Organizing for America

DEBATE REALITY CHECK: MEETING WITH WORLD LEADERS

FACT: OBAMA SAID HE WOULD BE WILLING TO MEET WITH LEADERS OF HOSTILE NATIONS AS PAST PRESIDENTS HAVE DONE

· Washington Post Fact Check: “McCain Is Distorting History When He Suggests That Barack Obama Is Bucking American Presidential Tradition In Expressing A Willingness To Meet With The Leaders Of Countries Hostile To The United States.” “McCain is distorting history when he suggests that Barack Obama is bucking American presidential tradition in expressing a willingness to meet with the leaders of countries hostile to the United States. Hitler apart, U.S. presidents have held meetings with some of the greatest mass murderers in history. It is also incorrect to suggest, as both McCain and President Bush have done, that the mere willingness to meet or negotiate with foreign dictators constitutes "appeasement," a term used to describe actions such as the surrender of the Czech Sudetenland to Nazi Germany in a desperate bid to avoid World War II.” [Washington Post, 5/21/08 ]

· Five Former Secretaries Of State Agreed That The United States Should Talk To Iran. “Five former secretaries of state, gathering to give their best advice to the next president, agreed Monday that the United States should talk to Iran. The wide-ranging, 90-minute session in a packed auditorium at The George Washington University, produced exceptional unity among Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Warren Christopher, Henry A. Kissinger and James A. Baker III.” [AP, 9/15/08]
· Former Secretary Of State Kissinger Said U.S. Should Talk To Iran “Without Conditions.” “Former U.S.Secretary of State Henry Kissinger today told an audience in Washington, DC that the U.S. should negotiate with Iran "without conditions" and that the next President should begin such negotiations at a high level. The former Nixon and Ford U.S. Secretary of State early in the year indicated his belief that the U.S. should hold direct talks with Iran when speaking to Bloomberg Television.” [ABC News, 9/15/08]
FACT: MCCAIN HAS MET WITH SYRIAN PRESIDENT DESPITE ADMITTING HE WAS SPONSORING TERRORISM

· McCain Had Met With Syrian President Hafez Assad Despite His “Presid[ing] Over A Brutal Regime” And His Engagement “In an Active Program of State Sponsored Terrorism.” In a 1984 McCain wrote an opinion piece that ran in the Arizona Republic about a Middle East trip he took with Senator John Tower. McCain wrote, “Key among the meetings was a 75 minute session with President Hafez Assad of Syria… Assad behaved in a friendly manner throughout our discussion. I had to remind myself during the meeting that this outwardly attractive man presides over a brutal regime, which has perpetrated numerous atrocities – against even the Syrian people – and presently is engaged in an active program of state supported terrorism and intimidation.” [Arizona Republic, 3/4/84]