Obama on Iraq
By Callimachus | Related entries in General Politics, The War On TerrorismIn the end, Iraq is not about one person’s legacy, a political campaign, or rigid adherence to an ideology.
What is happening in Iraq is about the security of the United States. It is about our men and women in uniform. It is about the future of the Middle East. It is about the world in which our children will live.
Responsible voices from all parts of the political spectrum are coming forth to say this in increasing numbers.
Colin Powell had the courage to call his presentation to the United Nations on Iraq a “blot” on his distinguished record. And recently John Edwards said he made a mistake in voting to go to war in Iraq, and accepted responsibility for this decision.
It is no coincidence that both Mr. Edwards and Mr. Powell no longer serve the government in Washington. Those of us in Washington are falling behind the debate that is taking place across America on Iraq. We are failing to provide leadership on this issue.
Iraq was a major issue in last year’s election.
But that election is now over.
We need to stop the campaign.
The President could take the politics out of Iraq once and for all if he would simply go on television and say to the American people “Yes, we made mistakes. Yes, there are things I would have done differently. But now that we’re here, I am willing to work with both Republicans and Democrats to find the most responsible way out.”
If I agree with half of this, maybe the rest of you agree with the other half of it, and maybe that makes it centrist. It’s getting impossible for me to tell these things any more. In so many cases, “centrist” seems to mean “hating Bush without calling him Hitler” and “loudly proclaiming American failure in Iraq without a call to bring the troops home right now.”
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November 25th, 2005 at 7:10 pm
I guess it’s easy to blame Bush as he’s the guy that took you to war along with us in the UK. I mean he’s not the first US president to take a country to war is he? I mean American foreign policy isn’t perfect either.
The American people love a bit of sabre rattling, I mean they are just like the Brits on that score. Its just when the body bags start coming home you don’t like it and your stomach’s start turning yellow. Your like a big bully that finds the person he’s bullying isn’t afraid anymore.
Don’t get me wrong here or take this the wrong way, i love America absolutely. I’m just stating facts that you can’t come home just yet and “get out” as you put it. Its no longer about who has the biggest bombs anymore, its about who has the guts to see it through. And its going to take a lot longer than you think with these Arabs, there a different prospect entirely.
November 26th, 2005 at 1:46 am
The issue isn’t peace with honor but rather victory. When you have the government of Iraq saying they’ll be ready to take over at the end of 2006, we’re not in need of mea culpas but sticking to our guns. It’s like the Cairo conference statements just never happened.
After some false starts, it’s clear to anyone paying attention that we’ve gotten our act together regarding getting Iraq a representative government. The training camps we’ve put together along with our allies are spitting out 7-10k of new troops a month and our forces are putting them through the advanced course by fighting alongside them, first in the lead, then supporting them, then letting them do the job on their own.
Everybody talks about insufficient boots on the ground but isn’t it odd that those 7-10k of new boots every month are ignored
Jon Wright – I’ll always be grateful to the UK for stepping up to the plate for the fight. Maybe you haven’t got the notice what kind of fight this is, exactly. It’s not a colonial adventure. We’re looking to stand up the locals so that they can do their own fighting as they develop an indigenous muslim democracy. For the kind of fight that needs to happen, the quicker we can responsibly leave, the better.
There are currently two real dangers: First, panic and pull out at the last minute before the current government is ready with an army better than the insurgents that are going to be left after we leave. Second, provide a propaganda victory to the enemy that our planned departure is, in fact cowardice or a lack of stamina.
Please keep that second one in mind as you toss around charges of yellow belly.
November 26th, 2005 at 4:39 am
Great sentiments here by Obama. If Bush were to own up to the mistakes I would praise that decision. Think of the honesty! What an amazing demonstration to the American people. He’d gain my respect in this arena almost immediately.
To address another point at the end of this post, though, in order to be a centrist, I don’t think the extremes you present here are valid. And frankly, from what you say it seems like you’re talking about me by talking around me.
Listen, I don’t like Bush’s policies as a whole, but I don’t think he’s a bad man and I’ve said as much. And Hitler? Jeezus…are you kidding me?
Let me ask you, do you disagree with my points about maintaining the troop strength in Iraq?
In any event, I stand for maintainging the peace in Iraq by keeping our soldiers there. It’s a tough balance and a hard fight, but I think we should stay there and do everything we can to convince the Iraqis we shoud stay. And if we don’t, we should go, but if you break it you buy it, and it certainly feels as if we’ve broken it given the levels of violence you now see in the country.
In any event, good thoughts from Obama on this one. Much appeciated…
November 26th, 2005 at 5:00 am
Yes I understand what the fight is about and that’s why, like you say, we need to stay in there and train these Iraq’s to defend themelves. This isn’t going to be easy at all as most of them are used to being bullied. I have relatives on the ground in Iraq and i can tell you taht there is a long way to go before UK & US forces can get these Arabs in fighting mood.
The stomach’s turning yellow wasn’t meant to be offensive and was not aimed at the US troops. It was my way of saying that history must not repeat itself and the coalition must not walk away now.
People in government are using Iraq for political leverage here and this must stop. Are the opposition of the war actually saying they would have left Saddam to continue butchering his people. I’m not Bush’s greatest fan but at least he had the guts to get on with what he believed to be right. Isn’t that what we elect these people to do. If they get it wrong we can vote them out.
If Iraq is left now then you have civil war and it’s awfully close to Iran, which is close to Israel etc….. We will only have to go back in and sort it all out again.
The worlds most powerful nation and its allies must stand fast and finish the job now. And its people must stop chattering and support those troops and wish them a speedy and safe return.
November 26th, 2005 at 5:19 am
I completely agree with this. I even think they should draw up their strength troop so we make sure what we broke is going to be fixed.
November 27th, 2005 at 2:11 am
I’m reading several centrist sites. I’m looking for a Third Way. But all I’m seeing in many places is a slightly watered-down version of the talking points of the existing dead-end polarized parties. In this situation, centrist has to be radical. Thinking has to escape boxes.
November 28th, 2005 at 1:46 am
Agreed.
But honestly, this is what I liked about Murtha’s discussion on this issue. His argument for a timeline was to give notice to the Iraqis that they need to step up to the plate and provide for their own defense.
It’s the same argument as Welfare Reform. We’ll give you welfare for 5 years, but then you better find a job. We’ll give you two years to form an army, but then we’re out of here.
Frankly, I think if it’d been a Democratic President who had invaded Iraq, this is exactly the argument the Republicans would be making… and it’s a bit disengenuous of them to ignore it now.
October 18th, 2006 at 8:01 pm
Frankly, I think if it’d been a Democratic President who had invaded Iraq, this is exactly the argument the Republicans would be making… and it’s a bit disengenuous of them to ignore it now
Um, no.
January 5th, 2008 at 8:43 pm
All the talk about victory and getting the job done in Iraq is really not to the point. The U.S made the same mistake in Viet Nam. the French in Algeria. The Iraqui people do not want us there. They want the freedom to decide their own form of government, even if it isn’t western style. They want to control their own oil resources. It doesn’t matter how long we stay there or how powerful we are. A crusade for democracy will never be accepted. The only logical solution is to pull out as soon as possible; it is what the Iraqi people want. We owe it to them after the destruction we have caused.