Comments on: Obama's Iraq Pledge Sets The Stage

The Nation: Candidate's Plan To End War In 2009 Will Loom Large In General Election

[mistered9]

Do you believe inreincarnation?
When you die and go to hell, you are reincarnated to earth.
How do you acount for Bush, McCain and Obama??
Better get you act straight folks.

[juwboy]

Blue Dastard:

Ishmael, the first Arab, was the illegitimate son of Abraham and Hagar, and Arabs are still b@st@rds, every last one of them.

[bluestardad]

ALL THE NEOCONS AND ISRAELI WEASELS IN THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT WILL TRY TO TAINT OBAMA AND STOP THE WILL OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO GET AMERICA OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST...

AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!

SEND THESE NEOCONS TO FIGHT FOR ROCKS AND SAND NOT AMERICAN SOLDIERS!

[ajmarine1]

Yes, Obama has promised to withdraw all combat troops within 16 months. Clinton promises to begin withdrawals within 60 days of her inauguration. Most significantly, each has promised a hedge: to keep unspecified numbers of soldiers behind to fight terrorists or train Iraqis and, in Clinton''s case, to protect the Kurds and deter Iranian aggression.

But neither has been pressed in debates or news conferences as to how these residual troops would be left behind. It strains credulity to think that the Iraqis would -- after being told that they are not worth protecting or working with -- allow U.S. troops to stay on and hunt al-Qaeda & Co., or to protect the huge U.S. embassy in Baghdad. What carrots do the two Democrats propose to keep this permanently dissed ally on board instead of making any U.S. retreat a hell on earth?

[zoopster1]

I look at publications and news outlets that refer to this as the "so-called" war on terrorism. What is "so-called" about it?? People are fighting, and dying. People are planning and carrying out attacks against targets belonging to the opposing side. People of both sides are using propaganda and intimidation to convince others to join their cause.

I dunno, but that sounds a lot like a real war to me.

[zoopster1]

Ah, do random_radar''s solution to our terrorist problem is "don''t make enemies". How does one go about that exactly sir? Cut off support for Israel? Stop buying oil from the Saudis? Withdraw all our troops from everywhere, and only send them out when we get attacked? Stop sending foreign aid to all countries, since even helping out Bangladesh is bound to make somebody mad somewhere??

And yet, the same people who want us to leave Iraq to its fate also want us to send the Marines to Darfur, where most of the atrocities are being carried out by, you guessed it, Muslim extremists. Fighting and dying at the hands of US troops in Sudan is bound to make is real popular with the religious nutcases. And these same people also criticize nations like Saudi Arabia for sentencing people to death for questioning Islam. Or sending people to prison for sitting with a man in a Starbucks.

Exactly what leverage sir, apart from bombing, would we have at our disposal to register our displeasure with such practices? Would you consider doing whatever these religious fanatics demand of us, including pulling our women out of schools and adopting Sharia law in place of the Constitution, if it convinces them that we''re not worth attacking?

That isn''t any America I would want to live in. If you''re ok with it, maybe you don''t belong here either.

[zoopster1]

Well, no. Obama can only promise to end *America''s involvement* in the Iraq war. That''s what people don''t seem to get. Even after our troops leave, the war will go on. You think we''re the ones doing the majority of the killing over there? Think again. Then a year later, maybe two, a major terrorist incident will occur somewhere in the world, directed at one of our allies, or one of our embassies. Maybe even against us directly. An investigation will find that the planning of the attack was done by one of the religious groups in Iraq. And then we''ll be forced to go back in and refight the war against the same lunatics all over again.

Congratulations, President Obama.

[jwind11]

Do you realize that the wealthy and powerful are using the American government to enforce their will on the world? Terrorists do not hate you personally, they hate the American power elite who oppress their nations and people.



Posted by random_radar

You spoke with these terrorists ? they told you this?

[denn034]

Nevermind the fact that the Iraqi government wants us to stay, huh? Besides, abandoning Iraq to the forces of chaos would send a horrendous signal to the rest of the world about our support for allies.

[random_radar]

"This is me. Show you can protect the country and keep my family safe or step aside.

Posted by cbscrash07 at 02:24 PM : Feb 21, 2008"

The best way to protect your family and your country is to avoid creating enemies who want to kill you. Let''s analyze how easy this is and why your government is failing you.

Do you break into your neighbors houses, beat them up and steal their belongings? If you do, can you understand why they might retaliate against you? I expect that you understand that leaving your neighbors alone is probably a good idea if you want your family to be safe.

Do you realize that the wealthy and powerful are using the American government to enforce their will on the world? Terrorists do not hate you personally, they hate the American power elite who oppress their nations and people.

