Barack Obama: Leaving Iraq will make America safer

[Hope And Change]

Leaving Iraq will make America safer

Surge success can't mask political failure


By Barack Obama
For the Monitor

December 29. 2007 12:25AM

In recent weeks, I've been asked if the "surge" is working, and if we should continue to fight the war in Iraq. The answer is decisively no.

Those who support the surge are making the same mistakes that war supporters have made all along: They fail to understand how the Iraq war sets back our security, and they fail to understand that there is no military solution in Iraq.

I am the only major candidate for president who opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, before it was politically popular. I thought it was wrong to take our focus off of the terrorists in Afghanistan who hit us on 9/11, and to use fear and falsehoods to attack a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. I warned about "an occupation of undetermined length, and undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences" in the middle of the Arab world.

But Congress voted for war, giving President Bush the authority that he uses to keep our troops in Iraq to this day. The costs of that decision have been immense: nearly 4,000 precious American lives, a price-tag that will exceed $1 trillion, and a world that is more dangerous and resistant to American leadership.

The surge has lowered the level of violence in Iraq from the horrific levels of 2006, but it has completely failed to resolve the political grievances at the heart of Iraq's civil war. Meanwhile, we continue to take casualties, our military is overstretched and our military leadership warns that Afghanistan risks sliding into chaos without more troops.

more...

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071229/OPINION/712290312

[silverweb]

1. Yup.

It is the single most important first step towards that goal.


GObama!

[killbotfactory]

2. The Iraq war was a disaster for everyone except energy companies and defense contractors

It has strengthened the terrorists we are supposedly trying to fight, and we see the repercussions of that all over the middle east and anywhere they set up camp.

[sandnsea]

3. Hear that Bill? The surge is not working.

We need to get out of Iraq.

[msongs]

4. so has he introduced legislation for troop withdrawal and occupation de-funding today?? nt

[AtomicKitten]

5. We need to undo the damage and acrimony we have inflicted on the planet.

Peace on earth.

[calimary]

6. Well it's About Fucking TIME!!! How long has it taken for somebody

to stand up and issue this statement??!?!?!? Unbelievable.

Leaving Iraq WILL Make America SAFER!!!

Repeat, repeat, repeat, and repeat some more! THAT is propaganda worth catapulting.