Obama Arrives in Jordan - Will Address Press at 10am EDT
Senators Obama, Hagel, and Reed have landed in Jordan following their Congressional Delegation trip to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. All three will hold a media avail on the top of the Amman Citadel in front of a sweeping vista overlooking West Amman, a part of town where homes are built on top of each other into the sides of great hills.
Read the pool report of the candidate’s arrival:
Security was tight at the Marka airport, a military base in Amman where the party arrived; uniformed soldiers lined the runway at regular intervals. Four V-22s, painted desert grey with Marine insignia, began taxiing in at 2:15. The first two disgorged about two dozen armed Marines and a couple of civilians. Obama and Sen. Jack Reed emerged from the third at 2:22. Sen. Chuck Hagel was aboard the fourth.
Obama was wearing khakis, heavy duty brown hiking boots, a slightly wrinkled blue oxford shirt. He carried a black helmet and what appeared to be body armor. His orange ear plugs remained in place as he walked across the tarmac, enabling him to ignore the plaintive cries of “Senator, senator!” from your sunbaked pool.
Braving it out on the hot tarmac in black dress suits to greet Obama: Dan Rubinstein, the deputy chief of mission from the U.S. embassy in Amman, and Scott Gration, a retired 4-star Army general who is advising the senator’s campaign. The senator and the general exchanged bear hugs.
Obama and Reed entered the airport terminal building briefly, followed by Hagel, who seemed to be greeting some acquaintances on the runway. Your pool made extreme efforts to entice the Nebraskan our way and he looked briefly tempted but kept the encounter to a wave and a “We’ll see you later.”
Big smiles all around. The senators looked very happy to be here.
A few minutes later, all three emerged from the terminal and boarded the motorcade. Obama got into one Suburban; Hagel and Reed jumped in another.
It may have been an indication of the handoff that was taking place. Up until his arrival in Amman, Obama was travelling on an official congressional delegation. Your pool went first to the U.S. embassy to pick up our escort to Marka — standard procedure, we were told, for an arriving lawmakers.
For Obama, it now becomes an, um, non-campaign trip: Waiting for him in the shade of the terminal were Denis McDonough, one of his campaign foreign policy advisers, and communications czar Robert Gibbs.
A little pre-arrival color:
While waiting to depart the hotel this morning, your pool met Jacqueline Taylor Basker, an American who was waiting to get information about Obama’s Amman appearance from his staff.
Taylor Basker, who was wearing an Obama button, said she created a group called “American Ex-Pats in Jordan for Obama.” She said the group has about 30 members and meets monthly “at an internet café where Americans hang out.” Members are working to register Americans living here to vote. According to Taylor Basker, there are about 100,000 eligible voters in Jordan.
Amman is an Obama stronghold, according to Taylor Basker. Other than one student at the computer graphics class she teaches, she expects most of the ex-pat community to vote for him. “Everyone here is for Obama,” says Taylor Basker. But she added: “All of us were upset about his speech at AIPAC.” Taylor Basker said some of her concerns were eased by Obama’s clarifying remarks afterwards. “The need for a two-state Palestinian solution is urgent and he needs to be more balanced in his views,” Taylor Basker said.
Tags: arrival, codel, jordan, obama
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Have you noticed how no matter what
michael from atlanta says it always sounds
like a pre-adolescent temper tantrum?
Why is foxnews promoting racism in America? Of all the stations on public access, Fox is definately the most raciest, I just didn’t know it was also the most racist!!
Blah…blah…..blah…..blah…etc…etc
Who cares!!!
Obama gave a press conference today and was asked about the Israeli Palestinian issues. He responded that Israel was a strong friend of Israels….and repeated that several times. Clearly he meant the America is a strong friend of Israel’s. Does this mean he’s “losing it”? Why are we not hearing anything about his frequent “gaffes”??? Further, he comes across in his assessment of the situation as if he has a new and revolutionary problem solving methodology…ie., a two state region!!! Wow…now that’s new. “Israel needs to FEEL safe and the Palestinian economics need to improve”…..Wow, what have we been doing wrong here??? Why didn’t anyone else think of that? His naivete is stunning.
