No One Should Be Shocked or Surprised

[tekisui]

that a massive war escalation would receive vocal opposition from Democrats, Progressives and Liberals.

Did you honestly expect different just because it is a Democratic President selling a war?

[midnight]

1. I should say not. Time to end the killing....

[Mari333]

2. I protested and marched when Clinton was bombing Iraq with flyovers

and the same with Bush1 and Bush 2 and LBJ and Kennedy. I dont care who the hell is in office, a warmonger is a warmonger.
Nothing more annoying then people who cannot think for themselves.

[Orsino]

3. Yep. We're just doing what we promised to do...

...long before the nation had ever heard of Barack Obama.

Why all the feigned surprise?

[raccoon]

4. Yall remember in '68, Nixon's "secret plan" to end the war? It wasn't until 1973

that the troops were pulled out.

[ChiciB1]

5. What I Can't Wrap My Head Around Is How Many Here Actually Seem To Be

defending Obama on this! Like, let's just wait and see WHAT he's going to say. How can what he's going to say make anything about this better?

Of course, I too protested against WAR and was vocal and unhappy with Clinton back when, so WHY should we give Obama a pass? Can we not at least "come together" as a Party and try to find some unity here? War is awful, but extending DUMB, STUPID, MORE WAR in the Middle East seems close to a mortal sin!

Too many others have tried in this country and failed. My analogy way back when we invaded Iraq that we were only opening up that region to mounds and mounds of angry fire ant beds, coming from everywhere to join together in a common cause of hatred for our invasion! And THE BEAT GOES ON!!

When will it ever end and how can ANY EXPLANATION be "good enough" to justify MORE KILLING? I'm more than upset than ever. I've been disappointed with various things that Obama AND The Democratic Congress has been doing to "we the people" but this one is MOST EGREGIOUS!

Please, can't we just see if for what it is? More money for THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX and the promoters who stand to gain by profiting from this? What's that definition of INSANITY AGAIN??

Flame away, I can't support this, I JUST CAN'T and I feel so useless because I know this won't be stopped!

[polmaven]

6. So we need to have a "purity test"?

We MUST oppose anything that resembles combat under all circumstances or we are not actually Democrats?

Please, please recall that the Prisident is doing exactly what he said during the campaign that he would do.

What I don't understand is why there are so many who are surprised that he is doing what he SAID he would do! :shrug:

[ChiciB1]

8. He Has Already Been Sending Troops Since His Election... About 8,000 Or More.

I KNOW that the same words about "what he promised to do" is going to be repeated over and over, but that does not mean I agreed with then nor do I agree with it now.

I united to vote for him because he was THE NOMINEE and I had thought that Joe Biden would be influential in perhaps in "fine tuning" his stance. I AM NOT surprised by this, I just DON'T LIKE IT!

And no, I don't think we need to be lemmings to be a Democrats. My questions is why can't we unite against a policy against war. If you disagree then so be it. What I prefer or want is my opinion, but I would like to make a stand against more war as a Party. What I feel as a Democrat has long since been fractured so I can't BE SURPRISED!

[Tejas]

11. "he is doing what he SAID he would do"

How many troops are still in Iraq?

and for how long?

[polmaven]

15. He never said

he would pull all of the troops out of Iraq immediately. He always said that would be a gradual withdrawal.

[Tejas]

19. and I didn't say he did

Keep your deceptive rhetoric to yourself.

[polmaven]

20. Then please explain how

the fact that there are still troops in Iraq falls in the category of not doing what he said during the campaign. :shrug:

[Tejas]

22. nice out-of-context there but try this:

Google his Wyoming campaign speech, which sounded great (though I still think he was WAY off base about Hillary) with keywords of 2009 repeated for impact to please the crowd and then follow up on his comments that well, maybe 2010, 2011, and then "oh, fall of 2012 for sure".

He could do a lot more (and should) without us "making him go out and do it"

[polmaven]

23. Perhaps it is you who needs to google

the meaning of "out of context". You have still not explained how troops still being in Iraq constitutes not doing what he promised. Because you do not agree with him, he IS doing what he SAID he would do.

[Tejas]

26. maybe basic math is easier for you

How many troops has he withdrawn from Iraq (and not shipped to Afghanistan).

[polmaven]

28. Exactly when did he say

he wouldn't redeploy troops from Iraq to Afghanistan?

Face it. He is doing just what he said he would do. Because you disagree with him does not mean he is going back on his word.

[Tejas]

31. you just refuse to own up to #11 with an answer

have a nice day.

[polmaven]

34. Buh Bye!

!

[Obamanaut]

27. What is 'prisident', freeper spelling? nt

[polmaven]

29. Ooops....LOL

No, not freeper...just Bushspell! (that and being in a hurry 'cause I was at work....shhh...don't tell, OK?)

