Obama And McCain On How To End The War

CBS Evening News: Breaking Down The Candidates' Proposals For Withdrawing Troops From Iraq

(CBS)  To help you make an informed decision in the presidential election, CBS News will be devoting a large part of our broadcasts until Nov. 4 to telling you where the candidates stand on major issues - from the war in Iraq to health insurance to education … and a lot more. Each piece will be an in-depth look at the issues facing the 44th president. This installment: Ending the war in Iraq. CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan reports on the proposed policies of Barack Obama and John McCain.

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The Issue

Green Beret Tim Brigham is lucky to be alive - and walking - after his spine was shattered during an ambush in northern Iraq, CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Lara Logan reports.

"A guy from the left side of where I was came around the corner and shot," Brigham said.

It was May 11, 2005, and his Special Forces unit had just been attacked when Master Sgt. Brigham was shot.

"[It] entered my left side and exited my right side," Brigham said. "Fell from the back of the vehicle onto my head and it knocked me kind of senseless at the time."

Brigham's life was hanging in the balance when his wife, Andrea, got the call at home.

"I said ya know, is he going to be OK?" Andrea Brigham said. "And he said, well this is going to be an important night."

Making it through the night was only the beginning. Brigham was told he may never walk again. During a routine surgery, he reacted badly to the anesthesia and his heart stopped on the operating table.

"They cleared out the waiting room and I thought, OK, he's dead; they're just gonna say he's dead," Andrea said.

For eight minutes, as the surgeon massaged Tim's heart back to life, no oxygen went to his brain.

"I didn't even know my family; I didn't even know my wife's name. I didn't know my kids' names; I knew their faces," Brigham said.

In the long months that followed, he reclaimed his memory piece by piece, learned to walk again, and then, incredibly, re-qualified for duty as a Green Beret.

And in 2007, he returned to Iraq.

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Learn more about Tim Brigham's struggle at Couric & Co. blog.

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"Any long endeavor, of course, there's a price to pay," he said.

The Candidates

For the candidates, that price - and how to honor that sacrifice - is at the core of one of the great challenges confronting the next president: How, and when, to get America's 146,000 troops out of Iraq.

The withdrawal has already begun with President Bush's announcement that 8,000 troops would return home by next February - but that will still leave about 138,000 on the ground as the next president takes office.

"My first day in office, I will bring the Joint Chiefs of Staff in and I will give them a new mission," Barack Obama said in July. "That is to end this war."

And John McCain said on Memorial Day in New Mexico: "As long as there is a reasonable prospect for succeeding in this war, then we must not choose to lose it."

The candidates started out seemingly far apart - with Obama basing his plan on timetables, and what he calls a phased withdrawal.

In March, in Fayetteville, N.C., Obama said: "Fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer."

McCain argued that the conditions on the ground had to drive the U.S. pull-out.

"The same people that are saying we have ... to set dates for withdrawal are the same people that said we would fail in Iraq," McCain said in Kansas City, Mo., in July. "They were wrong then and they're wrong now."

But it wasn't long before the gap between them narrowed, especially after the Iraqi government endorsed Obama's timetable and the Republican administration began negotiating their own withdrawal plan.

"We will be able to reduce our forces next year and our forces will be out of regular combat operations - dramatically reduced in number - during the term of the next president of the United States," McCain said in Denver in July.

And Obama said just days earlier: "We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months."

McCain supported the surge last year that together with the peace agreement with Sunni tribes is credited with bringing Iraq back from the brink. Obama says the same factors that led him to oppose the surge still hold true.

"Iraq is not going to be a perfect place, and we don't have unlimited resources to try to make it one," he said.

And McCain says: "Our defeat in Iraq would be catastrophic, not just for Iraq but for us. I cannot be complicit in it."

The Impact

What it means for soldiers like Tim Brigham is simple: He will follow those orders, no matter what is decided.

"Would you keep serving in Iraq as long as there was a need?" Logan asked Brigham.

"Yes, I'm doing it for everybody who's out there," he said.

Since the beginning of the war, more than 4,100 U.S. troops have been killed and more than 30,000 wounded. Military families like Tim and Andrea - like many Americans - fear pulling out too early may undermine those sacrifices, and the work that has been done.

"I'd be upset, because we ... want to see them move forward and not back," Tim said.

Andrea added: "I think there's been too many great sacrifices from family members, from soldiers."

Even if Obama wins and follows through with his 16-month withdrawal plan, what he calls a residual force would remain behind for counter-terrorism missions and to protect diplomatic personnel.

