« Text of Barack Obama speech on Iraq, Fayetteville, North Carolina 3-19-08: will end war on Day One
A Latte Big Changes In Store At Starbucks »



Video of Barack Obama speech on Iraq, Fayetteville, North Carolina 3-19-08: will end war on Day One

March 19th, 2008
By JILL MILLER ZIMON


See the full video (with an accompanying text article) from here. Many key graphs, see this post for the text of the speech. Here is where he makes the Day One promise:

When you have no overarching strategy, there is no clear definition of success. Success comes to be defined as the ability to maintain a flawed policy indefinitely. Here is the truth: fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer.

So when I am Commander-in-Chief, I will set a new goal on Day One: I will end this war. Not because politics compels it. Not because our troops cannot bear the burden- as heavy as it is. But because it is the right thing to do for our national security, and it will ultimately make us safer.

In order to end this war responsibly, I will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. We can responsibly remove 1 to 2 combat brigades each month. If we start with the number of brigades we have in Iraq today, we can remove all of them 16 months. After this redeployment, we will leave enough troops in Iraq to guard our embassy and diplomats, and a counter-terrorism force to strike al Qaeda if it forms a base that the Iraqis cannot destroy. What I propose is not - and never has been - a precipitous drawdown. It is instead a detailed and prudent plan that will end a war nearly seven years after it started.



This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 at 7:38 pm and is filed under General David Petraeus, Saddam Hussein, Newsweek Blogitics, Primaries, Osama bin Laden, Withdrawal, 2008 Elections, War, Barack Obama, Al Qaeda, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 3 Comments

    • ^
    • v
    "we can remove all of them 16 months. After this redeployment, we will leave enough troops in Iraq"

    hmmm
    • ^
    • v
    At least President Clinton was sane enough to forget about maintaining an embassy in Somalia after the U.S. abandon the country. Does Senator Obama really believe that there will be a government to deal with after the U.S. abandons Iraq? Does he really believe he can get anyone to volunteer for the duty of being there? Does he really believe that the U.S. can work with Iran and Syria to deal with the refugees?

    I would also guess that the promises to keep a strike force in Iraq will be quickly forgotten. Does he really believe that a strike for can be maintained through air support only? What does he think it would do?

    His speech reads like an undergraduate thesis written for by a rich white kids at an Ivy league. Too bad he cannot be honest enough to just say that Iraq is not worth the effort and that the U.S. should just leave and that any benefits from a continued presence are less than costs.

    I also noticed that the word Kurd is not in the speech. I guess that will quickly be thrown under the bus.

    Of course, using the Obama Doctrine there is then no reasons to stay in Afghanistan since country building should not be done and any country that has a Muslim resistance needs to be avoided. I wonder how all of the hip, elite activist on his staff are going to convince Americans that U.S. intervention in Darfur is in the U.S. interest?
    • ^
    • v
    The only hope that the Iraqis have is that McCain or Hillary win the nomination. Otherwise they must take personal responsibility for themselves.

    The antiwar sound like republicans. They must take responsibility for their own actions. They must succeed or we throw them off the welfare rolls.

    How odd is the collection of people that make up the antiwar movement. How odd is the Senator from Illinois in his criticism of a war from a purely logical standpoint.

    What wars have ever been logical. What battle ever followed a predefined path. Not only are the turks attacking the kurds in the north but the rest of the middle east is waiting to pounce and for the first time the Europeans are starting to see the need to be involved in this area and yet we have a candidate who wants to end the war on day one.

    Barak Obama is not a uniter. He is an opportunist. He is taking the war and making it the only thing in which to run a campaign upon. The hatreds by both sides have been the result of the war and he has taken upon himself a candidacy for the POTUS with no experience, little judgment and a single, simple message.

    End the war. How sad for the Iraqis if America gives him his dream job.

