Obama 2005 Trip To Russia, Ukraine And Azerbaijan Detained

Chicago
Tribune Article titled \u201cSEN. OBAMA\u2019S FIRST YEAR IN WASHINGTON\u201d describes a 2005
trip to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan. [Note: this is the trip that Sen. Obama,
Sen. Richard Lugar and their aids were
detained at Siberian airport in Perm, Russia when trying to leave Russia after spending
3 days in Russia. The trip included
visiting sites where warheads are stored before destruction under the U.S.
funded Comprehensive Threat Reduction program. ]

SEN.
OBAMA\u2019S FIRST YEAR IN WASHINGTON

_________________

Third
in a series of reports

A
foreign classroom for junior senator

Barack
Obama tours the former Soviet Union, monitors the destruction of Cold War
munitions \u2014and takes notes from a senior statesman

By Jeff
Zeleny

Tribune correspondent

Photo
caption: Obama\u2019s trip as a member of the Foreign Relations Committee included
Moscow\u2019s St Basil\u2019s Cathedral (center) and Kremlin.

DONETSK,
Ukraine\u2014Sen. Barack Obama ducked his head, stepped over a puddle of oil and
slowly walked down the dark corridor of a giant weapons factory. A blast of
heat made the room feel like a scorching furnace.

\u201cDon\u2019t touch the orange stuff,\u201d warned a
worker.

\u201cDon\u2019t
worry,\u201d Obama replied.

The orange stuff was TNT. A crew of three men,
their faces covered by white masks, were melting piles of ammunition. Their job
was to extract explosives and render the Soviet-era weapons\u2014some relics from
World War II\u2014weapons no more.

After
watching for a minute or so, Obama walked to a workbench in a nearby building
where three women were taking apart artillery shells with their gloved hands.
The large munitions, crafted here by generations before them, soon would be
reduced to scrap metal.

\u201cAll of
the workers have masks on. Why don\u2019t we?\u201d Obama said, looking over thousands of
dirty gray weapons that had been discarded into a heap. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t breed a lot
of confidence.\u201d

The junior
senator from Illinois had come to this cavernous industrial plant, tucked away
in the forests of eastern Ukraine, to see and to learn. He had come to this
dilapidated, rusty factory, not far from the Russian border, for a lesson about
how weapons of the past can present a danger for the future. He had come here,
in his first foreign trip since taking office, as one of the requisite stops in
the making of a senator.

But for
all of his acclaim in the Senate\u2019s freshman class, on this trip Obama assumed a
different role: The political understudy.

The
chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), was
taken by Obama\u2019s interest in the subject of arms control. Shortly after Obama\u2019s
election, the two traded phone calls. And Lugar invited his Democratic
colleague, 29 years his junior, to join his annual trip inspecting weapons
sites across the former Soviet Union.

In his
campaign last year, Obama talked at length about the urgency of securing and
eliminating vast stockpiles of weapons\u2014nuclear, biological and conventional\u2014to
prevent terrorism. But it wasn\u2019t until he saw the weapons for himself, until he
touched an old shell casing, looked warily at a deadly vial of anthrax and
watched the dismantling of a nuclear missile, that he could speak with
authority.

\u201cIt\u2019s one
thing when you\u2019re reading about a nuclear site in a book. It\u2019s another thing to
be able to describe what I\u2019ve seen,\u201d Obama said. \u201cYou realize as a senator
there are so many issues out there tugging on people, you\u2019ve got to make things
vivid for them in order to capture people\u2019s attention.\u201d

So now,
after a recent weeklong trip to Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, he can tell the
story of taking a seat on a bus, with curtains covering the windows, and being
whisked to a secret nuclear storage site where only a handful of Americans have
been. Or the story of seeing the potential threat from deadly vials of plagues
that are secured by little more than a padlock a child would use on a school
locker. Or the story of being under heavy surveillance by Russian authorities
as he peeked into a building where an SS-25 missile, once aimed at the United
States, waits to be dismantled.

This is
one chapter in the education of a senator.

A year
ago, Obama\u2019s world was composed of a far narrower set of issues in the Illinois
legislature. Now, as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his
portfolio is global. And on this trip, he was able to study at the elbow of
Lugar, one of the mandarins of U.S. foreign policy.

They
shared vodka toasts with foreign leaders and local dignitaries. (Obama
discreetly asked for water in his shot glass.) They were detained for more than
three hours by Russian border guards. (Obama paced a bit, but ultimately joined
Lugar in taking a nap until the ordeal ended.) They met British Prime Minister
Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street in London. (\u201cThey let me sit in Winston
Churchill\u2019s reading chair!\u201d Obama declared.)

When
you\u2019re a freshman senator, particularly in the minority party, a mentor or tour
guide is critical. Lugar, a frequent visitor to Russia and other former Soviet
republics since becoming an advocate for nuclear disarmament 14 years ago, not
only served that role but did something that might be unthinkable in America:
He overshadowed Obama.

