Obama’s Dishonest Spin on Iraq
Tags: Barack Obama, Democrats, Government, Middle East, President Bush, State of the Union, The Surge, Troop Surge.
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Obama’s surrogates are out there on the hustings trying to say that Obama always said the “troop surge” would work – don’t believe it for a moment:
“I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse.” (MSNBC’s “Response To The President’s Speech On Iraq,” 1/10/07)
“We cannot impose a military solution on what has effectively become a civil war. And until we acknowledge that reality — we can send 15,000 more troops, 20,000 more troops, 30,000 more troops, I don’t know any expert on the region or any military officer that I’ve spoken to privately that believes that that is going to make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground.” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” 1/14/07)
“But I did not see anything in the speech or anything in the run- up to the speech that provides evidence that an additional 15,000 to 20,000 more U.S. troops is going to make a significant dent in the sectarian violence that’s taking place there.” (CNN’s “Larry King Live,” 1/10/07)
“But right now what we have is, I think by all accounts, a disaster unfolding in Iraq . We all have a responsibility, Democrats and Republicans, Congress and the White House, to make sure that we can come up with the best strategy. I don’t think the president’s strategy is going to work. We went through two weeks of hearings on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee; experts from across the spectrum — military and civilian, conservative and liberal — expressed great skepticism about it. My suggestion to the president has been that the only way we’re going to change the dynamic in Iraq and start seeing political commendation is actually if we create a system of phased redeployment. And, frankly, the president, I think, has not been willing to consider that option, not because it’s not militarily sound but because he continues to cling to the belief that somehow military solutions are going to lead to victory in Iraq .” (MSNBC’s “Reaction To The State Of The Union Address,” 1/23/07)
“And what was striking to me in listening to all the testimony that was provided, was the almost near unanimity that the president’s strategy will not work. The almost near unanimity among experts on the Middle East and Iraq that the president’s strategy would not work. I was further struck by a consensus among the majority of witnesses that I heard — and, you know, I was not in every minute of every hearing — that we needed to, rather than escalate our troop levels, we actually needed to de-escalate; that, consistent with what the Iraq Study Group had stated, only by indicating in a strong fashion to the Iraqi government that we will not be there in perpetuity will we be able to change the dynamic and force the Shia, Sunni and Kurds to make the political accommodations that are required in order for us to bring some cessation to the violence that exists there. So, what’s striking to me is, at least, outside of politics, consensus seems to be building. It certainly is built among the American people. It is built among the experts in the area. And what remains, then, is the need for us to act.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Committee On Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate, Hearing, 1/24/07)
Again and again and again Obama clearly and without qualification stated his view that the surge wouldn’t work and he backed up his view by citing alleged expert testimony stating that it wouldn’t work. There’s no two ways about it – Obama committed himself from the start to the position that the surge would not work. Now that it has worked and Obama is essentially being forced to acknowledge it he is choosing the standard Democratic tactic when faced with gross error – lie, lie and then lie some more. We can’t let Obama get away with this – he owns defeat in Iraq and can’t claim the slightest bit of credit for the fact that we are now winning.
Not only is it disgusting that Obama is trying to slither out of his 2007 defeatism but this attempt shows, if we needed more proof, that Obama is manifestly unfit to be President. A President is a person who must be willing to take the hard decision even if they are unpopular and who must be willing to endure the slings and arrows to ensure that the required things are done – Obama is proving himself a feather blown upon the winds of fashion and motivated entirely by a desire for personal power and prestige.
McCain advocated the surge even before President Bush did – heck, even when I thought the surge wouldn’t be necessary, McCain was out there saying it was. Kudos to McCain for perceiving correctly what needed to be done and more honor to him for staking out a position which was very unpopular at the time it was implemented. McCain, just in this alone, has shown that he has what it takes to be President – in the test of leadership, McCain has passed with flying colors, while Obama is still trying to copy the answers off the smart kid in the room.
Thank you for visiting Blogs For Victory. If you enjoy our content, please consider making a donation to help us cover the costs of our servers.Mark Noonan is co-author (with Matt Margolis) of Caucus of Corruption: The Truth About The New Democratic Majority. He also blogs at Nevada News and Views. Follow Mark on Twitter.
53 Responses to “Obama’s Dishonest Spin on Iraq”
Caucus of Corruption
#33. Leo Pusateri | July 2nd, 2008 at 1:41 pm
“44 percent of Iraqis feel that their country is headed in the right direction. On the other hand, only 17 percent of Americans feel the same way.
The difference here being, in November 73% of Americans will think the country is now headed in the right direction. 56% of Iraqi’s (of the ones that are still living or in country. This is including the ones that have been bribed) will most likely still think their country is headed in the wrong direction.
Today’s lesson, America is a Democracy and free nation. Iraq, functioned better under Saddam and is currently a political nightmare and war zone. But lets continue to compare stats because like Ann Coulter says, Baghdad is similar to the proverbial ghetto in the US.
extra,
Obama said – definitively – that the surge wouldn’t work and, indeed, would make things worse; Obama’s counter-proposal to the surge was to propose a law which would have started our withdrawal immediately and which have got the last US soldier out three months ago.
You can try to say all you want that I’m being shameful – but you really need to think about this, extra: Obama said it would fail; his people are not trying to sell the story that he didn’t say that…he was either lying in 2007, or he’s lying now. Pick one. There’s no third option.
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