A portion of Obama’s address at Camp Lejeune, NC, today:
Next month will mark the sixth anniversary of the war in Iraq. By any measure, this has already been a long war. For the men and women of America’s armed forces — and for your families — this war has been one of the most extraordinary chapters of service in the history of our nation. You have endured tour after tour after tour of duty. You have known the dangers of combat and the lonely distance of loved ones. You have fought against tyranny and disorder. You have bled for your best friends and for unknown Iraqis. And you have borne an enormous burden for your fellow citizens, while extending a precious opportunity to the people of Iraq. Under tough circumstances, the men and women of the United States military have served with honor, and succeeded beyond any expectation.
Today, I have come to speak to you about how the war in Iraq will end.
The short version: combat mission will be over by August 31, 2010, and all troops will be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. The number of times he uses the word “honor”: five. And in addition to what he has to say to America, he also takes a moment to speak directly to the Iraqis, and in a flourish Lincoln would approve of, says, “our nations have known difficult times together” and “ours is a bond forged by shared bloodshed.” These are the words by which we’re going to remember the beginning of the end of the Iraq War.
This is the same speech McCain would have given.
And meanwhile Iran and North Korea are becoming nuclear powers.
Condi Rice was right – the smoking gun will be a mushroom cloud, and the blame will be laid at the feet of B. Hussein Obama.
sumbuddy forgot he is expanding the war in Afghanistan and probably into Pakistan
No “honor” for LGBT soldiers, whose spouses cannot “greet them as heroes” when they arrive home, whose families are excluded from the support systems Obama was trumpeting in that speech.
That is what I’ll remember when I think of Obama and the military: he dishonors his own.
4
‘dishonors his own’?
wtf?
Obama opposes gay marriage.
good gawd you fags are naive
Good Morning Chris,
Indeed, that’s good news. Yes, we hope for a permanent democratic Iraq. Whether or not the war was “just”, the men and women of the Armed Forces served/will have served with distinction.
“We’ve surely let the Iraqis know that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our FREEDOM!”
Too slow.
Sadly, @1 for the win.
Thanks to the surge and ‘W, this is possible.
@3: Yeah, as he should. I got into an argument with some moron Nadar supporter over that. He was like, “uhhhh you know Obama wants to expand military operations in Afganistan”. I was like “yeah, I know. Duh. Also, I totally agree with it”.
Then he tried to “explain” to me why it was wrong, and Nadar was so great…blah blah blah….then I was like, dude, just STFU and be greatful we’re getting Obama.
Stupid Nadar tool.
@10: that is a pretty empty thanks, considering that is was mis-managed for YEARS and that in reality we should have never been there.
But go ahead, thank him for finally putting enough boots on the ground to make a difference after years of bloodshed, thousands of troops killed and wounded, and HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of dead Iraqis.
*Thanks BUSHIE!*
Iraq and the U.S. have made strange bed fellows.
Since Iran and North Korea became nuclear during the Bush years, raindrop, perhaps you should be laying the blame on Bush, rather than the guy who has only been on the job for five weeks.
So, Riddle-me-this @10:
Did we ever find those WMD’s shrub, Colin, Cheney & Co. kept talking about? You know, the ones that were supposedly the REASON we invaded Iraq in the first place?
Awaiting your reply…
Obama’s plan is NOT to remove all troops!!!
It’s to remove all “combat troops”, which in some cases means redefining them rather than redeploying them, involves tens of thousands of US military for the forseeable future, and doesn’t include private contractors.
Please make a note of it.
@15: No, of course we didn’t find the WMD. Regardless of the circumstances or blunders of the invasion, it doesn’t negate the fact that the surge was a good decision – which Obama opposed.
The surge still failed.
We would have been far better off to have started bringing them home then, instead of now.
@18: HA!
That’s not what the Iraqis think:
Many Iraqis Fear Hasty Withdrawl — and this is NOT Fox News.
Didn’t Bush sign an agreement to get out of Iraq by 2011 right before he left office? Isn’t Obama just abiding by that plan? What then, are we to thank him for?
@19 – the Iraqis don’t pay US taxes.
Which means … who cares what they supposedly think?
@17
Without our invasion of a country ( that was in no way a real threat to the US), we would not have needed the surge. And actually it has been very questionable with the surge actually did anything. Most military analyst point to the billions that we ended up paying in pay off money to the insurgents as well as to people like al Sadr to leave us a lone and play nice.
Most interestingly, the failed wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have shown that our military is incapable of producing a victory, even with near limitless funds for both.