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Barack
Obama talks about
Iraq
The Most Elect-able candidate...
"Iraq has absorbed resources that could have gone into critical homeland
security measures, or in improved coordination with our global allies and
partners. At the outset of this war, I challenged the Administration's
assertion that deposing Saddam Hussein was the central measure in our war on
terrorism. And although I believe we must stabilize Iraq, I continue to
believe that the Administration's tendency to equate the military defeat of
the Iraqi insurgency with the defeat of international terrorism is
dangerously short-sighted.
Long the before the war in Iraq, international terrorism posed a grave
security threat to the United States. Well over two years after the start of
the Iraq war, these threats to our way of life remain every bit as serious.
Some have argued that these threats have grown. The Administration has to be
capable of finding a solution in Iraq and strengthening our efforts to
combat international terrorism.
In 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."
Nearly four decades ago, John F. Kennedy took responsibility for the Bay of
Pigs Invasion. He admitted that mistakes had been made. He didn't spend a
good deal of time publicly blaming the previous Administration, or the other
party, or his critics. And through these decisive actions, he earned the
respect of the American people and the world - respect that allowed his
diplomacy to be trusted a few years later during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Americans everywhere are crying out for this kind of leadership today. They
want to find pragmatic solutions to the difficult and complicated situation
in Iraq. They want to move forward on of the greatest foreign policy
challenges that this nation has faced in a generation. And they want to get
it right for every American son and daughter who's been willing to put their
lives on the line to defend the country they love. It's time for us in
Washington to offer the rest of the country this leadership.
..."Only through this phased redeployment can we send a clear message to the
Iraqi factions that the U.S. is not going to hold together this country
indefinitely -- that it will be up to them to form a viable government that
can effectively run and secure Iraq," Obama said.
Some of the troops now in Iraq should be sent to Afghanistan, where he said
the Iraq war has had "disastrous consequences" for the battle against the al
Qaeda terrorist network.
Furthermore, he said, the Iraq war has hurt American support for
international engagement and damaged public trust in the government.
Obama calls for a limited pullout of American troops from Iraq.
Obama said the withdrawal of American combat troops could be coupled with a
stepped-up effort to train Iraqi troops, with more special-operations units
working as advisers with Iraqi forces.
He said a Democratic-run Congress would take a closer look at where the $20
billion-plus in U.S. reconstruction funds have been spent, proposing to link
continued aid to progress toward an Iraqi political settlement.
He said any effort to settle the conflict should include talks with Iraq's
neighbors, Syria and Iran, which he said are "by far the biggest
beneficiary" of the 2003 invasion that toppled former dictator Saddam
Hussein.
"We know these countries want us to fail, and we should remain steadfast in
our opposition to their support of terrorism and Iran's nuclear ambitions,"
Obama said.
"But neither Iran nor Syria want to see a security vacuum in Iraq filled
with chaos, terrorism, refugees, and violence, as it could have a
destabilizing effect throughout the entire region -- and within their own
countries."
We don’t need to wait for the 3000th death of someone else’s child in Iraq
to make us realize that a war without an exit strategy puts all of our
families in jeopardy. We don’t have to accept the diminishment of the
American Dream in this country now, or ever.
It’s time for us to meet the whys of today with the why nots we often quote
but rarely live – to answer “why hunger” and “why homeless,” “why violence”
and “why despair” with “why not good jobs and living wages,” “why not better
health care and world class schools,” “why not a country where we make
possible the potential that exists in every human being?”
If Robert Kennedy were here today, it would be hard to place him into any of
the categories that so often constrain us politically.
He was a fervent anti-communist but knew diplomacy was our way out of the
Cuban Missile Crisis. He sought to wage the war on poverty but with local
partnerships and community activism.
He was at once both hard-headed and big-hearted.
And yet, his was not a centrism in the sense of finding a middle road or a
certain point on the ideological spectrum. His was a politics that, at its
heart, was deeply moral – based on the notion that in this world, there is
right and there is wrong, and it’s our job to organize our laws and our
lives around recognizing the difference."
Barack Obama...
~~~ I think we need someone like Mr. Obama who can lead
from a conjunction of conservative ideas, moral principles,
and liberal American traditions. He has the intelligence
and humility to seek the counsel of those who can help
solve the problems we face. He can reach the American people, touch them, and reconnect them with civic-engagement and hope. His calls for equity, economic
justice, and nonpartisan commitment to revitalization
of the American dream through popular reform
are the essence of populism which can win this election
and turn this nation around. He is a contender. He may be our best shot at victory.
Tim
GUCD | Blog.The Case for Barack Obama.
I'd like to take the time to argue my case that Senator Barack Obama is the
right man to be President come Janurary 20th, 2009. ...
www.georgetown.edu/users/plt4/dems/blog/2006/04/case-for-barack-obama.html
Barack Obama... is
a very gifted politician. Here is a man of our nation for all nations. His
presence alone is a rebuke to the provincial myopia of the current
administration. His ability to engage people with his deep interest in who
they are is fascinating. His intellect is rivaled by few yet he never
appears to condescend. He, too, speaks from a place that is both heart and
mind. He is serious yet unflinchingly affable. And he plays the English
language like a fine instrument.
Imagine the message to the rest of the world if we were to have the wisdom
to elect Barack Obama as our next president. He is the antithesis of George
W. Bush. Barack is a man of enormous intellect, curiosity, humility,
worldliness, and charisma whose oratorical skills make Bush look petty and
pathetic by comparison. His presidency would be a message to the rest world
that we want to rejoin the world community as a partner interested in
solving the world's dilemmas together.
Is it too much to hope for that our country has evolved to a point where we
actually can elect a person based on the content of his head and heart and
not the color of his skin? I have a dream. I long for it to become a
reality.
Sara Nichols
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-nichols/barack-for-president_b_35117.html
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