Just in case you need a program to keep up with his foreign policy resolve, the Washington Post has one for you.
Tonight, Senator Obama’s 2004 Iraq policy will be shown on ABC’s Nightline in a never before aired interview. In this interview, he further shows that his Iraq policy waxes and wanes with the polls, and that the issue has never been one of substance for him-just political pandering and posturing for power (which he’s finally getting now as the Democratic Party nominee for President).
2004…
“My assumption would be that if we could actually stabilize Iraq, in such a way that you do not have warfare between the Sunnis the Shii’as and the Kurds, some semblance of law and order in that country, then I think that there is no doubt that the Kerry administration is going to be interested in bringing back the reservists and the National Guardsmen who are currently there, but ”
“If all of those things were true, Mr. Obama,” Koppel interrupted, “I think it is also true that the Bush administration would bring the troops back.”
“Absolutely,” Obama said. ht Hot Air
2008 when running for President himself…
“My 16-month timeline, if you examine everything I’ve said, was always premised on making sure our troops were safe,” Obama told reporters as his campaign plane landed in North Dakota, a state no Democratic presidential candidate has carried since 1964. “And my guiding approach continues to be that we’ve got to make sure that our troops are safe, and that Iraq is stable. And I’m going to continue to gather information to find out whether those conditions still hold.” 7/3/08
The Barack/Bush Iraq policy gets closer and closer.
The above cartoon by liberal ‘toonist, Clay Bennett, can be viewed glass half-empty/glass half-full. The assumption on his part, of course, is that George Bush’s presidency has been 8 years of failed policies and disaster for our country.
Iraq should be a political winner for Republicans. Not a losing talking point.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Boys and girls,
Cats and dogs,
Forget the Olympics…THE REAL GAMES ARE IN DENVER!!!!
I thought of all kinds of ways to make a quick movie snippet or something multimedia, but in my YouTube raw meat search…something caught my eye, flipped my trigger, and just seemed SO PERFECT for the occasion. So please, press play on this 1992 ode to confusion, chaos, and searching rather than accepting. It’s a throw back to a time when Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Jessica Simpson, and so many others were still playing with their Barbie girls. A time when Saddam had just had his ass kicked and people believed he was contained (yeah, ’cause dictators learn their lessons and never hold grudges). A time when the Clintons were taking DC, and a generation was realizing those student loans had to be paid some day….and that someday was approaching fast. Read the rest of this entry »
Some of my friends follow politics closely. Most do not. The Obama campaign has done an absolutely wonderful job of presenting and repeating the message of CHANGE with Senator Obama’s candidacy, but the problem comes when Americans (Democrat, Republican, Independent? No…AMERICANS) see that message of CHANGE, and they ask, “So, what’s he gonna change?” Read the rest of this entry »
His photos reflect his passion. U.S. Congressman Walter Jones R-NC has a picture gallery at his official website. Displayed prominently are dozens of images of the congressman alongside uniformed U.S. military personnel and concerned veterans. Among them, scenes of his opening dedication of a memorial to fallen solders stand out in the context of the newest House controversy.
Constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein wrote in an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle that a poster (seen in the video below) kept on the wall in the hallway next to the Congressman’s office had been removed. That poster had displayed the photos of U.S. Marines from Camp Lejeune, based in his district. All of them had been killed in Iraq. Jones has claimed that it was a memorial to those Marines.
Why remove it? The Congressman (a Republican) is against the success in Iraq).
The official reason given by the House was that it violated policy on advocacy material.
The Speaker of the House, Rep Nancy Pelosi (D) believes that it’s wrong to advocate, honor, and pay tribute to fallen American Marines.
How’s that sit with you Marines?
Curt, you’re a former Marine. Does this make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
How about you Marines-or people from any service-who have served in Iraq? Do you feel more or less supported by the Democratic Party’s Congress….the Congress that keeps funding your operations, but protesting the funding, threatening to cut off your food, fuel, and ammunition, and claims to “SUPPORT” you?
Back in April 2008, President Bush requested that Georgia be allowed to apply to join NATO. France and Germany blocked the effort which would have made last week’s invasion turn into a world war. Instead, NATO members quietly agreed to support Georgia regardless. Did that promise work?