Seldom can
Obama go anywhere in the United States, at least in political circles, without
being stopped for a photograph or autograph. But on this foreign trip, he was
barely recognized. While Lugar breezed through security at a top-secret Russian
nuclear site, Obama was stopped for identification.

\u201cI very
much feel like the novice and pupil,\u201d conceded Obama, 44, looking out the
window as he flew over the Russian countryside from Moscow to Perm. Words
measured with precision It had been more than five years since Obama had been
outside the United States.

His blue
tourist passport, which he had taken across Asia, Australia and Africa as well
as most of Europe, was replaced by a burgundy one that designates him an
official of the U.S. government. Motorcades have replaced motorbikes and
bodyguards have replaced tour guides. (In Moscow, embassy officials were
sufficiently concerned about Obama\u2019s safety to place an extra bodyguard by his
side.)

And never
before has he been an envoy of the United States, where his words are measured
with consequential precision. It is not appropriate, for example, to turn up
your nose when being served fish gelatin by a Russian host. It is not advisable
to speak critically.

As Obama
stood in front of more than a dozen Ukrainian reporters at the weapons
destruction site, he declared: \u201cI\u2019m extremely impressed with the facility.\u201d A
few moments later, when pressed in a Tribune interview, he said: \u201cI\u2019m being
polite. The place speaks for itself. This is a somewhat run-down and not a
spick-and-span factory.

He said he
was attempting to be diplomatic.

\u201cSome of
that means that in your public statements,\u201d Obama said, \u201cyou end up trafficking
in public platitudes more than you\u2019d want to do at home.\u201d Indeed, the education
of a senator calls for considerable sensitivity and tact, along with a keen
awareness of local culture and a solid grasp of their issues. Yet repeatedly, Obama
referred to the country as \u201cThe\u201d Ukraine. The U.S. State Department advises
Americans to simply call the country \u201cUkraine,\u201d which Lugar and others did.
While the difference might seem slight, adding \u201cthe\u201d suggests a failure to recognize its
status as a sovereign country that no longer is part of the Soviet empire.

But in the
next breath, the senator spoke in a way that appealed to everyone who was
listening, painting a broad picture of the global need to disassemble weapons.
It sounded not only senatorial, an official traveling with the group said, but
decidedly human and free of wonkish details.

\u201cThese
shells behind us, these casings, are a testimony to the decades that have been
spent creating weapons of destruction,\u201d Obama said, speaking at a news
conference here. \u201cThe hopes in the programs that have been discussed today are
that we can start using our resources to dismantle these arms and create a more
peaceful and safe future for the people of Ukraine and for people all around
the world.\u201d

The
biography of Obama, with a black father from Africa, a white mother from
America and years of childhood spent abroad, brings a unique world- view to the
Senate. Intrigued by his background, Lugar encouraged Obama to seek a Foreign
Relations Committee seat.

When Obama
sketched out his first year in office, he selected nuclear proliferation as a priority.
Then he took care not to make his agenda sound too international,
reminding people in nearly three dozen town meetings across Illinois that it
was a local issue too. \u201cWe could have a nuclear bomb going off in the middle
of the Chicago Loop,\u201d Obama declared in January, speaking to a few hundred
residents of Lockport, Ill., many of whom wore startled looks on their faces.
\u201cWithout fear-mongering, if we don\u2019t keep nuclear devices out of the hands of terrorists, it
could just kill hundreds of thousands of people.\u201d

Dismantling
missiles

The tour
bus chugged across a winding, rutted highway toward a nuclear weapons
destruction site outside the Russian city of Perm. Obama was engrossed in
the new book by Graham Allison, \u201cNuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable
Catastrophe.\u201d He barely looked up as a barren soccer field, toppled statues
of Soviet icons and closed factories passed by the tinted window.

When a
Russian security official boarded the bus and began reading a roll call of the
American visitors, Obama put the book aside. He listened intently during the
safety briefing. \u201cDon\u2019t forget to grab the metal handle and ground yourself
when you walk in,\u201d the official said, reminding that electromagnetism and
nuclear reactors don\u2019t mix.

Obama, a
step or two behind Lugar, walked into a metal building that looked like a
Midwestern manufacturing plant. Inside, a dark-green missile, about one-third
the size of a football field, waited to be disassembled. \u201cThere are 10 warheads
in that one container?\u201d Obama asked. American tax dollars are paying for
missiles to be transported from elsewhere in Russia\u2014 across new roads, over new
railroad tracks and into new buildings\u2014and consultants from U.S.-based
Washington Group International are eager to show

the
senators around. And part of the official mission is to judge whether the money
is being well-spent.

