Barack Obama - 7/3/08
"I have said throughout this campaign that this war was ill-conceived, that it was a strategic blunder and that it needs to come to an end," he said. "I have also said I would be deliberate and careful about how we get out. That position has not changed. I am not searching for maneuvering room with respect to that position." ... "and I will give them a new mission and that is to end this war, responsibly and deliberately, but decisively." ... "I will bring our troops out at a pace of one two brigades a month" which would mean the United States would be totally out of Iraq in 16 months. "That is what I intend to do as president of the United States."
Barack Obama - 11/1/07
"But listen, I am not going to set up our troops for failure and I'm going to do something half-baked. If the commanders tell me that they need X, Y and Z, in order to accomplish the very narrow mission that I've laid out, than I will take that into consideration."
Barack Obama - 3/19/08
"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."
Barack Obama - 12/29/07
"The quickest, responsible pace for withdrawal is 1 to 2 combat brigades each month, which means we could remove all of our combat brigades within 16 months."
Barack Obama - 11/28/07
"It's not my job to specify troop levels. My job is to tell our commanders on the ground, 'Here's your mission. Protect our embassy, protect our diplomats and our humanitarian workers in the area and make sure al Qaeda in Iraq, or other terrorist organizations inside of Iraq are not re-establishing bases there."
Barack Obama - 3/2/08
"The precise size of the residual force will depend on consultations with our military commanders and will depend on the circumstances on the ground, including the willingness of the Iraqi government to move toward political accommodation. But let me be clear on one thing: I will end this war, and there will be far fewer Americans in Iraq conducting a much more limited set of missions that include counterterrorism and protection of our embassy and U.S. civilians."
Those links are more than ample proof that those who claim Barack Obama 'flip-flopped' yesterday on Iraq are either stupid, liars, Republicans, phony-conservatives (aka-wingnuts) or just ignorant and not paying attention.
But I'll help keep you up with the facts!
Sixteen months from January 20, 2009 is May 20, 2010, or more than 22 months from now. Fuck the Iraqis if they can't get their shit straight by then.
Obama has been fairly clear on how we will be as "careful getting out of Iraq as the Bush administration was careless getting in."
Either pay attention or shut-up and get the fuck out of the way!
ADDENDUM: I wanted to add another statement Barack Obama made yesterday. This, to all you 'part-time' Constitutionalist wingnuts, is the statement you should pay closest attention to and learn something from:
"Let me be absolutely clear. As president I set the mission. This is a…I just had an interview with the Military Times yesterday in which I said one of the flaws in the president’s approach is to say that he is doing what General Petraeus tells him is the best thing to do. That’s not the president’s job. The President’s job is to tell the generals what their mission is."That, is how a real Commander In Chief leads this nation.
"No military commander should be so placed as to have no civil superior." --Thomas Jefferson
ADDENDUM II: And, speaking of Thomas Jefferson on this day, the Fourth of July. Did you remember that both Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence? I didn't either but MSNBC just reminded me of it.
ADDENDUM III: I'm watching George W. Bush do a stand-up act at Monticello. Thomas Jefferson would pop out of that grave and smack George W. Bush in the chops if he could. The man is the anti-Jefferson.
