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Hey, World: Cheering Obama Isn't Enough

'Don't just show us the love, show us the money, the troops,' writes Freidman

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 9, 2008 6:25 AM CST

(Newser) – The world is rejoicing at the election of Barack Obama, and that's great. But Obama has a tough road ahead—so let’s see if the global community can put its money and troops where its mouth is, writes Thomas Friedman in the New York Times. Rather than just smiling on the president-elect, the world must be prepared to back him—with soldiers, diplomatic support, whatever it takes.

“I understand any foreigner who objected to the US invasion of Iraq,” Friedman writes, but now Obama must end it. US allies celebrating Obama's election should “offer whatever they can to help him." Don't just show us the love, show us the money, the troops," he writes. As the world cheers, it must remember: “freedom is not free, and your excuse for doing less than you could is leaving town in January," Freidman notes.

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Guests react as they watch live TV coverage showing Obama's victory in Shanghai, China. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A selection of the front pages of Britain's national papers covering Barack Obama's victory. (AP Photo/ Martin Cleaver )

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Don’t just show me the love. Don’t just give me the smiles. Your love is fickle and it will last about as long as the first Obama airstrike against an Al Qaeda position in Pakistan. No, show me the money. - Thomas Friedman

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Hey, World: Cheering Obama Isn't Enough