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Obama On Iraq

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Iraq, McCain

“They refuse to press the Iraqis to make tough choices, and they label any timetable to redeploy our troops `surrender,’ even though we would be turning Iraq over to a sovereign Iraqi government — not to a terrorist enemy,”
- Barack Obama in his speech on Iraq today

Another key point from the speech…

At some point, a judgment must be made. Iraq is not going to be a perfect place, and we don’t have unlimited resources to try to make it one. We are not going to kill every al Qaeda sympathizer, eliminate every trace of Iranian influence, or stand up a flawless democracy before we leave — General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker acknowledged this to me when they testified last April.

In fact, true success in Iraq — victory in Iraq — will not take place in a surrender ceremony where an enemy lays down their arms. True success will take place when we leave Iraq to a government that is taking responsibility for its future – a government that prevents sectarian conflict, and ensures that the al Qaeda threat which has been beaten back by our troops does not reemerge. That is an achievable goal if we pursue a comprehensive plan to press the Iraqis stand up.

Read the whole thing here.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, Barack, Iraq, McCain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

4 Responses to “Obama On Iraq”

Jimmy the Dhimmi Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
In fact, true success in Iraq â€” victory in Iraq â€” will not take place in a surrender ceremony where an enemy lays down their arms. True success will take place when we leave Iraq to a government that is taking responsibility for its future – a government that prevents sectarian conflict, and ensures that the al Qaeda threat which has been beaten back by our troops does not reemerge. That is an achievable goal if we pursue a comprehensive plan to press the Iraqis stand up.

Are you sure president Bush didn’t make this speech? It sure sounds like what Bush has been saying all along for the past 4 years or so.

“…a government that prevents sectarian conflict, and ensures that the al Qaeda threat which has been beaten back by our troops does not reemerge.”

So now Obama cares about the status of the Iraqi government as a condition for withdrawal? He contradicts himself in the very same speech! Obama never seemed to care about a functional Iraqi government when it seemed to be failing, when Harry Reid claimed, “This war is lost,” and Obama still called for a date for withdrawal, without conditions. Lame.
Avinash_Tyagi Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Actually Jimmi, he has always stated that he wants to use the timetable as pressure on the Iraqis to reconcile and work together, now that they are doing it on their own its not really a concern.

Try and keep up
gerryf Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Jimmy is far too busy spewing partisan hackery to keep up…give the guy a break. Its hard work spinning anything his administration does to sound positive and he has been putting in a tremendous effort being the loyalist that he has been.

Don’t criticize him until you walk in his difficult shoes. Keep up? Nay, I say bravo, Jimmy, bravo! If only we could all work so tirelessly for such a hopeless cause so that we might all be years behind and ignorant of the truth.

Jimmy gets to sleep at night while the rest of us all wring our hands and scream to the heavens “WTF is going on here!?!?”
Jimmy the Dhimmi Says:
July 15th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Did I say one thing that was incorrect, gerry?

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