Obama: "It Is Time To Bring This Conflict To A Responsible End"

[flpoljunkie]

Obama: "It Is Time To Bring This Conflict To A Responsible End"

By Greg Sargent
TPM Cafe

Via a campaign statement, here's Barack Obama's take on the meaning of the Iraq War's fourth anniversary:

“The consequences of this war have been dire, and the sacrifices have been immeasurable. Too many of our best have now returned from Iraq shrouded in the flag they loved. Too many have come home with broken bodies and shattered nerves and wounds that even the best care may not heal. And the rest of us have seen too many promises of swift victories, and dying insurgencies, and budding democracy give way to the reality of a brutal civil war that goes on and on to this day.

“When I opposed this invasion in 2002, I said that I am not against all wars, but dumb wars, and I believed that authorizing this conflict would lead to a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.

“This is sadly where we find ourselves today. There is no military solution to this war. No amount of U.S. soldiers can solve the grievances that lay at the heart of someone else’s civil war. We must begin a phased redeployment of our forces starting May 1st, with the goal of removing all combat forces by March 30th, 2008. Letting the Iraqis know that we will not be there forever is our last, best hope to pressure the Iraqis to take ownership of their country and bring an end to their conflict.

“History will not judge the architects of this war kindly. But the books have yet to be written on our efforts to right the wrongs we see in Iraq. It is time to bring this conflict to a responsible end so we can bring our troops home and refocus on the wider struggle yet to be won.”

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral/2007/mar/19/obama_it_is_time_to_bring_this_conflict_to_a_responsible_end

[RedEarth]

1. I'm seeing him today at 4:30, so I would guess he'll have the same message

....certainly one that I agree with. Unless something changes between now and the primaries, Obama got my vote.

[Learn2Swim]

3. just wait

until you see him in person. I was supposed to be there today as well, but couldn't make the trip. I did get to see him when he visited Austin tho.

You'll have to tell us what you thought of it tonight or sometime. Have fun

-jealous ;)

[Dawgs]

2. What I like about Obama,..

Is that he was against this war from the beginning, and prior to 2004 had no ideas of running for President - at least not in 2008.

[John Q. Citizen]

4. Well, I'm not that impressed. First of all, this is an invasion and an occupation,

not a "conflict."

Second of all, Obama did speak out once against the war, which is good, yet he also has voted consistently to fund the war he spoke out against. This is bizarre. Why vote to fund what you are opposed to?

And Thirdly, blaming the Iraqis because we invaded, occupied, and ran the county into the ground is just diverting responsibility from the aggressors to the victims. I blame everyone who enabled and continues to enable the aggressors for this war. Not Iraqis who won't "stand up" to perpetuate the policies of the aggressors.

[bigdarryl]

5. well then you have two other choices Richardson or Edwards because every...

Senator running for President is going to continue to FUND this police action. thats why i don't like senators as Presidential candidates, there lousy.

[John Q. Citizen]

6. I'm hoping Gore will run. In the meantime, I'm backing Kucinich because he's

the only candidate declared with the foresight and the balls to do what's right for the country without holding his finger in the wind first.

[flpoljunkie]

7. Obama does refer to what is going on is Iraq as an "occupation."

Obama Draws 10,000 to Oakland Rally

By LAURA KURTZMAN
The Associated Press

Saturday, March 17, 2007; 10:09 PM

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Illinois Sen. Barack Obama attracted a crowd of 10,000 or more to downtown Oakland Saturday in his first Bay Area rally.

Having glided to the top tier of Democratic candidates on a message of hope, Obama told the crowd his campaign "is a vehicle for your hopes; it is a vehicle for your dreams."

But he also used the appearance to contrast himself with his chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton. Without naming her, Obama made an issue of Clinton's much criticized 2002 vote to authorize the war in Iraq, for which she has refused to apologize.

"I am proud of the fact that I opposed this war from the start," Obama said to huge cheers in this most anti-war of cities. "That I stood up in 2002 and said this is a bad idea. This is going to cost of billions of dollars and thousands of lives."

Obama said it was time to leave Iraq and to tell the Iraqis, "We want to be your partners, but we can't continue this occupation."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

[goclark]

8. Eloquent and thoughtful nt

[endarkenment]

9. Unfortunately that is not possible.

We do need to get out and the sooner the better, but the end of our occupation is going to horrible and messy. As long as we are facing up to reality about the war we might as well face up to the reality about the end of our involvement in this war. It will not be pretty.

[flpoljunkie]

10. The Iraqis deserve to have our occupation ended, as quickly and as responsibly as possible.

[endarkenment]

11. Yes well 'responsible' is a weasel word in this context.

I have no idea how one goes about responsibly ending an illegal occupation. I suspect however that it ends up having something to do with not actually ending the occupation.