Obama Declares Coup "Not Legal" Amid Uncertainty

Obama Declares Coup "Not Legal" Amid Uncertainty

rinf.com

Capping a day of mixed signals, U.S. President Barack Obama said late Monday that he considered Sunday’s ouster and exile of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya to be “not legal” and that Washington still considered him the legitimate president of the Central American country.

Speaking at a very brief press appearance with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, Obama referred to Sunday’s events as a “coup” and warned that, if permitted to stand, it would constitute a “terrible precedent” for region

(visit the link for the full news article)

Obama has no business speaking about countries that he otherwise would not care to speak of. ok a coup happened in Honduras, so what, who is Obama to term it illegal, and if after the coup, if the President of Honduras cannot function as the President, then who cares if the coup was legal or not. That guy is out, and nothing can change that

While most countries in the reigon have commented on the coup, this is the best comment I have seen on that.

rinf.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Why is he sticking his nose into Honduras' business? Is he doing this to support his buddies in Venezuela and Cuba who are backing the ousted President?

reply to post by sunny_2008ny


Obama was stating an opinion.

Under U.S. law, no aid can be disbursed to any country “whose elected head of government has been deposed by military coup or decree”.

“We are withholding any formal legal determination,” Clinton told a press briefing here.

Just his opinion. And as it stands under US law we won't help a country who's military overthrows a democratically elected head of state.

Originally posted by sunny_2008ny
Obama has no business speaking about countries that he otherwise would not care to speak of. ok a coup happened in Honduras, so what, who is Obama to term it illegal,

it basically just means that the US, and obama as leader of the US, does not recognise the new military leadership of honduras as a legitimate government. it means the US will not do diplomatic business with them.

it's obamas job to comment on this.

It's not his job to comment



THIS however is much better

The United States has a history of backing rival political factions and instigating coups in the region, and administration officials have found themselves on the defensive in recent days, dismissing repeated allegations by President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela that the C.I.A. may have had a hand in the president’s removal.

www.nytimes.com...

[edit on 30-6-2009 by ModernAcademia]

reply to post by ModernAcademia


When it comes to our tax dollars and foreign aid it most certainly is his job to comment. If we believe (look at that, an opinion) that a government has been overthrown illegally by it's military we have no obligation to help them financially.

Originally posted by whatukno
Obama was stating an opinion. Just his opinion.

It may be his opinion but the POTUS doesn't 'just state' his opinion.
When the POTUS speaks, everyone on the planet considers that to be
parroting US position .. or setting it.

He may have his personal opinion but when it comes to international situations, he needs to keep it to himself.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Ok so your of the opinion that we should still send federal aid to a country that may have been overthrown by it's military? So it's ok to send tax dollars to countries that may have ousted their democratically elected head of state?

So hundreds of peole were being beaten and killed in Iran in order to fight for freedom... and Obama says nothing for days and finally says: "We're watching...."

Meanwhile in Honduras, a coup takes place and suddenly he's all over this? I don't get it -- why support Honduras? Further, it's Latin America that has an entire group set-up just to prevent "US influence".

Obama's reactions just don't seem proportionate, imo.

edit to add: In my opinion he should just keep his mouth shut in both cases, but since he hasn't I'm commenting based on what he's said.

[edit on 30-6-2009 by lpowell0627]

reply to post by whatukno

it did get sent to pakistan, although i see your point. i don't think it's so much an issue of "military takeover" as such, it's "military takeover of governments we like".

reply to post by ModernAcademia


the world has changed a tad since george washingtons day, stuff like mass transit and communication make his opinion on foreign relations as dated as his fashion sense.

it is the job of the POTUS to comment on violent regime change anywhere in the world. it is the job of every head of state to comment on violent regime change anywhere in the world.


[edit on 30/6/09 by pieman]

reply to post by pieman

]it did get sent to pakistan, although i see your point. i don't think it's so much an issue of "military takeover" as such, it's "military takeover of governments we like".

Exactly my point. So it is important for the prez to state his opinion especially when it comes to our tax dollars going to a foreign country. I would hope our prez would have an opinion on somewhere that our money may be going to.

But no apparently because it's Obama, everything uttered, everything done, everything he touches must be evil just based on the fact that he is a Democrat.

reply to post by whatukno


Are you serious?

You are defending Obama?????

Long list of Czars to bypass congress
Buying companies and having stimilus packages so Govt. is creating majority of jobs.
Youth brigades and mandatory services.
Huge attack on personal liberties from DHS under his watch
Bailout out buddies and making bankers super rich
Calling domestic dissidents terroists but supporting foreign dissidents?

And you are defending him?

[edit on 30-6-2009 by ModernAcademia]

reply to post by whatukno


meh, they're just blowing off steam, imagine how frustrating it must have been to try defend bush and his actions for 8 years!!! the way they look at it is that they only have 4 years to make obama look worse than whoever they decide to put up, they had better come out all guns blazing.

except modern academia, i think he just hates americans.

[edit on 30/6/09 by pieman]

[edit on 30/6/09 by pieman]

This was hardly a 'violent' regime change. In fact no one was killed. They simply put the former President of Hondurus on a plane to Costa Rica and said don't come back.

What was illegal was the former President of Hondurus not abiding by a Hondurun Supreme Court Ruling days before clearly stating it was against the Constitution of the Country for the President to include a Non-Binding Ballot resolution on midterm election Ballots to gauge support for creating an amendment to the Constitution of Hondurus allowing the President to have more than one term in the office of President. The Honduran Constitution only allows for one term only for the President.

