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Obama departs for Asia, to make historic stop in Myanmar

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1 of 5. U.S. President Barack Obama steps aboard Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington November 17, 2012. Obama is traveling to Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia.

Credit: Reuters/Jason Reed

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE | Sat Nov 17, 2012 4:27pm EST

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama departed on Saturday for a three-country swing through Asia, using his first foreign trip since winning re-election to emphasize his administration's focus on the region.

Obama will make stops in Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia. The highlight of the trip is likely to be the historic stop in Myanmar, a former pariah state. The White House hopes his visit will push the country to lock in democratic reforms.

"In addition to the democratic reforms, we've been concerned about the continued ethnic conflicts in Burma," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser, told reporters accompanying Obama aboard Air Force One.

The Obama administration still refers to Myanmar by its older name, Burma.

Rhodes added the Obama administration is pressing Myanmar to break its military ties to North Korea, as well, and "we've seen them take some positive steps in that direction."

The president's tour may be overshadowed, however, by violence in the Middle East and concerns about tax and spending talks with lawmakers back home.

Obama is scheduled to return to Washington early Wednesday morning.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by Bill Trott and Eric Walsh)
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Comments (24)
ChangeWhat wrote:
Back to business as usual, 4 more years of foreign policy and no American policy. Unbelievable.

Nov 17, 2012 8:45am EST  --  Report as abuse
Hairry wrote:
This guy is unbelievable. Flying here and there for photo opps… reading speaches prepared by others from a teleprompter… and not doing anything. I suppose it’s not a bad strategy, you’ve got to do something to make a mistake.

Nov 17, 2012 10:44am EST  --  Report as abuse
Bedar wrote:
Myanmar government is killing thousands of Muslims in that country everyday just because the government is Buddhist and those civilian citizens are Muslims.
Now what progress this country took towards democracy?? It is unbelievable that no media is talking about this.
If one terrorist alleged to be Muslim then all the world will talk about his if he killed one man but a government like Myanmar is killing thousands of Muslims but no one even mentions it.

Nov 17, 2012 11:11am EST  --  Report as abuse
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