Obama: Get the troops out now!
Barack Obama used a speech in Iowa this afternoon to call for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. combat brigades from Iraq and said the pullout should be completed by the end of next year.
“Let me be clear: There is no military solution in Iraq and there never was,� Obama said in excerpts of the speech that were provided to The Associated Press.
“The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq’s leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops. Not in six months or one year  now,â€? the Illinois senator said.Obama’s speech came a day before President Bush is expected to give a televised address and announce reduce the U.S. troop presence in Iraq by as many as 30,000 by next summer.
Hillary Clinton, Obama’s chief rival for the Democratic nomination, is also pressing for a faster withdrawal of troops than Bush is proposing. She sent Bush a letter today urging a quicker return for U.S. troops
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Senator Obama is right. Regardless of what the American military does, there will be a religious civil war between the Shiites and the Sunnis.
Get our troops out – now.
Well, To start with US should have done there homwork properly before they decided to help iraq and go there. Now its too late.
I don’t think this is right time to do so. Epecially when Bin Laden and rest are demanding for it. This will give terrorist upper hand. Withdrawal should be smooth and sudden. I makes no sense to give any dates to enemy. Obama and rest playing political gave. Geting the troops nows will be US another mistake.
I do not agree. If the American military forces were pulled out of Iraq now, that would leave a lasting impression on the world. So much so, that the next time a military conflict ocurred, (just or not) the opposing force would automatically resort to this type of war. For the sake of all of the future military personnel from the United States stationed around the world we need to stick this one out.
The vast majority of Americans want us to be successful in Iraq. The Democrats as horribly flawed in that they will take whatever position they think is necessary to win votes. Here is the reality of the situation..we will be in Iraq for the next 10 to 15 year no matter who is elected next. There is no future president, even Obama, who would pull out of there quickly as it would be a disasterous mistake. Especially now when there is real progress being made even though it not in the interest of the Democrats for us to be successful. The Democrats sell their own country down the river to pander votes. Very sad indeed.
Obama and Clinton both sound like Usama bin Ladin. “Pull out the troops and submit to islam.” The Bush administration is trying to protect the US and freedom of religion from the islamic radicals.
Is it just me or was it less than a week or so ago that Obama was mounting the charge to invade Iran as well as sounding off against Pakistan?..... Uhh hello which bandwagon is this guy on at what moment. Obvioulsy never been to the gulf states nor does he have any understanding of how tribal politics function, but hey Ludicrous would vote for him….. its kinda like sticking your hand into a bee’s nest, its best to stay still and move away slowly, rather a few stings is tollerable but the entire hive would mean death. We will be in the Mid east for a very long time to come, so rather than a hasty retreat we need a better vision and Obama is not an appopriate spokes person
Senator Obama is naive. Regardless of what the American liberal believes, there will be interference in Iraq by outside forces until the Iraqis have a stable and adequate central military. Give it some time. People complain that the police are rife with corruption; a bad situation indeed. Mexico has a corrupt police administration to this day and home grown anti-government combatants/insurgents but they are able to function because they have had the time to stabalize their military.
While I want our troops withdrawn from Iraq. This may not be the time for it. Should we just up and leave we will create a vacuum for the terrorists to fill. Iraq is currently to unstable to bail out on. Doing so, would leave a lasting affect on our ability to help nations in the future. How long should we remain? Anyone’s guess is as good as mine. But I will say we shouldn’t leave until there is a solid foundation for a government, democratic or not, in Iraq. As well as the agencies, military or otherwise, to defend it’s people and sovereign land. The Iraqi people want us there, begrudgingly or not. They understand the need for our troops. We can only hope that they are willing to step up and help create a country for all Iraqi people and not just the section of the populous they represent.
Obama’s right! While the US economy begins a decline into a recession brought on by the mortgage crisis and Americans are struggling with high energy prices, why continue to drain our treasury, not to mention the cost in American lives, for God knows what? To enrich the likes of Cheney’s croneys with their fat military contracts. It’s really a sad state of affairs when the moral compass of this nation has become skewed that people don’t know up from down anymore.
