Maybe we should be very glad that Obama is going after all?

[Jupiter2Mars]

.. and is being replaced with someone with a very different outlook.

This is what Obama said yesterday:

" And then, in Germany, I’ll visit with Chancellor Merkel, who’s probably been my closest international partner these past eight years. I’ll also signal our solidarity with our closest allies, and express our support for a strong, integrated, and united Europe. It’s essential to our national security and it's essential to global stability. And that’s why the Transatlantic Alliance and the NATO Alliance have endured for decades under Democratic and Republican administrations. "

Seems to me that bring America's bff results in us engaging in illegal, immoral wars. A bit of distance might be a good thing.

No such luck, unfortunately! I think you can be sure that next time they want to send their troops in, they'll be asking the UK to join them again. Might it be Syria?

I agree shovetheholly

Politics in the UK has become infantilised.

I can see why I Obama wouldn't want to be friends with the uk. The very country where he last visited and was racially abused by Boris Johnson.

Jupiter - It may not be a question of asking. The reason a lot of people take a sharp intake of breath when Russia shoots down a plane in Turkey, or Turkey shoots down a Russian plane in their own airspace, is that Turkey is a NATO ally. So if it is attacked then the UK is theoretically already committed to go to its defence. So far, provocation has been met with US-led de-escalation, fortunately. But with Brexit and Trump in power, I wouldn't be surprised if Putin does something to test the strength of the NATO alliance quite soon.

Your probably right. Brexit Britian will be better off with someone other than Obama, and Trump seems to like the UK so good result for us.

OP, I hate to break it to you but since WW2 it has generally been the position of US governments, both Democrat and Republican, to support greater European integration. The American political establishment generally consider that it would be preferable for them to deal with Europe as a unified bloc, rather than as a bunch of independent countries all pulling in different directions.

In supporting the EU, Obama is just following the traditional establishment position in the US.

Trump will disappoint you op. He will have special relationship with Russia. I think you will still be the second best mate. tenth in line of phone calls.

It's ok though, because he is bff with Nigel Farage.

OP - you are too ignorant and blinkered to have a proper conversation with.

Shovetheholly - I won't be surprised either.

To some of the other posters, you seem to be making an awful lot of assumptions about me and what I know / think I know/ don't know.

I do disagree with those who say Obama should express his opinions freely. He's not a private person, so he needs to be mindful of his country's diplomatic position before speaking.
However that he holds certain opinions is really his choice even if they are disappointing.

Vanilla -you may have said more subsequently but as far as I recall your entire contribution has been to declare that the us entered WW2 as paid mercenaries offering nothing to substantiate your statement. I think it is you who needs a few lessons in debating.

"He's not a private person, so he needs to be mindful of his country's diplomatic position before speaking. "

I'm sure he does. Unless Trump who seems to have no filter between his tiny bigoted brain and his cat's bum mouth.

Obama is going to visit Germany so he is talking about Merkel being a long-term and trusted partner. Do you really think he just had to talk about the UK although that was not the subject? Just because UK is #1 etc?

Unless Unlike Trump

OP, I'm sure that Obama is more than mindful of his country's diplomatic position. Has it occurred to you that it doesn't really matter to the US if he doesn't suck up to the UK, because we need them so much more than they need us? He can say what he likes, what are we going to do? Say we don't want to play? Tell them they're not coming to our birthday party any more?

I travel a lot and yes the rest of the world think the UK are bonkers for leaving the EU and arrogant to assume they can have the same place in world politics/trade without it. I tend to agree.

OP is a SFGF.

Blu Would any American choose a small isolated island for trade and security alliances over the EU? Because we deliver, time after time, and the rest of the NATO alliance doesn't.

Shove Defence of the NATO alliance and particularly renegotiating funding of it may now be down to her. Rot. Merkel is not interested in NATO; the Germans are sent home from joint exercises because they have exceeded their deployable hours for the week or some such other excuse; and Germany is one of the main culprits in not meeting their NATO obligations. If Merkel were interested she would have ensured that Germany was a tad more engaged than it is, and that it was hitting it's target and that it had functional Forces, like ours, not ones who get sent home when they've reached the limit of their work week, or the overtime is going to cost too much.

Grace It's NATO, not the EU that has done that with Article 5. I have loads of time for NATO, but I voted leave as I have no tolerance at all for the EU.

What's an sfgf?

I disagree scary. NATO, as a military organisation, acts as a deterrent to other nations , but it is the interdependence of members through the EU that creates the desire and conditions for peace amongst member states.

I'm willing to bet that a Sfgf will turn out to be a major insult on vanilla's planet

Sorry scary but that's not right. The CDU is concerned about Russia and a couple of months ago increased defence spending for next year, in part to fund NATO troops to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Merkel has been calling for reinforcement of Eastern Europe for some months. However, the left-leaning SDP, as a PP mentioned, is less enthusiastic about this so she is having to walk a line in terms of national politics.

Anyone who thinks Obama was just talking off the cuff is barking. Statements like this have literally dozens of people poring over them, getting the wording absolutely correct. It's a statement that has been specifically tailored to reassure the Germans (Trump's comments on NATO have been featured heavily in their media) and to lend support to Merkel's policy. There's a certain amount of Obama having to soft-pedal his way through some unfortunate campaign rhetoric from Trump, who is now frantically backpedalling. If you look at the wider context, this is clear and well-explained in this article: www.ft.com/content/9ad44ae4-aabf-11e6-9cb3-bb8207902122

"In his first press conference since Mr Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton, Mr Obama said the president-elect told him last week he was committed to maintaining US alliances even though he had threatened during his campaign to downgrade strategic ties with Nato, Japan and South Korea.

“He expressed a great interest in maintaining our core strategic relationships, and so one of the messages I will be able to deliver is his commitment to Nato and the transatlantic alliance,” said Mr Obama."

To put all that simply, if there's a problem with a big gob here, it's initials are DT. And that's why you don't elect a prez who is, in his own inimitably inaccurate phrase, "braggadocios", kids.

*its. Apologies, on phone!

And I believe he may want to be spelling that braggadocious. Though always hard to tell with a made up word.