What Obama Said About Iraq In 2008
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to meet with Secretary-General of the Arab League Nabil Elaraby in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014. Kerry arrived in Cairo for a short visit of less than a day to discuss how Egypt can help in the fight against the Islamic State group. He has been on a regional trip to garner support for President Barack ObamaÂs initiative to go assemble a coalition of nations willing to go after the militant group. Kerry heads to Paris next for a meeting on how to support Iraq in its fight against the Islamic State group, which holds large parts of Iraq and Syria. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
THIS New York Times op-ed about Iraq by candidate Barck Obama in 2008 is worthy of mention:
MCCAIN: “The differences on Iraq in this campaign are deep. Unlike Senator John McCain, I opposed the war in Iraq before it began, and would end it as president. I believed it was a grave mistake to allow ourselves to be distracted from the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban by invading a country that posed no imminent threat and had nothing to do with the 9/11 attacks. Since then, more than 4,000 Americans have died and we have spent nearly $1 trillion. Our military is overstretched. Nearly every threat we face — from Afghanistan to Al Qaeda to Iran — has grown.”
SURGE: “In the 18 months since President Bush announced the surge, our troops have performed heroically in bringing down the level of violence. New tactics have protected the Iraqi population, and the Sunni tribes have rejected Al Qaeda — greatly weakening its effectiveness.”
IRAQI POLICE: “Meanwhile, Lt. Gen. James Dubik, the American officer in charge of training Iraq’s security forces, estimates that the Iraqi Army and police will be ready to assume responsibility for security in 2009.”
IRAQ: “Only by redeploying our troops can we press the Iraqis to reach comprehensive political accommodation and achieve a successful transition to Iraqis’ taking responsibility for the security and stability of their country.”
BUSH: “Instead of seizing the moment and encouraging Iraqis to step up, the Bush administration and Senator McCain are refusing to embrace this transition — despite their previous commitments to respect the will of Iraq’s sovereign government. They call any timetable for the removal of American troops “surrender,” even though we would be turning Iraq over to a sovereign Iraqi government.”
REDEPLOY: “After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces. That would not be a precipitous withdrawal.”
TERROR: “Iraq is not the central front in the war on terrorism, and it never has been. As Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently pointed out, we won’t have sufficient resources to finish the job in Afghanistan until we reduce our commitment to Iraq.”
PLAN: “As president, I would pursue a new strategy, and begin by providing at least two additional combat brigades to support our effort in Afghanistan…”
FLIP-FLOPS: “In this campaign, there are honest differences over Iraq, and we should discuss them with the thoroughness they deserve. Unlike Senator McCain, I would make it absolutely clear that we seek no presence in Iraq similar to our permanent bases in South Korea, and would redeploy our troops out of Iraq and focus on the broader security challenges that we face. But for far too long, those responsible for the greatest strategic blunder in the recent history of American foreign policy have ignored useful debate in favor of making false charges about flip-flops and surrender. It’s not going to work this time. It’s time to end this war.”
Fast forward to 2014 and reboot up the war on terror…
Posted: 13th, September 2014 | In: Politicians Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
