Iraq War
Based on this story in the Financial Times ,I believe that Barack Obama will change his mind about withdrawing our troops from Iraq. His decision will be based on one principle. Political expediency. He will "Modify" his plan and mold it in to the most efficient model of assuring the most votes in November.
Apparently he has already started this process:
...Senior advisers to Mr Obama say the campaign is constantly monitoring and debating its response to the situation on the ground in Iraq. But they say that Mr Obama has no plans to modify his timetable for US troop withdrawal. However, Mr Obama and some of his most senior foreign policy advisers have been dropping tantalising hints that there might be a new flexibility over their definition of “withdrawal”...
----------------------------------------------------------
Apparently it depends on the definition of withdrawal!
..."Mr Obama frequently points out that he will consult US commanders on the ground and the Iraqi government about his withdrawal plans. “We have a great deal of flexibility about the modalities of the withdrawal but we are clear that it will take place under an Obama administration,” said a senior Obama adviser.
In practice, say analysts, that leaves a lot of leeway for interpretation..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Modalities of the withdrawal?
Nothing like giving yourself the Grand Canyon of possible alternatives to making a decision.
The fact is Obama has no idea of how he will handle Iraq or even Iran for that matter. Even his advisors seem to disagree.
This is why McCain is gaining and will WIN in November. Straight Talk!
(must be a site member)
During a press availability session on Thursday 5/29/08, John McCain said that he believes Barack Obama will change his position on the Iraq war when and if he makes the trip to Iraq.
McCain also dismissed the idea that any trip to Iraq could be considered a "politcal stunt". That remark stems from comments made by Obama that he would not visit Iraq with McCain because it would be nothing more than a political stunt.
Update:Apparently an Obama advisor disagrees with McCain. Again ,as I pointed out yesterday,Obama says the troops are doing a great and very important job. If he really believes that, then why bring them home?
(must be a site member)
»
- Nelsa's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Via Foxnews.com
McCain invites Obama to visit post-surge Iraq
by Mosheh Oinounou
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — It’s been nearly 29 months since Sen. Barack Obama made his first and only visit to Iraq and the McCain campaign believes that their likely Democratic rival needs to take a second look.“Senator Obama keeps talking about an immediate withdrawal as soon as he gets to be president. The last time I understand he was in Iraq was in 2006. I would recommend that he go back. So much has happened since 2006 on the ground. It’s been extraordinary,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close McCain ally, told CBS Face the Nation yesterday. “I think if he would look at what’s happened in Iraq, talk to General Petraeus and (Prime Minister) Maliki, I think he would have a different view of what you need to do next.”
Graham even went so far as to invite Obama–who was last in Iraq in January 2006 as sectarian violence was raging and a year before the surge was implemented–to join McCain for a joint trip.
While the chances of seeing Obama and McCain grab a falafel together in a Baghdad market any time soon is very unlikely, the McCain campaign plans to push Obama’s lack of recent on the ground experience this week. The campaign sees this as another way to paint Obama as weak and inexperienced on foreign policy issues and argue that Obama’s call for a troop withdrawal is not backed up the most recent facts on the ground.
In contrast with Obama, McCain has flown to Iraq eight times since 2003, most recently visiting the country in March.
(must be a site member)
»
- Nelsa's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Here is a video clip from Sen. John McCain's speech in Columbus, Ohio, May 15, 2008, in which he lays out his goals to be accomplished by the end of his 1st Term. They include the end of the Iraq War and the capture or death of Osama bin Laden.
(must be a site member)
»
- brianinmo's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Republican strategist and conservative writer Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation policy analyst, said today that the 2008 Presidential election is beginning to line up as one of the most clear-cut ideological electoral choices of modern times, and that the proven and enduring success of conservative policies can again prevail this November, ushering in a new era of policy-driven momentum for 21st century conservatism.
Michael will discuss the 2008 Presidential primary and general elections, the current state of the global war against Islamic terrorism in Iraq and elsewhere, the challenges confronting American health care and solutions to them, and why expanded American economic growth through market-driven policies, not massive federal income redistribution schemes, is the key to strengthening America at home and abroad. He says that the outcome of the 2008 Presidential election will prove a defining moment for the nation.
A New Jersey-based health care executive, Michael has over 20 years of global public policy and national political experience, having served as a White House speechwriter to former President George H. W. Bush, a senior aide to a United States Senator and Governor, and a policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation. Michael has appeared on PBS, CNBC, C-SPAN, Fox News, and other networks and has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, National Review, Policy Review, and other publications. He currently authors one of the most widely-read conservative public policy blogs on the World Wide Web, available at:
http://michaeljohnsonfreedomandprosperity.blogspot.com/
A supporter of Republican Presidential candidate John McCain, Michael's analysis can be heard globally from the New York City studios of Sirius Satellite this Tuesday February 26, from 5pm to 6pm EST (10pm to 11pm GMT), on Sirius's INDIE Talk Channel 110.
(must be a site member)
»
- michaeljohns's blog
- Login or register to post comments
By Michael Johns
Disturbingly, there is an emerging consensus among the Democrat-led United States Congressional leadership that the war in Iraq is "lost." The most recent example that this thesis has worked its way into official party talking points was offered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat, who pointedly stated last month that "...this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything...."
Setting the obvious contrarian politics aside, could there be a more defeatist, demoralizing and undermining statement at this time?
With approximately 3,000 lives--some of America's finest men and women--now having been sacrificed for the purpose of this mission in Iraq and another quarter million currently deployed there in harm's way, calling the Iraq War "lost" is about the greatest disservice a public official can offer both those fighting today and the legacy of the 3,000 fallen. Does this Congress really need to be reminded: Their mission is a hugely laudable one, not a lost cause. read more »
(must be a site member)
»
- michaeljohns's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Here is a clip from Sen. John McCain's remarks to a Vets for Freedom rally in Washington, D.C., April 8, 2008, just ahead of Gen. David Petraeus' report to the Senate Armed Services Committee on the situation in Iraq.
(must be a site member)
»
- brianinmo's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Here is video of John McCain's time for asking questions of Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker today.
(must be a site member)
»
- brianinmo's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Here is video from this morning's hearing before the Sen. Armed Services Committee, where Gen. David Petraeus made an opening statement assessing the current situation in Iraq.
(must be a site member)
»
- brianinmo's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Here is video of Sen. John McCain's opening statement this morning at the hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee where Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker are making a report on the progress in Iraq. McCain is the ranking member of the committee. Among other things, McCain says "the Congress must choose not to lose," and instead "choose to succeed" in Iraq.
(must be a site member)
»
- brianinmo's blog
- Login or register to post comments
