BRIARCRIER
August 12, 2011, Friday at 12:00, former Briarcliff Rec Dept, Briarcliff Manor NY Rotary Club
TODAY IN HISTORY
1981 – IBM introduced its first personal computer, the model 5150 at the price of $1,565, allowing for inflation it would be nearly $4,000 today.
MEETING LEADER – Dean Dykeman
PLEDGE - Sy Yuter PATRIOTIC SONG – Sy Yuter PRAYER – Paul Rosen
HAPPY THOUGHTS - Shelley – great picnic at The Club with dedication of soccer field for the village; Rachel – sold more shirts; Kris – Ambassador scholarships
.ANNOUNCEMENTS - September 2nd Rotary will begin meeting at the Briar's Restaurant. Community Day is September 10th.
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SPEAKER AND SUBJECT – Dr. Sy Yuter on Obama’s Foreign Policy
SUMMARY OF TALK
All commentators agree that Obama is following a multilateral retrenchment foreign policy that requires UN Security Council support sometimes at the expense of US foreign policy interests, like in Libya. An administrator supporter said “If you were to boil it down to a bumper sticker, it’s “Wind down these two wars, reestablish American standing and leadership in the world, focus on a broader set of priorities from Asia and the global economy to a nuclear-nonproliferation regime.” A pro-Bush analysis of Obama’s foreign policy was “less assertive, less dominant, less power-minded, less focused on the American people's particular interests and less concerned about preserving U.S freedom of action. It is true that he did not simply pull the plug on the war in Iraq as he promised he would do, and that he increased the commitment of troops in Afghanistan. But those comprises reflect the president’s pragmatic judgment about the art of possible, not his conviction about what kind of country America should ultimately become.” An Israeli view is that he is pro-Palestinian, but his administration supports Israel financially and militarily, as Bush did. He is willing to act unilaterally to defend against attacks against the US.
Elinor Yuter, Reporter
Rachel Leihbacher, Expediter