Obama doesn’t know what he’s talking about. This guy, who possibly never stepped outside the US, is now a foreign policy expert. Not long ago, he wanted to invade Pakistan.
Next week….ICELAND!!
Hillary Clinon, who shares a rumpled bed with Norman Hsu
and Moveon.org, is no better.
The Democrats are starting to do what they always do…
self-destruct.
We made a mistake going in there the way we did, but it’d be an even bigger mistake to just leave this country in shambles. Why make promises you can’t keep?
Why Bin Laden is not captured yet?
Why we need to create the Iraq wars?
We are not part of this war
President Bush and the Republicans in Congress have been telling us to wait for the so-called “Petraeus Report” for months before we change the course in Iraq. Now with relentless bloodshed and no political solution in sight, President Bush wants more time for his failed war. President Bush and the Republicans in Congress have been lying to the American public for several years now and people of high moral charactar and integrity need to stand up against these reptiles, their agenda’s to fleece America and murder our children in their chicken hawk military efforts.
Bush, his neocons & corrupt republican party have murdered enough of our nation’s son’s daughters, mothers & fathers in their ilegal war for oil that happened only so that republicans could sieze political control in the USA before 2004. Bush never waged his personal war against Iraq with the intention of winning a war and those Americans who do not live with blinders on their heads see now see this truth. No more blank checks for this corrupt political administration. You, your PNAC daddies, your families and rich handlers and keepers already have too much blood on your hands. Pull out of Iraq and redeploy.
If President Bush and the Republicans in Congress want to keep their illegal war going then they should start sending their cowardly republican chicken hawks or their yellow college republican sociopaths to fight your illegal unconstitutional wars.
How can we avoid “leaving this country in shambles” if it already IS in shambles, and the Iraqis won’t cooperate? And how does being in the middle of a civil war and unintentionally, though inevitably, killing innocents help us to win the hearts and minds of radical Muslims?
The answer is we can’t, and it doesn’t. Follow Obama’s new plan: Withdraw from our occupation of Iraq- giving them back whatever national integrity they have left, and help in whatever humanitarian way we can.
hi
For whatever reason for attacking Iraq, our job is and was done when Saddam was caught. If we pullout out now, we save lives… our troops, innocent victims and whomever else. Why care about America’s image? Look at our society already people, we’re in shambles, and the whole world knows it, so what image do we have to protect….falsified reasons to go to war, ex president that like to jam cigars, well you know the story, the huge amount of corruption, pure slim ball country, sorry but our image was tarnished long ago. What’s more important, lives or image of a country?..If the Shiites and the Sunnis wanna have a civil war then so be it. If people don’t have the common sense to come together then let them kill each other. I think it was wrong to attack Iraq…Under Saddam’s control, yes, we all know at times it was harsh, there was peace. Well, a heck of a lot more peace than there is now. Remember, we put Saddam in power. It seems anything we touch or put into power turns to poo. I’m very young so sorry for grammer. Everyone has good points, I’m glad we have that freedom to post our thoughts here.
oh yeah, didn’t we also aid Bin Laden against the Russians?..see that’s poo right there.
If the US pulls out of Iraq, there is more than a civil
war to worry about. It will become an Al Qaeda stronghold and be joined at the hip with Iran and Syria, which are two terrorist countries.
Those advocating “get out now” can’t see past tomorrow. And that’s why the majority of Americans do not, and won’t ever, trust Democrats with foreign policy.
Obama is correct, and remember, he is not the only one saying this. Richardson is saying something similar, except even more forcefully in favor of total withdrawal. Obama’s coming up with some detail, and that’s more than anybody except maybe Biden has done. Z. Brzezinski, a guy with tons of foreign policy experience and a great historical perspective, supports Obama’s plan and confirms it as substantial.