I think Obama should not be allowed to be in Iraq, And other countries making promises for our country when he is not the president in fact he has no right speaking for us at all at this time. I find his visits abnoxious. And way out of line.
interesting…i have read other articles regarding obama’s visit to the middle east and i have found this article to be the most vague, chopped and difficult to follow.
Feel the luv.
Fox news gives obama lot’s of free press coverage.
GoBama 08
Obama continues to show what a buffoon he is. Um, Um, Um, ah, ah, ah, is all he could manage at his news conference. The only thing he was clear about was when he told the reporters that he would not answer some of their questions because now isn’t the time. In other words, nothing hard until someone writes my responses and puts them on the tele-prompter.
Hey Bonney,
Can you please ask Obama to explain why he consistently undermined U.S. war efforts and predicted and hoped for U.S. failure & loss of American lives in Iraq for his own political gain?
It’s only after his whining and negative spin no longer works that he’s now attempting to suggest that it was “his strategy” that’s led to reduced violence in Iraq and recent U.S. success.
Comment by von
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Why is foxnews promoting racism in America? Of all the stations on public access, Fox is definately the most raciest, I just didn’t know it was also the most racist!!
————–
YOU ARE A RACIST! Fox news is not public access foool!
Why is Obama carry a bag with all of the aides and Secret Service agents who surround him? Photo op?
Why does McCain continually attack Obama while he is overseas? Why don’t McCain just address his own stance and try not to continue to go the negative campaign route ………oh I forgot, he flip-flop on that.
Another daily McCain snafu. Time for McCain nap zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Get ready for more fawning media treatment of Obama by his media comrades, Katie, Charlie and Bry-Guy!
Obama is not WRIGHT for America–let’s start using that slogan, it’s a winner! And check out that hot new website, http://www.notwrightforamerica.com. You’ll love it!
When Obama is in these foreign countries, is he speaking their language? We here, back in United States, don’t want him to embarasse us by not speaking their language.
i think um um um ahahah is a perfect answer that means bo is thinking before he speaks, it is better to um um ahah and thought a fool then say gaffe and prove that you are a fool.
OBAMA! OBAMA! WE ARE THE REASON FOR YOUR SEASON
First McCain said Obama laked foreign experience and tells him to go to Iraq. Now all he does talk that Obama shouldn’t be over there , could McCain just make up his mind!! About language it is of great benefit to know more than one language, this could be French, German, Italian, Spanish, English or any other. It’s called education. We should be proud and happy that people inother countries like Obama, he is one of us, an American. We are tired of the same!!!!!
Comment by Lyriss
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Obama gave a press conference today and was asked about the Israeli Palestinian issues. He responded that Israel was a strong friend of Israels….and repeated that several times. Clearly he meant the America is a strong friend of Israel’s. Does this mean he’s “losing it”? Why are we not hearing anything about his frequent “gaffes”??? Further, he comes across in his assessment of the situation as if he has a new and revolutionary problem solving methodology…ie., a two state region!!! Wow…now that’s new. “Israel needs to FEEL safe and the Palestinian economics need to improve”…..Wow, what have we been doing wrong here??? Why didn’t anyone else think of that? His naivete is stunning.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Lyriss,
If you’re going to post a thread about someone’s gaffes, you might appear more credible if you edit your spelling and grammar.
Thank you for mentioning me and my group in your coverage of Obama’s visit to Amman. Just for the record, the person for McCain is not a student at the American university where I teach (in the Computer Graphics Dept. - I teach art history and studio art). He is a fellow American faculty member, an ex-Marine. However, another ex-Marine friend of mine, a Republican, who has worked in Iraq, is totally for Obama. It is interesting for me to see how Obama seems to be able to unite people from different ends of the political spectrum. Gives one hope!
You know the left liberal media is not going to show his gaffes on TV so we can all see
how he does when he don’t have a prepared speech on a teleapromter. He is a young
Chicago politician (Illinois is the most corrupt political state in the U.S. and that
people is on the record)