Published: Tuesday, Nov 9, 2010, 8:30 IST
Place: New Delhi | Agency: Reuters
US President Barack Obama finally heads to Jakarta on Tuesday for a visit during which he will seek to boost US security and trade ties with Indonesia, and also reach out to the larger Islamic world. (What exactly is the "Islamic" world?! Is it the same "world" as peoples from all nations/countries? If so, what exactly is Obama doing appointing himself the world's apologist for Islam? Surely the President can find more pressing work here in the United States, instead of spending close to a billion dollars in outreach to Muslims! Time to come home, Mr. President, and reach out to Americans!)
His visit to a country where he spent four years of his childhood comes after two previously scheduled trips were put off because of problems at home -- in March as he fought to pass his healthcare overhaul law and in June as he faced the cleanup of the massive BP oil spill.
The delays disappointed and angered some Indonesians, and even this visit had been in some doubt because of concerns about volcanic ash from repeated eruptions of Mount Merapi volcano.Indonesia is important destination for Obama for a variety of strategic and personal reasons, aides said. Its importance as a US ally is on the rise, even if the joy over Obama's election has faded since he became president almost two years ago.
Indonesia is an emerging economy, a democracy, a member of the G20 and the world's most populous Muslim country.
"We see in Indonesia the intersection of a lot of key American interests, and we see this as a partnership that is very important to the future of American interests in Asia and the world," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security advisor for strategic communications.
Jakarta is the second stop on Obama's 10-day four-nation Asian tour. He has spent three days in India, where his emphasis was on developing business links that could lead to US jobs, and later will visit South Korea, where he attends a G20 summit and Yokohama, Japan, for an Asia-Pacific economic meeting.(Wrong again! The US jobs referred to here are jobs pre-determined by US businessmen/corporations long before this trip of Obama's. Americans by the THOUSANDS are without jobs, our economy is the worse ever in the history of the US and don't kid Americans about this trip as a way to develop prospect for "exporting" American goods, since Americans barely create or make quality goods, as the major corporations have out-sourced jobs to Asian countries, plus Mexico! Can you hear me now? Telemarketing, phone companies, G.E. Walmart, etc. Obama could have stayed home and saved American taxpayers close to a BILLION DOLLARS).
Obama and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono are expected to sign a "Comprehensive Partnership" they agreed to a year ago.
The pact covers security, economic and people-to-people issues, said Jeffrey Bader, Obama's top Asian adviser. Obama, who plans to return to Indonesia in 2011 for an Asian summit, is also expected to discuss plans for Yudhoyono to visit the United States.
The United States exports only about $6 billion worth of goods to Indonesia each year, making it America's 37th largest market, according to the US Chamber of Commerce.(Wow! Exactly what I've talked about earlier ... we export barely NOTHING, while lead painted toys from China are allowed to be placed on the shelves of America's department stores. Instead of "MADE IN AMERICA", even in our finest shops, we read on the labels 'MADE IN ... (CHOOSE YOUR COUNTRY, AS LONG AS IT IS NOT THE USA!)
Obama will also use his short stay to reach out to the Muslim world. He will visit the Istiqlal Mosque, one of the world's largest, and make a major outdoor speech that aides said is expected to draw large crowds.(Ah ha! Here it comes ... the old "promote Islam" propaganda, at the expense of the United States security. I have to hand it to Obama, he is like that mechanical bunny, just keeps going and going ... doesn't see the forest for the trees! I thought we just told Obama in last week's elections, we are not accepting your ideology, or Islamic-love fest! Islam, Mr. President, is NOT in harmony with America or its Constitution!)First lady Michelle Obama, who accompanied Obama to India, is also making the trip to Indonesia before returning to the United States.
Obama still enjoys strong support in Indonesia, even as confidence in him has dropped in other Muslim states since he made a major speech in Cairo in June 2009. The long US wars in Muslim nations Afghanistan and Iraq have soured have lost him support among Muslims, and there has been little movement on peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which has also sapped his support. (And why do you suppose Islam does not support America? (Could it be because, according to Islam, America is a democracy, like Israel and that Islam refers to the United States as "Big Satan, and Israel, as "Little Satan"? If talks of peace in the Middle East are slow to nil, perhaps the Muslims can explain their reasons for not progressing in these negotiations - could it be that they simply lack the will to lay down their weapons, or because conquering the world is the goal of every Muslim? The wars mentioned are wars which began AFTER Islam attacked the United States on September 11th),
