WASHINGTON - The United States has better relations with almost every nation on the planet thanks to President Barack Obama's foreign policy "outreach," his spokesman said on Sunday.
The bullish claim came in an interview in which White House spokesman Robert Gibbs fiercely defended Mr Obama against accusations he has failed to reform US foreign policy from the damaging era of his predecessor George W Bush.
"We have better relationships with virtually every country in the world as a result of the president's foreign policy outreach," Mr Gibbs hit back. "There's no doubt that we have taken foreign policy in a different direction."
NBC interviewer David Gregory listed several points - the failure to close Guantanamo, the Afghan war escalation, an expected U-turn on plans to give chief 9/11 suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammed a civilian trial, and the same old sanctions strategy on Iran and North Korea - as examples of Mr Obama's stalled foreign policy reforms.
Mr Gibbs said this was "oversimplified" logic, noting how Mr Obama managed to win backing from Russia and China for tougher sanctions against Iran.
A Pew survey of 24,000 people in 22 nations published last month showed a largely favourable view of the US for a second year, in sharp contrast to perceptions of America under Mr Bush.
When asked whether the US President would "do the right thing" in world affairs, 87 per cent in France, 90 per cent in Germany and 84 per cent in Britain expressed confidence in Mr Obama.
Meanwhile, Mr Obama will unveil tomorrow a new national strategy to curb the Aids epidemic by slashing the number of new infections and increasing the number of people who get care and treatment.
"Annual Aids deaths have declined, but the number of new infections has been static and the number of people living with HIV is growing," says a final draft of the report.
The administration plans to reduce the annual number of new HIV infections by 25 per cent within five years. "Approximately 56,000 people become infected each year, and more than 1.1 million Americans are living with HIV," the report says.
The report does not propose a major increase in federal spending.
The government now spends over US$19 billion ($26.25 billion) a year on domestic Aids programmes.
The report says tens of thousands of people with the virus are not receiving any care. Also, far too many people infected with HIV are unaware of their status and may unknowingly transmit the virus to their partners. Agencies
Published at: http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC100713-0000083/Obama-led-US-has-better-relations-abroad
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