For anybody here to say with certainty about what will happen if the US leaves is completely missing the point. The US, almost all of its leaders and a majority of its people, were not able to see what would happen if the US invaded, even though it was clear to many, including Obama. So why should anybody support those who have already demonstrated that they either couldn’t see the obvious, or were too cowardly to go against a popular tide at the time, and furthermore to give their future prognostications even a modicum of credibility?
I am truly amazed at how many individuals have bought into the idea (read: right wing propaganda) that “if we leave Iraq now, the terrorists win.” Huh? There are even commercials now portraying veterans who have returned home from Iraq, sometimes without arms or legs, who have completely bought into this twisted concept. This kind of Pretzel Logic can only be disseminated by the Bush administration, who lied and deceived the American public to justify this wasteful war to begin with (just where exactly are those so called WMD’s—???). When one ponders how much money and young American lives have been wasted—
WASTED—because this administration continues to defiantly “stay the course,” it is disgusting. Meanwhile, the true enemy of the United States, Osama bin Laden, remains at large and taunts us with his videotapes to “encourage the jihad against the infidels.” The Democrats in Congress deserve blame, too, for not taking a stand and continuing to grant King Bush and Tricky Dick a blank check for this war without end (we know the Republicans will loyally support it, provided none of their sons—e.g. Mitt Romney’s boys—will be deployed there and shed their blood). As far as having foreign policy in the hands of Republicans, as we learned from King Bush’s VFW speech several weeks ago, we would still be in Vietnam today if he were President in the 1970’s. This is the worst foreign policy disaster in American history. This concept that we “need to stay the course in Iraq” is beyond foolish—- we had no business being there in the first place. At least Obama has the stones to come out and state we need to find Osama, especially if he’s in Pakistan or Afganistan in hiding. The “ridicule” he has taken for those statements was quite ironic—- given that it was coming from those who supported the “Iraq War” to begin with.Someone tell me—- who exactly are we fighting in Iraq??? After Saddam was captured and executed (primarily so Junior Bush could appease Senior Bush), why are we there any more???
END THE WAR NOW—- NOT IN TWO YEARS, NOT IN SIX MONTHS. END THE WAR NOW. HAD NO BUSINESS BEING THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR AN ENEMY, HIS NAME IS OSAMA BIN LADEN.
this is a lot more complicated than the obama solution
suggests…and that is why he cannot be the president,,
there is a difference between recognizing that the
war was the wrong war, for the wrong reason at
the wrong time, and getting out of the war in
such a way so as not to allow al quida and Iran
to control Iraq…no question that bush and the neocons
got it wrong…Iraq was not an iminent threat….
but Iran is..and if we simply pull out and leave
a vacuum in Iraq it may lead to 1. a regional
war between sunni and shia forces
2. an attempt by Iran to join with al malaki and
make Iran the de facto ruler of Iraq
3. if either of the above happen it might force
the US to war with Iran..
The US has a strategic, and foreign policy interest
in the region…we are engaged in a what will be a long
term battle between ideologies….you think you missed
the crusades?...those islamic fundamentalist radicals
who want to kill americans will not go away and they
cannot be defeated by our military, so although we need
to withdraw, it should be gradually, getting our combat
troops out of the way of the sectarian violence that will
ensue, but we are going to have to maintain a presence
around the perimeter in order to safeguard against
the al queda forces who will attempt to fill the vacuum
and remember these are sunni muslems, and to safeguard
against the radical shiate forces in Iran who will seek
to partner with the shiate majority in Iraq. Having said
that, it is not in our national interest to remain in the
middle of what is now a civil war…we should not be
incurring casualties to protect Iraqi neighborhoods
from sectarian violence..Joe Biden has the right idea
about encouraging a soft partition between the Kurds
the Shia and the Sunni;s and allowing them to share
revenues from the oil resources..but that is a politcal
not a military solution..so yes we should get out
we do not belong in Iraq..but we need to get out
in a smart way unlike the way we got in….
Obama has never been nuanced…he is now pandering
to the anti war faction of the democratic party
in an attempt to stop the nomination of hillary
clinton….it is all about politics and that is
why his simplistic pronouncements are dangerous