The 300

[MG1968]

No, not the movie about the 300 Spartans who bloodied the nose of Xerxes army at Thermopylae, but Obama's team of foreign policy advisers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/us...hp&oref=slogin

a tight-knit group of aides supported by a huge 300-person foreign policy campaign bureaucracy, organized like a mini State Department, to assist a candidate whose limited national security experience remains a concern to many voters.

“It is unwieldy, no question,” said Denis McDonough, 38, Mr. Obama’s top foreign policy aide, speaking of an infrastructure that has been divided into 20 teams based on regions and issues, and that has recently absorbed, with some tensions, the top foreign policy advisers from Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign. “But an administration is unwieldy, too. We also know that it’s messier when you don’t get as much information as you can.”

I suppose if John McCain had 300 economic advisers, it would have been bigger news, although you don't need 300 people to explain the Laffer Curve or that socializing health care would wreck the US economy.

I might not have a problem with Obama's team if it included some actual foreign policy heavyweights, but most of them are Clinton era officials who gave us things like the USS Cole bombing and an almost nuclear North Korea.

[MontereyVol]

almost nuclear North Korea?

[MG1968]

by all accounts, N. Korea's nuclear weapon's test was something of a dismal failure and they've recently dismantled their facility capable of enriching uranium.

[oklavol]

Too many cooks in the kitchen...........you know the story.

[vader]

This is CHANGE!!!

[MontereyVol]

MG, Don't kid yourself.

[MG1968]

Originally Posted by MontereyVol

MG, Don't kid yourself.

about what?

I'm a pretty smart guy, but reading someone's mind is beyond even my substantial abilities.

[vader]

Originally Posted by MG1968

about what?

I'm a pretty smart guy, but reading someone's mind is beyond even my substantial abilities.

The viability of N. Korea's nuclear program?

[MG1968]

I'd say you're right, vader, but Monterey isn't really clear. I don't trust commies as far as I can throw them, and Kim Jong Il is probably trying something sneaky, but is probably too inept to do anything effective.

Monterey could also be intimating that Clinton/Albright gave N. Korea far more technology than we realize.

[MontereyVol]

North Korea is a nuclear weaponized country by every definition.

[MontereyVol]

Originally Posted by MG1968

I'd say you're right, vader, but Monterey isn't really clear. I don't trust commies as far as I can throw them, and Kim Jong Il is probably trying something sneaky, but is probably too inept to do anything effective.

for a minute there, I thought you were calling me a commie!

Kim Jong Il is even more dangerous as a lunatic than people give him credit for. His countries failure is in its missile's not its nuclear capability.

[vader]

Originally Posted by MontereyVol

for a minute there, I thought you were calling me a commie!

me too

[MG1968]

still don't know if N Korea can be considered a "nuclear power" in the same way that Pakistan can be. We only know of the one test in 2006 and it's yield was less than a kiloton.

we're getting sidetracked though. Am I the only person who thinks Obama's 300 foreign policy advisers is a little bit of overkill?

[MontereyVol]

Originally Posted by MG1968

we're getting sidetracked though. Am I the only person who thinks Obama's 300 foreign policy advisers is a little bit of overkill?

I agree, but hey, all those empty seats on a private airplane why not fill them?

[MontereyVol]

Forgot, that wasnt in the original article but I think he is taking most of them with him on his trip.