That's much like John McCain's policy, which also envisions a sharply reduced force in Iraq, by 2013. Neither candidate will predict the size of the force they'd leave in the region - both say that'll be based on the conditions on the ground.

Five and a half years after the invasion of Iraq, the decision to go to war - for many Americans - has come to define the Bush presidency. For the next president, the hard decisions about how and when to get out - may well define his.

[demwatcher]

THE %u201CMCMYTHS:%u201D
1. WAR HERO/PATRIOT?
In his own book, McCain states he began collaborating after 4 days. It was not %u201Cname, rank and serial number ------or kill me,%u201D as specified by the military code of conduct.

Obama ALMOST enlisted.

2. MAVERICK?
Voted 90% of the time with presidork. (Is he for or against off shore drilling this week?) McCain, the political weather vane.

Obama voed 100% of the time with the Left.

3. ON REMAINING A POW
It was mandated by military law that all prisoners were to refuse early release. McCain was no exception here. He could have faced courts martial had he done so.

So? He followed orders or he wanted to stay with his men. Makes no difference, he REMAINED a POW.

4. EXPERIENCE?
%u201CThe truth is that McCain%u2019s largely untested and untried. He%u2019s never been responsible for policy formulation. He%u2019s never had leadership in a crisis, or in anything larger than his own aircraft carrier.%u201D General Wesley Clark, ret.

Obama has NO EXPERIENCE. NONE, NADA.

5. EMPERMENT, MATURITY, FITNESS?
%u201CBomb, bomb, bomb Iran%u201D sound presidential? Graduated near bottom of NA class. Described tensions on the %u201CIraq/Pakistan border.%u201D Called wife Cindy a c*nt in public.

Obama and the 57 states. Attended an anti-America/anti-white chuch for over 20 years. Associates with a known terrosist. Unsure if he ACTUALLY IS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN. Only thing on resume is ''community organizer.''

nuff saud.

[demwatcher]

Obama = Quit and Lose.
McCain = Win.

nuff said.

[semperfi2008]

Obama: Surge Succeeded Beyond %u2018Wildest Dreams%u2019

I can''t believe that Obama actually finally agreed that the surge worked in Iraq. John McCain and Joe Lieberman were the lone voices calling for the surge and it has turned that conflict around. Obama was adamantly opposed to it from the beginning and said we should pull out now. As for troop withdrawels, President George W. Bush has been working on that for quite some time now and we will see it happen. It''s laughable to see Obama taking credit for this. I wonder when he is going to say that the surge was his idea? What a bufoon! No wonder he is going down in the polls.

[watching_you]

Ending the %u201CWar%u201D is important, naturally. But, Americans should remember that this was never a war: Iraq was a preplanned, military occupation against the country of Iraq ------ a country even Bush has admitted had NO links to 911 or al Qaeda.

THE %u201CMCMYTHS:%u201D
1. WAR HERO/PATRIOT?
In his own book, McCain states he began collaborating after 4 days. It was not %u201Cname, rank and serial number ------or kill me,%u201D as specified by the military code of conduct.
2. MAVERICK?
Voted 90% of the time with presidork. (Is he for or against off shore drilling this week?) McCain, the political weather vane.
3. ON REMAINING A POW
It was mandated by military law that all prisoners were to refuse early release. McCain was no exception here. He could have faced courts martial had he done so.
4. EXPERIENCE?
%u201CThe truth is that McCain%u2019s largely untested and untried. He%u2019s never been responsible for policy formulation. He%u2019s never had leadership in a crisis, or in anything larger than his own aircraft carrier.%u201D General Wesley Clark, ret.
5. EMPERMENT, MATURITY, FITNESS?
%u201CBomb, bomb, bomb Iran%u201D sound presidential? Graduated near bottom of NA class. Described tensions on the %u201CIraq/Pakistan border.%u201D Called wife Cindy a c*nt in public.

[ebphny]

Why is the question always about who will fight a better war. Has anybody wondered who will more effectively prevent a war or plan for and establish peace after war? Has anybody asked who will be more likely to reach out to allies and work well with them? Will it be McCain who still insists that the US can bring about victory in Iraq almost alone, or will it be Obama, who already has Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki''s agreement for troop withdrawal; who has made it a cornerstone of his campaign to reach out to allies and enlist their cooperation. I think the answer is obvious.