Obama
climbed 28 steps\u2014 wooden two-by-fours attached to round tree branches\u2014to a
platform that overlooked a clearing in the forest with several huts containing
nuclear weapons. Among Russian guards and uniformed plant workers, he stood
with Ray-Ban sunglasses, a blue golf shirt and Gap khakis, taking in the
surroundings where missiles are dismantled, broken down and sliced apart.

\u201cDo they
have forest fires around here?\u201d Obama asked. The senator doesn\u2019t write down the
answers, but he seems to listen attentively. He asks questions that are more
practical than technical: It wouldn\u2019t take more than a tire iron to break the
windows of this anthrax storage lab, would it? Aren\u2019t these weapons vulnerable
to sabotage? Are these shell casings being recycled?

Obama does
not pretend to be an expert. Often aides\u2019 hand him scraps of paper with
additional facts, just in case the senator needs more details. It does,
however, create the occasional moment of awkwardness.

At a news
conference in Moscow, Andrey Lebedev, a correspondent for the Russian newspaper
Izvestia, asked Obama: \u201cSome months ago, you stated that some Russian nuclear
facilities are poorly guarded with doors ajar, sentries walking around with no
ammunition. Where did you take that information from? It has been consistently
denied by Russian military.\u201d

The
senator paused for a few moments, before saying: \u201cI have to confess I don\u2019t
know the quote you\u2019re referring to. I\u2019d have to actually see it. I don\u2019t recall
that particular statement.\u201d

In
fact, the quote was repeated nearly word for word from a speech Obama had
delivered May 25 on the Senate floor to
highlight his interest in nuclear proliferation. After the news conference, the
senator\u2019s director of foreign policy, Mark Lippert, quickly approached the
reporter and explained that the information was taken from a report in the
National Journal and had not been refuted.

As Obama
neared the end of the trip, he seemed to grow bolder in his questioning. The
delegation had reached Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic on the Caspian Sea,
where the discovery of oil has injected a new stream of wealth into the
country. (Not for everyone, Obama learned the night before at dinner,
considering doctors here average only about $700 a year.)

For about
90 minutes one morning, Lugar, Obama and a dozen aides listened to a
presentation by executives from BP, the international oil giant. In the
middle of the discussion, after they showed a slide of oil prices and
consumption, Obama raised his hand and interrupted.

\u201cYou
need to do a little update,\u201d he said, pointing to their chart that showed
prices for a barrel of oil long before they skyrocketed. \u201cSomebody is getting
rich. I don\u2019t want anyone to think you were going to lose your shirt.\u201d

Some
parochial questions From Russia to Ukraine and Azerbaijan to Britain, the
senators met dozens of dignitaries. Many officials welcomed Lugar as a member
of the family, trading hugs and kisses. When it was time for his introduction,
Obama bowed respectfully and extended a hand, seemingly taking a few leaders
off guard because of his age.

The
meetings, over either a lingering lunch or a private dinner, were consumed by
discussions of the regional economy or global arms control. But when Obama met
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev, he presented two questions that were slightly
more parochial: Why is McDonald\u2019s having difficulty opening restaurants in
Baku? And why is Boeing shut out of selling planes to the state-owned airline?

\u201cThey
are two Illinois companies who want to do business and expand,\u201d Obama
explained, \u201cbut they are having roadblocks.\u201d He didn\u2019t walk away with a
concrete answer. He could, however, report back to constituents that he voiced
concern at the highest levels of government.

While the
education of a senator entails learning protocol, being a diplomat and even
conducting a bit of business, it comes with the added benefit of seeing a slice
of history. And all observations are not quite so serious.

It was
nearing sundown one evening as Obama walked through Red Square in central
Moscow. He passed by the imposing Kremlin, the colorful domes of St. Basil\u2019s
Cathedral

and the
immense GUM department store, which he noted looked like the Russian equivalent
to Chicago\u2019s Merchandise Mart.

When Obama
reached Lenin\u2019s tomb, a guide told a story about the bodies buried near the
Kremlin wall. Several of the women, according to legend, were his lovers.

\u201cI didn\u2019t
know Lenin was a player,\u201d Obama said, cracking a wide smile.

As the
tour moved forward, the senator pondered how much the world had changed since
he studied international relations in college. It\u2019s hard to fathom, he said,
that the Soviet Union and the United States invested so much into trying to
destroy the other.

\u201cIt\u2019s a
good reminder of the fact that highly rational people can be engaged in a
highly irrational purpose,\u201d Obama said. \u201cI\u2019m reminded what Einstein said: Our
wisdom has not caught up with our technology.\u201d

Trips like
this are successful if they evoke such big-picture sentiments, Lugar said, in
addition to providing a \u201cprofound, gut feeling about the place of the United
States in the world\u2014 strength and vulnerability.\u201d

\u201cHe has profited from it. It becomes
capital in the bank, in terms of knowledge,\u201d Lugar said, reflecting on Obama\u2019s
first foreign trip as a senator. \u201cI hoped he would be on the Foreign Relations
Committee. This was an important deci

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