Good article, thanks.

Few of us remember our childhoods and think about being in as close proximity to war as he spent some of his. He lived in an area that had a military presence and heard stories from his stepfather about being a kid and growing up in a war zone. Learning that someone his age had lived with a fear of death has to have stayed with him. When I learn about trips like this, I suspect that having a sense of what it means to be a child in a war zone or recent war zone carries a lot of weight.

Last edited Wed Sep 7, 2016, 12:20 PM - Edit history (1)

And also I think he went there and took on this work because he thinks this
is the right thing to do. The picture at the link of President Obama looking up
at the prosthetic limbs is haunting and you can see that it hurts him to see
them too.

He really is a good man.

I reread a piece of Dreams From My Father where he talks about his stepfather. I think the stepfather probably could not begin to understand the gravity of what he was saying.

Obama asked why a man was killed and his stepfather explained it this way. "Because he was weak...... That's usually enough. Men take advantage of weakness in other men. They're just like countries in that way..... He makes the weak man work in his fields.... Which would you rather be? Better to be strong. If you can't be strong, be clever and make peace with someone who's strong. But always better to be strong yourself."

It's easy to see why that would be memorable. I wonder if he sees the US as the strong one that should be open to peace efforts from weaker entities?

... that we were always supposed to be calm and never cause a public problem
because Barack Obama is called "no drama Obama" for a reason and yes he gets
upset in private but never in public and we had to reflect those values.

Barack Obama is a complex and thoughtful man and we are lucky that he has
been POTUS and will be for the next 5 months.

We have been lucky to have him as president for two terms. And the Laos trip was one of the many transcendent things he's done that,even if drowned out by (in this case) stupid election melodrama or misrepresented or ignored by others, will resonate for a long time after he leaves the White House.

I love your story about 2008 and 2012; that must have been an amazing experience.

no doubt he'll get slammed for "apologizing" and shit like that. Last I heard, real adults apologize for their screwups. The covert war in Laos doesn't get enough press here in the States, much like many of the times we have overreached over the decades.

The United States may mature enough as a country to not just acknowledge our part in atrocities, but actually apologize for them and make full reparations to the people and the lands we've damaged.

But it won't be anytime soon.

Asking if we can send people over to help find and defuse these things. Relationships are built by working together.