama recommends that US government reverse its long-standing policy designating Cuba a state sponsor of international terrorism. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest:

As the President has said, we will continue to have differences with the Cuban government, but our concerns over a wide range of Cuba’s policies and actions fall outside the criteria that is relevant to whether to rescind Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism…That determination is based on the statutory standard – and the facts – and those facts have led the President to declare his intention to rescind Cuba’s State Sponsor of Terrorism designation.

28 Apr, 2015

Condemns violence

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Obama condemns the violence in Baltimore and expressed condolences to the family of Gray.

There is no excuse for the kind of violence we saw yesterday. It is counter-productive…People are stealing and damaging their own communities and that is no statement on police brutality or any other kind of issue.

Obama remarks on violent unrest in Baltimore