[Sukie]

7. And I can't understand how anyone is surprised that he

is doing this. Afghanistan has always been part of his campaign promise. He spoke many times about ending the war in Iraq in order to concentrate on Afghanistan. It is not as simple as leaving. The region is seriously unstable, thanks in a great part to bush's failed agenda there. We may not have liked the original reason we went there, but that's water under the bridge now. It would be irresponsible to just leave. Obama wants to train the Afghani's to take care of the situation on their own. There are many dangerous factions in the region, just hoping we leave an unstable country, prime for the taking. Honestly, if the sort of any war is a bad war attitude had existed in the 40's, this world would be quite a different world right now.

[Mari333]

9. enlist.

[Sukie]

12. Excuse me? My husband is retired military and my son

is a reservist who has already been to Iraq and could go to Afghanistan. Know of that in which you speak.

[ChiciB1]

14. I Was Raised As An Army Brat... My Father Was A Lifer In The Army...

AND he was against Viet Nam, and maybe even WWII. He was wounded there so didn't see major conflict, plus he was a medic. He had BAD MEMORIES, that much I do know! He was my political mentor and a life long Democrat!

As for enlisting, I'm a female and even too old for that! However, that's not a decision I would make even if I could!

[Mari333]

16. how can you possibly be pro war than?

and I am the mother of 2 soldiers one who has been to Iraq

www.mfso.org


now, how can you possibly be behind either of these insane occupations that could murder our children>>???

I have had a son die.

have you?

Its hell. just warning you.

[ChiciB1]

18. You Are Obviously.y Not Talking To Me... I Had Thought You Were!

Sorry for your loss, I haven't lost a family member during these wars, but I know friends who have. The sorrow they went through touched me deeply. One person actually DID say that they respected their son's service to his country, but also said they DON'T support the wars! They never stood in his way, but he did have trouble finding a job too! Still, I think their son believed in what he was doing in the beginning. From what I've gathered he had a change of heart about what we were doing.

[Sukie]

21. Don't assume that I am "pro war". I'm not.

I never would have supported going into Afghanistan based on the reasons bush went in. But now, with everything we have done to the country, we can't just leave. Stabilize now, do it right...........so that years from now, my son's children aren't back over there, like my son was after his father. When my husband was there, our son was only 11. I never could have imagined that less than 15 years later, my son would go also. He isn't a military sort of young man either. He joined the reserve in order to "do his part", all the while his mom, me, was kicking and screaming for him not to do it. I had had enough, since my dad was also in the army. I didn't want that for my only son. The fear I experienced while he was gone was immense. Even so, I can't imagine the pain of those who have lost loved ones in Iraq or Afghanistan. I am sorry for your loss, whether due to war or otherwise. (I am a member of military families speak out also)

[leeroysphitz]

24. Good. That will give you a leg up in basic training. Let us know how your war is going.

k thx by.

[JVS]

33. Good for them, but should you be doing your duty? Enlist!

[ChiciB1]

13. I Wasn't Around Back Then, But From All I've Read & Seen Those Wars

were a commitment by and with OTHER NATIONS! I don't think the analogy is the same here, this action just seems never ending. There WERE ends to those wars, but then I could be wrong. Just what I've believed from all the history I was taught in school and what I've learned since then.

As I said, what I say is USELESS anyway and this IS NOT what I thought Democrats would support. And just one more thing, right or wrong, Harry Truman or not, dropping those bombs way back when might have given me some nightmares! I can't speak to that specifically because it was before my time and I will admit that some who were bombed actually supported the action. I've just been told this by documentaries I've seen. But the pictures I've seen and the scars inflicted were awful.

I DO remember Viet Nam and I know I would NEVER have voted for LBJ if I could have, even if he had decided to run! Democrat or not! And I think LBJ died a very bitter man because of Viet Nam!

What will be, will be! I don't have to agree, not DO YOU! This country seems to be fracturing more and more as time goes by, and I see a great deal of APATHY that disturbs me.

I'll say no more!

[avaistheone1]

30. Obama was elected to get us out of Iraq, not escalate Afghanistan.

Afghanistan may have been one of his many campaign planks, but the primary issue Obama won on was America out of Iraq. Democrats as well as other Americans were divided on the escalation during his campaign, and are even more so today.

Obama is forgetting the primary lesson of Vietnam: Do not go to war without broad support of the American public.

Therefore, I am surprised Obama is surprised at the reaction he is getting to his forthcoming announcement.

[JohnnyLib2]

10. No. And opposition might have been more acceptable with Hillary!

I think the President's personal popularity and the "hope and change" campaign oversell are big factors at this moment of time.
The uniqueness of Obama's election probably feeds into ambivalence and uproar.

[ChiciB1]

17. I Was NEVER A Supporter Of Hillary... n/t

[Horse with no Name]

25. Many of us are not hypocrites

the ones who are cheerleading JUST because it is Obama--are. It's easy to pick them out.

[David Zephyr]

32. K&R.

.