Palin meets several world leaders

Irish Times

MARY FITZGERALD

REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL candidate Sarah Palin made her first foray on to the international stage yesterday, meeting world leaders on the margins of the UN general assembly.

The Alaskan governor, who has been derided by Democrats for her lack of foreign policy credentials, is in New York for something of a crash course in international affairs. In a bid to counter criticism that their candidate, who got her first passport only last year, is too inexperienced in foreign policy to serve a “heartbeat” away from the presidency, Republican Party officials have crammed her diary this week with appointments to meet at least seven presidents and prime ministers, most of them key US allies.

Observers and diplomats have examined Mrs Palin’s list of engagements for clues as to how a McCain-Palin administration would approach and prioritise foreign policy. Her diary yesterday included meetings with Colombian president Alvaro Uribe and Afghan president Hamid Karzai.

She was also due to sit down with former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger. Today Mrs Palin is due to hold talks with Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili and Ukraine’s president Viktor Yuschenko. She is also scheduled to meet Iraqi president Jalal Talabani, Pakistan’s new president Asif Ali Zardari and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh.

The Alaskan governor was also due to join John McCain for talks with U2 frontman and activist Bono on the sidelines of the general assembly. Diplomats have noted that Mrs Palin’s diary this week does not include appointments with any European leader.

On Monday The New York Sun published a speech Mrs Palin had planned to make at a rally against Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Her invitation was later withdrawn after Hillary Clinton cancelled an appearance at the same demonstration complaining that Mrs Palin’s presence would have politicised the event. In the speech transcript, Mrs Palin called for measures including “truly tough” UN sanctions against Iran. Mr Ahmadinejad, she said, “must be stopped”.

Mrs Palin’s engagements with world leaders this week are intended to bolster her credentials ahead of her first face-to-face debate with Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joseph Biden – a noted foreign policy expert – on October 2nd.

© 2008 The Irish Times