Wellllllllll, not exactly. See, right after that NATO conference…Russia started getting aggressive. They built up their military forces in the area, prepped for invasion, and started making probe attacks; doing things like…shooting down Georgia’s unmanned drones which would spot the buildup. Doubt it? whadaya want…video proof? Mmmm, yeah, ok:
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party went into overdrive in forming its platform positions. The DNC Platform takes the same position as those NATO members (the same position accepted by President Bush), and they seem to still think that it would work; that it would prevent a Russian invasion of Georgia and others.
The NEW Democratic Party line is the same as President Bush’s:
We will seek to strengthen and broaden our strategic partnership with Turkey, end the division of Cyprus, and continue to support a close U.S. relationship with states that seek to strengthen their ties to NATO and the West, such as Georgia and Ukraine.
Per a news release from yesterday, Muqtada al-Sadr plans to disarm the Mahdi militia, and change it to a social services organization that focuses on education, religion and social justice… all without weaponry.
Recently, however, the group has been hit by a largely successful Iraqi military crackdown against militia members operating as criminal gangs. At the same time, Mr. Sadr’s popular support is dwindling: Residents who once viewed the Mahdi Army as champions of the poor became alienated by what they saw as its thuggish behavior.
A new brochure, obtained by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by Mr. Sadr’s chief spokesman, Sheik Salah al-Obeidi, states that the Mahdi Army will now be guided by Shiite spirituality instead of anti-American militancy. The group will focus on education, religion and social justice, according to the brochure, which is aimed at Mr. Sadr’s followers. The brochure also states that it “is not allowed to use arms at all.”
Posters have been put up in some areas of Baghdad saying a new direction for the Mahdi Army will be announced at this Friday’s prayers.
Whatever Sadr’s personal intent, it’s unlikely that the rogue elements contined within the Mahdi militias will comply. Sadr’s been frustrated that not all follow his orders to lay down arms, and ignore the cease file he signed with the Iraqi govt in May. The differences have caused internal strike, with assassinations being carried out on other Mahdi members who support the cease fire.
For Sadr personally, it’s a way back to credibility.
There’s an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal (yet another one claiming that the war in Iraq is effectively over, and that the United States has won), and it brought to mind two interesting thoughts:
1) What was gained by invading Iraq
and
2) How long before people who opposed the invasion not only recognize success, but recognize what was gained? Read the rest of this entry »
I am NOT at all a fan of World Net Daily, but I can vouch for Ryan Mauro’s piece for several reasons. It corroborates earlier articles from other sources. It corroborates my own research. It revolves around a man of honor-not some political partisan hack or the Maple Syrup King of Vermont/Dr/Gov/Middle East expert and DNC chairman. Lastly, because Ryan is not WND, RNC, or DNC, but because he’s Ryan.
Many people like to stick to the partisan talking point that there was “NO WMD” or “No stockpiles” found in Iraq. This is inaccurate, misleading, and based on politicization of wartime facts. The ISG report found that Iraq was indeed a WMD threat (just as the UN had claimed only 2wks before the invasion), but not in the form of stockpiles. The ISG report even included pictures proving this, but people who believe anything the DNC says, and nothing the Bush Admin says don’t even look at the pictures. They just take other people’s opinions which they find palatable, and parrot them.
A former American overseer of Iraqi prisons says several dozen inmates who were members of Saddam Hussein’s military and intelligence forces boasted of helping transport weapons of mass destruction to Syria and Lebanon in the three months prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Don Bordenkircher – who served two years as national director of prison and jail operations in Iraq– told WND that about 40 prisoners he spoke with “boasted of being involved in the transport of WMD warheads to Syria.”
A smaller number of prisoners, he said, claimed “they knew the locations of the missile hulls buried in Iraq.”
A brief history and timeline of the Sunni Awakening and the Surge:
It should be required viewing to all, and forwarded to all of your contacts. It’s a far more comprehensive timeline history than what the media has provided us with. Read the rest of this entry »
I added this in the comments section of an earlier post (please check out the update), but felt it important enough as to merit its own posting, and exposure to a wider audience.
This is commercial being shown on Iraqi television - you know, the kind of television that was banned under Saddam Hussein. For me, this makes what I and my fellow Soldiers did totally worth it.
