Des Moines, Iowa – Democrat Barack Obama cast himself Saturday as the leader the United States needs to stand up to and engage renegade nations such as North Korea.
“We need a president who’ll have the strength and courage to go toe to toe with the leaders of rogue nations, because that’s what it takes to protect our security,” the Illinois senator told Democrats at a rally. “That’s what I’ll do as your next commander in chief.”
Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton have had a running argument since clashing in last week’s debate over how far the U.S. should be willing to go in diplomacy with nations such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.
A viewer asked if the candidates would meet with those nations’ leaders, and Obama said it was a disgrace that the U.S. won’t hold talks. He cited as role models the late Presidents Kennedy and Reagan for their Cold War diplomacy.
Clinton, who has criticized the Bush administration for not engaging Iran and Syria directly, said she would not meet in the first year of her presidency with leaders of those five nations before knowing what their intentions were. After the debate, Clinton called Obama naive.
On Saturday, Obama said he would be willing to meet – without conditions – in the first year of his presidency with the leaders of those nations, contrary to “the chattering class” in the nation’s capital who “want to focus, like they always do, on who’s up and who’s down.”
“I was called irresponsible and naive because I believe that there is nobody we can’t talk to,” said Obama, drawing loud cheers. “We’ve got nothing to fear as long as know who we are and what we stand for and our values.”
