By The Way, Candidates, There's A War On

The Silence About Iraq On The Presidential Campaign Trail Has Been Deafening

(CBS)  Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News chief Washington correspondent and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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We interrupt American politics to ask this question: Does anyone remember the war in Iraq?

We ask because there hasn't been much to jog your memory on the campaign trail.

The threat of recession has blown Iraq off television and the front pages. In South Carolina, a poll of Democrats showed the economy overwhelmingly outweighed the war as the most important issue.

That's given the candidates a virtual pass on Iraq.

Until John McCain accused Mitt Romney yesterday of favoring a timetable for withdrawing American forces there, a charge Romney vehemently denies, Republicans hardly mentioned the war.

That would force them to mention George Bush and frankly, they'd rather talk about Ronald Reagan.

Nor do Democrats bring it up. The surge of troops the President sent there last year reduced the violence and that raises questions about the Democrats' previous demands for an immediate American drawdown.

Yet, the war goes on. Last week, 38 Iraqis died and hundreds were injured as a massive bomb went off in the town of Mosul. The Iraqi president promised to "do something," neglecting to mention he had been urged to "do something" in Mosul for months BEFORE the bomb went off.

For the record: While the Iraqis have been trying to get their act together, the war has claimed 4,094 American military and civilian lives and left more than 29,000 wounded.

Iraq may be off the front pages, but it is not over. The candidates and the rest of us would do well to remember that.

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E-mail Face the Nation.

[tbweb]

Five American soldiers were killed today.

That America''s finest are still being killed should be on the mind of all Americans.

Posted by carol131 at 03:00 PM : Jan 28, 2008,,,

Not to worry, our War dead are always in the forefront of our minds. We know, they know, we know they know, they know we know, everybody knows!

[frankson2]

THIS COUNTRY WILL REMAIN ON A WARTIME FOOTING AS LONG AS ANYONE IS WILLING TO PUT ON A VEST OF EXPLOSIVES. THAT TRANSLATES INTO "FOREVER." I LOVE THIS COUNTRY, BUT WE''RE GETTING DUMBER AND DUMBER. I DON''T SEE ANY OTHER COUNTRY COMMITTING ITSELF TO THIS ENDLESS STRUGGLE.

[notblue]

avoice, are you simple enough to beleieve the terrorists preside in SPECIFIC countries???? Let me give you a clue, THEY PRESIDE IN EVERY COUNTRY IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND GREATWER WORLD!!!! HELLO! you Bush hating ingrates have brainwashed yourself into believing that tripe. None of you seems to understand that Iraq is another front we chose to fight on do to logistics, geographic location, and Sadam. It worked too because the enemy came right to this front, it''s time to take off the political BLINDERS and hate the right enemy.

[cbs_oliver]

Some folks would do well to say sorry to all God''s children who have been needlessly killed or otherwise had their lives destroyed and all who have lost their souls to needless violence on their account.

[cbs_oliver]

Osama bin Laden and George Bush have followed very similar paths in beguiling and using other people to carry out violence while they themselves pose as judges.

[cbs_oliver]

What do you consider pure evil? My sister was killed in the WTC attack, and that is what I consider pure evil. What would you have done if you would have been president at the time of that attacks on 911?

Posted by Walker224 at 11:37 PM : Jan 28, 2008

First: Evil cannot be perfected - there is only one God.

Second: The right thing to do after 911 was to hunt down and capture or kill Osama bin Laden.

Third: Manipulating the sorrow and anger of grieving people and beguiling them into conquest and killing for your own benefit is vile. Maybe even more vile than 911.

[sharncedar]

"My sister was killed in the WTC attack, and that is what I consider pure evil."

The people in WTC, it turns out, not all of their hands were clean. Many of them were ruthless financial traders. Sometimes, when the ruthless financial traders are done with a company or an industry, the human wreckage that have lost their jobs and their livelihoods and their self-respect go crazy and kill their whole families or themselves. what do the people in the financial industry say about that? It''s not my fault, they say. I didn''t do anything, I just pursued my profits, my career, without regard for anyone or anything but myself.

There was evidence of Enron in the WTC, the employees of certain companies looked the other way. They didn''t want to stick their necks out for some dumb Americans. They didn''t want to jeopardize their careers, or their fancy lifestyles, or their big plans of being rich and powerful. Then, out of the sky, came death. And maybe in the last moments, just a few of them looked back, and realized they could have done more. They could have stood up for this country, for the "little people" that they were hurting every day. The people in the Midwest losing their jobs as the smug New Yorkers laughed and caroused, partying at night, trading and politicking all day.