Even after the Supreme Court of Hondurus ruled that the President could not put it to the people of the nation as a Non-Binding Referendum on the Ballots he went ahead and had it put on the Ballots anyway.

The Ballots which were to be distributed on Monday were rounded up along with the now former President and all put on a one way plane to Costa Rica which by the way has more species of flora and fauna than any other country in the world a first class symphony and opera and no standing army, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans easily accessed in one days driving and Volcanoes and sent him there where he can be President for life in his own mind in a very nice place, instead of trying to set himself up for President for Life in Hondurus like Castro has done in Cuba, Chavez is doing in Venezualla and people like Saddam Hussein were in Iraq.

Not a shot was fired, no one was hurt or killed, most of all the Honduran Constitution which unlike our Supreme Court and our Constitution, the Hondurans evidently take their Supreme Court and Constitution very seriously. I bet they wouldn't shy away from making an elected President show his birthcertificate.

The Honduran people did the right thing, they got rid of a would be dictator who himself was acting illegally.

Poor Obama has to be seeing the writing on the wall long about now. The Honduran President removed, the people in Iran rioting over election results, it just isn't a good time to be an unpopular President in the world Mr. Soreto, if I were you I would straighten up and take notice and fly straight!

Originally posted by Ferris.Bueller.II
Why is he sticking his nose into Honduras' business? Is he doing this to support his buddies in Venezuela and Cuba who are backing the ousted President?

He is becoming very "transparent" now, isn't he?

reply to post by whatukno


No. I'm of the opinion that we shouldn't be sending foreign aid to ANYONE.
What I'm saying is that Obama has to be very careful about stating his opinion.
When the POTUS (ANY POTUS) states his or her 'opinion' it sets events in motion.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


It's funny, this issue is not on your list. I was defending this issue. Not any of the issues you just wrote down.

I make my opinion on a BS by BS basis. When an issue comes along I look at the prez and say to myself. On this issue do I agree with the president's BS or do I not?

If I agree with the president's BS than I will defend him. If I disagree with his BS I won't.

When it comes to the president's policies, you have to examine every turd.

Originally posted by ProtoplasmicTraveler
The Ballots which were to be distributed on Monday were rounded up along with the now former President and all put on a one way plane to Costa Rica which by the way has more species of flora and fauna than any other country in the world a first class symphony and opera and no standing army, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans easily accessed in one days driving and Volcanoes

one of the funniest posts i've seen in a long time. thanks for the info and the laugh.

it does seem strange that obama would call the coup illegal under the circumstances, i'll keep an eye on how this develops i think.

reply to post by lpowell0627

So hundreds of peole were being beaten and killed in Iran in order to fight for freedom... and Obama says nothing for days and finally says: "We're watching...."

Exactly read this.

canadafreepress.com...

Meet Barack Obama, the man who was going to bring an end to the American coercion of other countries. No more would the White House tell the rest of the world what to do. Except of course to dictate where Jews can live in Israel, how the Honduran judiciary can operate and who can head the Muslim community in Greece.

Of course Obama has drawn the line somewhere. He has drawn the line against standing up to Ahmadinejad, Chavez or any Socialist or Muslim tyrant. Instead Obama has browbeaten America’s democratic allies, in support of Muslim and Socialist tyrannies. You can read that as Obama putting his own political and religious loyalties ahead of America’s interests. Or you can read it as the act of a craven coward who hopes to sacrifice America’s remaining allies in order to win over America’s enemies.

When the Iranian youth came out to protest against Ahmadinejad, Obama mumbled and fumbled for something to say. He dragged it out long enough to send a loud and clear message to the Iranian regime, that America would not interfere no matter what they did. And the regime got the message. Obama cannot be held completely responsible for the ruthless crackdown that has followed, but some of the blood is certainly on his well manicured hands and sleeves.

As the supposedly most cyber-aware fellow in the White House, Obama could have followed up on the British effort to provide social networking access to Iranian protesters, or on the one proposed by Senator John McCain, the man the media lambasted as tech-illiterate and out of touch. He could have imposed sanctions on Nokia for aiding in the repression of political dissidents and compelled them to make the plans for the technology they sold to Iran, public.

Harnessing America’s status as a world power and his own supposed global goodwill, Obama could have organized an international diplomatic response to the crackdown. He could have made any nuclear negotiations contingent on the treatment of the protesters. He could have done a dozen things, but aside from making a series of fumbling statements when his inaction became humiliating even for his own party, Barack Hussein Obama did nothing. Behold the man. Behold the coward.
By contrast when Honduras’ legislature and supreme court acted to remove President Manuel Zelaya, a close ally of Chavez, who had fired the head of the army and attempted to stage a coup by violating the Constitution, Obama and his people have been working around the clock to restore Zelaya to power, even while stating that they want the whole thing to be “free from external influence and interference” (the hypocrisy on that line alone is almost enough to choke even Chavez himself). The question is why?

But of course it’s not that difficult of a question. Not when you think like a coward. Not when you think like Obama.

Why wouldn’t Obama panic at the sight of a Congress and Supreme Court removing a left wing Socialist President who violated the Constitution in pushing to make himself el-presidente for life, by violating term limits. Let alone the military dumping said President across border.

Obama no doubt has nightmares of waking up on a C-31 transport to Kenya, after enough of his wrongdoing leads him to being booted out of the White House by what remains of the American legislative and judicial infrastructure.