The best way to protect your family and your nation is to reign in interventionist United States government that is being used to tyrannize the world. If our government returned to Constitutional principles of peace and freedom at home and non-interventionism abroad, America could return to being an admired light to the world.

If you continue to support the current regime, you will face increasing violence and insecurity until America is converted to a totalitarian police state at war with the entire world. You need to think long and hard about the road you are taking. It has been taken before by many nations who were destroyed, most notably the Roman Empire and Nazi Germany.

[jwind11]

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how Iraq has anything to do with our security.
1. They were not at involved in 9/11. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were more involved.
2. There was no WMD - that was just a perception nutured by the liars and cowards in our executive branch of government.
3. The future?? They''''re gonna be more involved in settling old internal scores, they seem to be intractibly obesessed with that, possibly a civil war.
4. Withdrawal with honor??? That''''s already history. The only "honor" involved now is the vanity of those liars and cowards who lied us into this in the first place. The military has already done it''''s job. They got rid of Saddam. Anything after that - if we''''re to be honest - is the failure of the politicians... abysmal failure - I might add.
5. Fighting terror on its turf and not ours? Wouldn''''t that be Pakistan/Afghanistan?

When we discard all of the perception engineering/manipulation...what do we have left??

Posted by hadenough43

are you privy to information that the government isnt?

[jwind11]

Obama says he will end the war in 2009.

McCain says he will stay in Iraq for 100 years if necessary (that''''s 2109).

2009 or 2109? Tough choice.

I still will vote for Ron Paul as a matter of principle, but Obama looks pretty smart if you ask me.

Posted by random_radar

mccain will keep us in iraq for 100 years?

[random_radar]

Obama says he will end the war in 2009.

McCain says he will stay in Iraq for 100 years if necessary (that''s 2109).

2009 or 2109? Tough choice.

I still will vote for Ron Paul as a matter of principle, but Obama looks pretty smart if you ask me.

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how Iraq has anything to do with our security.
1. They were not at involved in 9/11. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan were more involved.
2. There was no WMD - that was just a perception nutured by the liars and cowards in our executive branch of government.
3. The future?? They''re gonna be more involved in settling old internal scores, they seem to be intractibly obesessed with that, possibly a civil war.
4. Withdrawal with honor??? That''s already history. The only "honor" involved now is the vanity of those liars and cowards who lied us into this in the first place. The military has already done it''s job. They got rid of Saddam. Anything after that - if we''re to be honest - is the failure of the politicians... abysmal failure - I might add.
5. Fighting terror on its turf and not ours? Wouldn''t that be Pakistan/Afghanistan?

When we discard all of the perception engineering/manipulation...what do we have left??

[heartlight3]

Why is the assumption that Obama will just withdraw the troops without negotiating some sort of diplomatic truce or cease fire? Judging by what I''ve seen of his intelligence and organizational ability, I wouldn''t be surprised if he was able to use some combination of withdrawal and diplomacy to extricate us from this with honor. Obviously the bull in the china shop military option hasn''t produced what we were told it would produce.

[it_oldtimer]

The powers-that-be have a vested interest in keeping us all perpetually in fear of something or other. It provides them with job security and power-grabbing (as well as money-making) opportunities.

Fear - whether it''s justified or not - makes ordinary citizens so much more malleable and easy to manipulate.

The First Rule of Politics: "Always keep your electorate afraid of something, even if you have to manufacture something - then guarantee them that you, and you alone, can save them from that which they now fear."

That doesn''t change the fact that statistically you''re far more likely to be hit by lightning twice in the same day as be involved in any kind of a "terrorist" attack in your lifetime.

Americans are such suckers. Terrorism is just the latest boogeyman of political convenience, since the Cold War fizzled out, and it''s been vastly overblown for purely political gain by both sides.

I certainly never lose so much as a minute''s worth of sleep worrying about it.

[mbcsmith]

Obama hasn''t got a clue how to protect this country. Now is not the time for a novice with no credentials.

[Razzl]

The only way we ever get to leave Iraq is to stop agonizing over what we can''t control, declare victory, and begin withdrawal. The Iraqis are not going to get serious about running their own affairs until the troops and money begin to visibly dry up. Cutting losses is the only "win" we will ever have there, there''s no point in delaying withdrawal...

[noloyalisti]

Who is he keeping the country safe from? Bush and the GOP advisors were the ones who let the terrorists into the US for their political gain.

I want someone who won''t make up straw men to scare us. I want him to protect my family from the terrorists within. The corporate controlled terrorists who are stealing our rights and money and running terrorist wars in the Asia and the Middle East.

[Syndicate]

"The danger for Obama lies in being challenged by McCain, the neoconservatives and the right-wing conservatives to prove his credentials as a militarist or face being painted as another Democrat too weak to be Commander-in-Chief."

This is me. Show you can protect the country and keep my family safe or step aside.