Barack Obama

Obama On Qaddafi: 'The Dark Shadow Of Tyranny' Has Lifted

Susan Crabtree | October 20, 2011, 3:27PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama took a moment to herald the death of longtime Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi and mark a turning point for the Libyan people, their relentless pursuit of freedom and their country's democratic future.

Speaking in a live address from the White House Rose Garden Thursday afternoon, Obama welcomed the lifting of "the dark shadow of tyranny" from Libya.

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Rick Santorum

We Found Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Rick Santorum's Greatest Foreign Policy Hits

Evan McMorris-Santoro and Jillian Rayfield | April 28, 2011, 8:47AM

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)

Rick Santorum is serious about foreign policy. On Thursday, he'll give a major address on the topic, taking his presidential almost-campaign away from its focus on social issues and inadvertent gay poet endorsements for a moment, to turn his gaze to the wider world.

"Not only was I in the Senate for 12 years, but I was very, very active in national security issues and actually took the lead on a lot of national security issues, particularly focused on the Middle East, which is not just the hot spot now but an ongoing hot spot," Santorum, who also chaired the Armed Services Committee, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette recently.

And looking back at Santorum's foreign policy past, it's true that he's taken many strong stands...

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Richard Holbrooke

Richard Holbrooke Dead At 69

David Kurtz | December 13, 2010, 9:06PM

Richard Holbrooke

Richard Holbrooke, one of the most prominent U.S. diplomats of his generation, died Monday after a short, sudden illness.

Hospitalized Friday at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., Holbrooke underwent surgery for a ruptured aorta on Saturday and had a followup procedure on Sunday. His condition, as reported by the State Department, had been listed as critical.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Richard Holbrooke, 1941-2010]

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Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell's Quixotic Campaign To Serve On The Foreign Relations Committee

Brian Beutler | October 21, 2010, 4:03PM

Christine O'Donnell

Christine O'Donnell has made no secret of her desire to serve, if elected, on the prestigious Senate Foreign Relations Committee. So eager is she for the position that she discusses it as if it were fait accompli.

In a debate last night with her opponent Chris Coons, O'Donnell was unable to name a single Senate Democrat she could work constructively with -- but did describe her future professional relationship with the Secretary of State.

"Hillary Clinton is someone that I look forward to working with," O'Donnell said. "As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee in the U.S. Senate I will have direct conversations with her about where we should be taking our foreign policy and I look forward to that."

Asked earlier this month on Fox News whether she believes Iran will develop nuclear weapons, O'Donnell demurred, "You know, I don't know, I don't have access to the intelligence information that would help make that decision. Perhaps as a U.S. senator sitting on the Foreign Relations Committee, I will. That's one, I would love that."

And, semi-related, in 2006 O'Donnell claimed that she already had access to classified information on the secret Chinese plot to take over the United States.

Even if she wins, though, her ascension is anything but guaranteed. When it comes to a committee slot, O'Donnell will face more obstacles than just winning in November.

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Barack Obama

Obama: 'The American Combat Mission In Iraq Has Ended'

David Kurtz | August 31, 2010, 8:02PM

President Barack Obama

The White House provided a copy of the text of President Barack Obama's August 31, 2010, Oval Office address on Iraq, as prepared for delivery:

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Foreign policy

John Bolton Says Obama Sending Signal Of Weakness In Afghanistan (VIDEO)

Christina Bellantoni | February 23, 2010, 9:14AM

Fmr. UN Amb. John Bolton

Former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton told TPMDC in an interview he isn't sure President Obama is fully committed to a strategy in Afghanistan that would destroy the Taliban.

During an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference Friday Bolton said he thinks Obama is "more concerned with beginning a process of withdrawal in the summer of 2011."

"I fear that's an example of sending at best, a mixed, or more likely, a signal of weakness that our adversaries interpret to our detriment," Bolton said.

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