[stanley4011]

I served in OIF. I support the idea of a small contingency to be left behind but rotated out once a year. I don''t believe a phased pull out over a 16-month period is long enough. It would endanger the troops. I also believe that a phased pull out from now to the year 2013 is too long a period.

[stanley4011]

I served in OIF. I support the idea of a small contingency to be left behind but rotated out once a year. I don''t believe a phased pull out over a 16-month period is long enough. It would endanger the troops. I also believe that a phased pull out from now to the year 2013 is too long a period.

[stanley4011]

I served in OIF. I support the idea of a small contingency to be left behind but rotated out once a year. I don''t believe a phased pull out over a 16-month period is long enough. It would endanger the troops. I also believe that a phased pull out from now to the year 2013 is too long a period.

[tucano2]

Well, it is very simple; one will win the war, and the other will surrender to terrorists.

[wevehadenuf]

Watch Obama on BIll O''Reilly I really enjoyed this

[wevehadenuf]

Support Hillary Clinton and vote for Obama. She got up and said very clearly to do so, no matter what aid or anyone else has to say. Can you imagine what Hillary really thinks of where Palin stands on the ISSUES, where she stands on Healthcare, Foreign Policy, Education and yes taxes. Lets be smart about this election the number one issue is foreign policy. If you want to know about the Bush Doctrine follow this link and pay close attention to Ron Paul: Texas Republican slams Bush "demented philosophy of conquest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZmPS0X
meBw

Obama/Biden 2008 Hillary 2012

[claydowner]

The best Iraq policy statement uttered by any candidate was New Mexico governor Bill Richardson who said essentially that we need to get out of Iraq as quickly as we can. Iraq has been a horrible waste and depletion of American resources. Prof. Linda Bilmes said that the longterm costs of Iraq and Afghanistan will be $3 trillion. I am thinking that casualties for Iraq and Afghanistan are nearing the 50,000 mark.

Here is the main point: America has to eliminate its need to import oil from petrol-dictators from unstable countries. Failure to do this will mean future wars, terrorist attacks, and huge outlays for imported fuel, now $700 billion annually, that will bankrupt our country. Sweden, Japan, and Brazil all have comprehensive energy policies that have reduced or even eliminated their need for imported oil. Many other countries have similar policies vastly reducing their oil consumption. The US needs to spend $3 trillion on getting off of oil via Al Gore or T.Boone Pickens style plans rather than wasting our resources in hopeless stupid wars. Vote Democratic if you want any of this to change because Republicans are too ignorant to care about taking care of the needs people in our own country.

[bfjones666]

John Sydney McCain III: I listen to the great American general Petraus when it comes to Iraq and i say we will come home in victory.


General Petraus: There is no way I would use the word "victory" to describe the ending of conflict in Iraq.

Bottom Line: You can''t "win" an occupation and the great American General knows it. Why doesn''t McCain?

[republic1776]

The Democrats will move the War into Afgan.....

[abbe91]

"The war will never end.
Posted by edabel2 at 03:47 AM : Sep 13, 2008"

It''s not supposed to end but to be sustained to satisfy the greed of Bush, Cheney and such.

[abbe91]

Palin''s plan for ending the war ...
"Pulling out before the job is done".

[pastdue1]

Does CBS realize that of all the articles listed under POLITICS, this is the ONLY one that really addresses one of the topics that needs to be addressed in this campaign, and what it points out is that the two candidates are more together on this point than they are apart. I commend CBS on this one article, but there is little else to be commended on their reporting of this campaign.

[Ed Abelia]

The war will never end. Radicals will not stop using their religion to brain wash their people to kill Americans. It is not a matter of if they will attack us again, but a matter of when! We must stay strong and I do not think Obama will keep our country safe but he instead will project presidential weakness around the world.

[rowdyheckno]

Man did Sarge swallow the right wing BS. We invaded Iraq, a country that posed no threat to us, based on lies. They had nothing to do with 911, sorry slimewad Guiliani.

No we have McBush, who will have us try to kill a billion Muslims because they are not Christian Fascists like Bush and Palin. Wow.


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Posted by noloyalisti at 02:30 PM : Sep 12, 2008

The Islamofast bastwards shouldn''t have come over here and killed 3,000 of people!

Had they not done that, they could be living their little Sharia law lives...

Maybe next time they''ll THINK before they kill Americans!

ALL OF THEM!

[brdlikbllss]

'' .. i don''t know how you kids can go to computer school, if i had a mom and dad of my own, i''d have a tough time packing them off to some work camp so i could pack myself off to some school camp and play with some computers .. ''