By Julie Mason
Examiner White House Correspondent
The statue on the right is all, “Whaddaya want from me?”
President Obama today drew a crowd of about 20k to a crumbling but beautiful town square in Prague, for a speech about ridding the world of the nukes.
“Few people would have predicted that someone like me would one day become the president of the United States,” he said. “Few people would have predicted that an American president would one day be permitted to speak to an audience like this in Prague.”
Not Obama’s teleprompter.
“The existence of thousands of nuclear weapons is the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War. No nuclear war was fought between the United States and the Soviet Union, but generations lived with the knowledge that their world could be erased in a single flash of light,” he said. “Cities like Prague that existed for centuries, that embodied the beauty and the talent of so much of humanity, would have ceased to exist.”
Right — time to hand out the American flags.
“If we believe that the spread of nuclear weapons is inevitable, then in some way we are admitting to ourselves that the use of nuclear weapons is inevitable,” Obama said.
There hasn’t been a great deal of American flag-waving around Europe in recent years.
Man about Prague: Jonathan Martin of Politico, Happy Birthday! And some other guy.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs woke the president up around 4:30 a.m. local time to inform him that, as expected, North Korea launched — something. He took small umbrage at the suggestion the launch might overshadow Obama’s speech. Once up, the president spent the morning working the phones.
Back to the speech:
“Today, I state clearly and with conviction America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”
“I’m not naive,” Obama said.
In a separate statement released earlier — one that got several reporters out of bed shortly after the president was up, Obama said he plans to take it up with the allies and UN Security Council.
“The launch today of a Taepo-dong 2 missile was a clear violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1718, which expressly prohibits North Korea from conducting ballistic missile-related activities of any kind,” the statement said. “With this provocative act, North Korea has ignored its international obligations, rejected unequivocal calls for restraint, and further isolated itself from the community of nations.”
Who’s tired? Traveling White House reporters, already at Grumpus Defcon 2
The trip has been a little short of sleep for most, including Obama and definitely the White House and foreign press corps. Boo hoo, right? We’re in PRAGUE. But we are leaving soon for Ankara. Back to speech:
“Iran has yet to build a nuclear weapon,” Obama said. “My administration will seek engagement with Iran based on mutual interests and mutual respect. We believe in dialogue.”
(Redux: Cue Cheney’s head exploding)
Prague, Spring. (ap photo)
“I know that there are some who will question whether we can act on such a broad agenda,” Obama said. “There are those who doubt whether true international cooperation is possible, given inevitable differences among nations.”
“To denounce or shrug off a call for cooperation is an easy but also a cowardly thing to do.”
“Together we can do it,” he said. (ap photo)
Saints preserve us! The crowd drifts away.
Humanists.
Prague cops find them weird.
