On Wednesday [07-23-08], Obama spoke at a press conference in Sderot, Israel, near the Gaza border, after meeting with several high-ranking Israeli officials, including President Shimon Peres. The city has been a frequent target of rocket attacks from Hamas terror operatives in Gaza.
Shards of rockets were in stacks behind Obama as a reminder of ongoing attacks.
Obama defended his proposal to negotiate with Iran and said he would use "big sticks and big carrots" to persuade the country’s leaders not to develop nuclear weapons.
"My whole goal in terms of having tough, serious direct diplomacy is not because I’m naive about the nature of any of these regimes. I’m not," Obama said at a press conference. "It is because if we show ourselves willing to talk and to offer carrots and sticks in order to deal with these pressing problems, and if Iran then rejects any overtures of that sort, it puts us in a stronger position to mobilize the international community to ratchet up the pressure on Iran."
The campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain quickly responded that Obama was backtracking on his expressed willingness to meet with Iran’s leaders "without preconditions."
A year ago, Obama was asked whether he would meet personally, without preconditions, with leaders of Iran and other hostile nations during the first year of his administration to resolve differences with the United States. Obama responded at the time: "I would."
"I think that what I said in response was that I would at my time and choosing be willing to meet with any leader if I thought it would promote the national security interests of the United States of America. And that continues to be my position. That if I think that I can get a deal that is going to advance our cause, then I would consider that opportunity. But what I also said was that there is a difference between meeting without preconditions and meeting without preparation," Obama said.
Additional reporting by Fox News
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In Israel, Obama Flip-Flops on Iran (...Again)—Video
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