I don''t know about this guy''s sister. But there are many forms of evil, and the New York financial community is most of them.

[walker224-2009]

What do you consider pure evil? My sister was killed in the WTC attack, and that is what I consider pure evil. What would you have done if you would have been president at the time of that attacks on 911?

[merge98fm]

Of course the soldiers are going to say we need to stay there. Saying otherwise would probably get them discharged because they probably know we are on a mission of pure evil in Iraq. That evil is American imperialism. Our soldiers are being brainwashed by their commanders and until they have the courage to snap out of it, we may as well be interviewing the President himself when we interview these troops.

[walker224-2009]

As an HR manager I have had the opportunity to work with many soilders who have served in Iraq. Ironically, they have all said that we need to stay there(in Iraq) to prevent terror here in America. Maybe you might want to interview soilders who have actually put their life on the line to protect all of our families before you decide rather the war is right for you. This war is not senseless, it is in honor of the lives of the thousands of daughters,sons,mothers,fathers,husbands,wives,friens, and grndparents that were killed on 911 by these maniacs. All I am trying to say is ask those individuals who are over there going to battle for you and I and our families so that we do not have to endure the acts of violence and brutality that they see on a daily basis. Why aren''t there more interviews with soilders who served in Iraq? It is the biggest issue. Right? Why not ask someone who was ACTUALLY there?

[dgwooster]

State of the Union address is over. Guess what. Apparently, "We need to be more patient."

[donevis-2009]

People please take a moment and think about all thats going on. Women, children, men, fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers, being shot down in front of each other. Being gunned down by "Black Water" thugs with American pay checks in their pockets!! Soldiers that don''t know when they''re coming home because the tours keep being extended. Mothers, Fathers, who promise their children they will be able to hug each other in three weeks, then "oh gosh" orders to stay another 3 MONTHS.
These are the situations that are hidden from us and none of the candidates are going into any depth to address it in their speeches. Ever wonder why we don''t get live reports from the battle areas? Why we don''t have footage of "In Iraq situation"? We had plenty in the Viet Nam era. I guess we''re too weak have these situations in our face at dinner time. Bob is just trying to say "WAKE UP" and demand that the War be addressed.

[rowdytexan2]

But BOB!!!! The surge is ''NO DOUBT'' working. Any day now we are going to see the troops come home, and all the security contractors in Iraq will be sent home!!!

Isn''t that what Dubya is saying tonite????

[random_radar]

afsc30574,

The United States has been occupying Europe for 62 years. After all, you can tell who occupies and who is occupied by whose troops are in the country. Europe is a vassalage of America whether they like to admit it or not.

China has become a satellite of the American Empire. You can deduce this by observing that they accept worthless dollars in exchange for their goods. They hold $1 trillion in IOUs that they can never collect. You don''t accept junk currency unless you are beholden to the nation offering it.

Russia is a pawn of the United States. And they came cheap--just a few tens of billions in aid to prop up their economy. The Russians make diplomatic noises, but they are awfully muted. They don''t want to bite the hand that feeds them.

The United States rules the world. The British Empire, the Roman Empire, the Mongol Empire all pale in comparison to the dominion of the first true world empire. But who rules the United States? Not the people. Those who have the gold rule here and everywhere.

[cbs_oliver]

I didn''t realize that BOb Schieffer was forshadowing the President''s speach.

***.

I guess Bob isn''t exactly an objective reporter.

Too bad.

[afsc30574]

random_radar,

You are exactly right: I went to Germany for the USAF in 1988. There was a terrorist attack against Ramstein AB the year before, 42 years after the war ended! These things take time and committment.

[hillaryin08]

whats the matter bob, things not going your way?

[carol131-2009]

Five American soldiers were killed today.

That America''s finest are still being killed should be on the mind of all Americans.

[random_radar]

There is no war in Iraq. We won the war years ago. We are occupying Iraq indefinitely. Wars have a beginning and an end, occupations don''t.

We took over Iraq fair and square and its the property of the American government now. Occupying a country makes some of the tenants mad, and you have to keep control by force.

So get over it. There is no war in Iraq. Its just a landlord-tenant dispute.

[deemsnyd]

If a libertarian is ever elected and actually digs us out of this mess, then the democrats and republicans will fall by the way side and they know it. Of course it''s in their best interest to hope and pray that we don''t take notice of Ron Paul who, in keeping on topic, repeatedly discusses the iraq war!