Trackbacks

close Reblog this comment
Powered by Disqus · Learn more
blog comments powered by Disqus

« Text of Barack Obama speech on Iraq, Fayetteville, North Carolina 3-19-08: will end war on Day One
A Latte Big Changes In Store At Starbucks »

By posting comments on The Moderate Voice you are acknowledging and agreeing to the following general comments policy:

(1) The Moderate Voice's comments are hosted by Disqus (http://disqus.com). If your comment doesn't appear immediately, please be patient since it is an off-site system.

(2) All e-mail received from readers by The Moderate Voice is considered intended for publication unless otherwise indicated in the initial message from the writer. Please do not send us attachments unless you contact us and we agree to it.

(3)The Moderate Voice reserves the right to edit all e-mail and posted comments for content, clarity, and length.

(4) Our comment space is reserved for comments that relate to a post's topic. You should not reprint lengthy text from your own works or those of others, including news articles. You MAY link to them.

(5) Comments that are abusive, offensive, contain profane or racist material or violate the terms of service for this blog's host provider will be removed and the author(s) banned from future comments. Such comments also violate the very SPIRIT of this site -- which was created to encourage thoughtful and vigorous discussion among readers who may share differing viewpoints.

(6) All points of view are welcome on The Moderate Voice, with the following exceptions:

(a) Comments posted several times a day with the intent of dominating, re-directing or hijacking the thread by turning a discussion into the equivalent of a bitter shouting match.

(b) Comments posted several times a day that insult or call other commenters or blog writers names or repeatedly make the same point with the effect of or clear intent to annoy other commenters or blog writers.

(7) Name-calling, personal attacks, racist comments or use of profanity by any commenter, whether they are by persons who agree or disagree with the views expressed by The Moderate Voice will NOT be tolerated and will result in the deletion of the comment and the banning of the commenter's ISP address, without notice. In some cases a comment may be deleted and the writer will be given another chance. Commenters who virtually ASK The Moderate Voice to ban them by ignoring any warnings or daring TMV to ban them will quickly get their wish.

(8) Anonymous commenters should identify themselves with the same moniker, so readers know their comments are coming from a single individual. If they don't, they are subject to a banning.

(9)If we have problems with inappropriate or inflammatory comments from a commenter who it turns out gave a fake email address that person is subject to immediate banning.

(10) Quotes from material appearing on The Moderate Voice with attribution are allowed. Reprints are allowed only by permission from The Moderate Voice. You may request permission by e-mail.

(11) The Moderate Voice is a personal site. It is not the Government. It is NOT aligned with any political party. It is NOT promoting any specific candidate for office. It is not a public institution or a media organization. It is not a neutral site. It is intended to express and disseminate the authors' varying points of views. Writers on this weblog WILL take positions. It reserves the right to limit comments to those that, in its view, comport with its stated comment policy. Comments that do not comply are subject to deletion and banning of the author's ISP.

Disclaimer:

--Reading and posting comments at The Moderate Voice constitutes acknowledgment of and agreement to the terms outlined in this comment policy. This comment policy may be revised in part or in full at any time.

--All comments must comport with applicable state and federal laws. The Moderate Voice has no obigation to monitor, edit, censor, or take responsibility for comments. It may or may not act upon a violation of its comment policy once a suspected violation has been brought to its attention. Therefore, commenters are solely responsible for the content of their comments and should ensure that that their comments are lawful and fall within the stated guidelines of both The Moderate Voice and its hosting company.

--The Moderate Voice is not be responsible for injury or liability to any reader or commenter resulting from its own communications or those of commenters, that may be offensive, misleading, inaccurate, illegal, or otherwise unsuitable in the view of the reader. Readers and commenters further agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Moderate Voice from claims resulting from the use of any material appearing on The Moderate Voice which damages the reader, commenter or any other party.

--The Moderate Voice is not responsible for and might disagree with material posted in the comments section. While we strive for accuracy in our posts and DO correct errors, material posted by The Moderate Voice in its posts -- or those left by others in the comments section -- may or may not be accurate.

Read and Post at your own risk.