Obama's Pacific Trip Aimed At Bolstering Diplomatic, Economic Ties

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

White house officials voiced the serious nature of President Barack Obama's upcoming diplomatic visit to Indonesia, Guam and Australia during a conference call with reporters Monday and stressed that the focus of the trip is to strengthen both political and economic relationships with the countries.

“This trip to Indonesia and Australia is an important opportunity to advance Americas’ security and economic interests in a very vital part of the world,” said Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes during a conference call with reporters. “The Asia Pacific region is of growing importance.”

Obama will first make a one day visit to Guam, where he will host a public with military personnel posted in area. Obama will then be off to Indonesia, which, according to Rhodes, has been critical to the United States' direction in the war on terror.

The president will be giving a speech directed to the Indonesian people during his stay to relay his personal sentiments with the country stemming from the time he spent in the country as a child.

“This is an opportunity for [Obama] to discuss the comprehensive partnership that we’re developing with Indonesia and the Indonesian people,” said Rhodes.

After the two day stay, Obama will travel to Australia, which has become an increasingly strong ally to the U.S. in recent years.

According to Rhodes, Australia has been pushing with the U.S. to help forward action to decrease environmental factors that damage the planet

“In many ways its a model alliance for the United States. We have very robust cooperation with the Australians on security issues, economic issues and environmental issues,” said Rhodes.

The president was initially supposed to leave Wednesday, but has re-scheduled the trip for Sunday amid Congressional action on health care reform.

Guam faces challenges in military realignment plans

Today the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a full hearing on the Department of Defense’s plans for military build-up in Guam and its impact on the community.

Witness Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) said that plans for “military realignments” of troops from Okinawa, Japan to Guam will increase the island’s population by approximately 30 percent, presenting “many, many challenges” to local resources including construction, waste disposal, electricity, and other infrastructure and economic concerns. Bordallo called for Memorandums of Understanding, or MOUs, between the federal and Guam governments in order to establish funding sources for necessary improvements to Guam’s infrastructure in order to accommodate the population boost. She said that with the upcoming presidential election, MOUs are crucial to establishing a “road map that we can depend on” in the face of a new administration. Bordallo urged the Senate to pass H.R. 1595, the Guam World War II Loyalty Recognition Act, saying that it would be “tremendously helpful” in not taking Guam “for granted” and preparing them to assist with national security.

Brian Lepore, a Government Accountability Office director, said that the DOD has yet to submit formal budget requests and that it faces the challenge of obtaining enough funds to complete the operation, as well as strains on the island’s infrastructure if it cannot obtain these funds and does not have a clear plan of action.