Translation:
“We are Shias and Sunnis
Who gathers us is God and Mohammed
No Sunni No Shia
We have one goal
Stay together
God bless you all
Who separates us
is not from us”
I can only hope that the partisanship regarding the Iraq War does not get in the way of all Americans united in the desire to see Iraq succeed as a peaceful, stable, democratic nation.
Ok, for those of you playing the home game, let’s recap:
President Bush invaded Iraq and ended America’s 13 year war with Saddam with the authorization of Congress, and support of Democrats. Even before the war started, Gov Howard Dean ran for President on an anti-war theme (in addition to governor of Vermont, doctor, maple syrup king, and Presidential Candidate, he’s secretly been a middle eastern intelligence operative and the only man in the world who could accurately assess the threat from Saddam…or…so people were led to believe). As soon as Coalition forces crossed the border, Democrats en masse changed their tune, opposed the war like candidate Dean, and they themselves either tested the Presidential campaign waters, or just jumped right in. And so it was that the debate raged, grew, exaggerated, distorted, and became an animal-a monster-in and of itself. “Dissent is patriotic” we were told-even if that dissent wasn’t really based on fact, but on political aspirations and/or frustrations. The debate was key to the 2002 elections, the 2004 elections, the 2006 elections, and was almost key in 2008, but something happened.
Over the last few weeks, Barack Obama and John McCain have seemed to get perilously close to agreeing on what to do in Iraq. Obama continues to talk about a 16-month withdrawal but would let military commanders determine the pace of the withdrawal. McCain is also now in favor of a 16-month timeline—as long as the commanders determine the pace of the withdrawal.
Meanwhile….the opposition to the war in Iraq (soon to be…perhaps…President Obama’s War) is as quiet as the wind
Is Barack Obama a neoconservative bent on controlling Iraqi oil, or could it be that Operation Iraqi Freedom continues not for oil primarily, but for….um…Iraqi Freedom?
UN RESOLUTION 1483. May 2003
Acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,
1. Appeals to Member States and concerned organizations to assist the people of Iraq in their efforts to reform their institutions and rebuild their country, and to contribute to conditio ns of stability and security in Iraq in accordance with this resolution;
2. Calls upon all Member States in a position to do so to respond immediately to the humanitarian appeals of the United Nations and other international organizations for Iraq and to help meet the humanitarian and other needs of the Iraqi people by providing food, medical supplies, and resources necessary for reconstruction and rehabilitation of Iraq’s economic infrastructure;
3. Appeals to Member States to deny safe haven to those me mbers of the previous Iraqi regime who are alleged to be responsible for crimes and atrocities and to support actions to bring them to justice;
4. Calls upon the Authority, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations and other relevant international law, to promote the welfare of the Iraqi people through the effective administration of the territory, including in particular working towards the restoration of conditions of security and stability and the creation of conditions in which the Iraqi people can freely determine their own political future; [emphasis added-sm]
The war against Al Queda in Iraq is certainly not at all over. Just last week I had a conference call w Brigadier General Simeon Trombitas, the Director of the Counter-Terrorism Transition Team in Iraq. It was an amazing experience. With communications radios from on-going operations barking jibberish in the background of the joint counter-terrorism operations headquarters, he described how impressive the Iraqi and other Coalition counter-terrorism forces have become.
AM I the only one who’s noticed the silence? Mere months ago, left-wing bloggers and demonstrators were wailing Support our troops, bring them home! seven days a week. Now their presidential candidate has announced that he won’t bring all those troops home, but will simply transfer combat forces from Iraq to Afghanistan - expanding that war. (He’s discussed possibly invading Pakistan, too.) And the left’s quiet as a graveyard at midnight.
Hmmm, it is awful quiet all of a sudden.
Bush is on the way out - are your principles leaving with him? Have you stopped to wonder if BHO might not be your LBJ? You told us that “War doesn’t change anything,” and “War is never the answer.” Shouldn’t you be lobbying your candidate to give peace a chance? Shame, shame, shame. You’ve elevated hypocrisy to an art form.
This piece was spot-on-the-money. The anti-war movement’s mantras are silent, and the only explanation is that they were never sincerely anti-war; just political catalysts for expressing an anti-Bush sentiment.
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