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Texpat

It takes a completely different candidacy to beat a fellow party member than one from the other camp. Irrespective of party affiliation. Osama will appear to flop more because McCain didn't say much while the GOPers fell out.

That doesn't mean he gets a free pass though.

Boon Mee

He still does not have the qualifications to be POTUS.

Milkman

That's your opinion. I think almost all candidates that get the nomination are qualified. More importantly, can they do the job. Do they have common sense. Do they surround themself with honest people who aren't "yes men & yes women?" Do they make good appointments.

In addition to this, as another poster has said, the President is influential of course, but the heavy lifting is done by the cabinet, bureaucracies, and the effects of POTUS policy are often in judicial appointments and eventual budgets that will be passed through the house.

We'll see in 14 weeks, Boon.

I honestly cannot call this election at this point. I think it will be very tight. I can already imagine the map of the continental US: red in the middle, part of the South, and Blue on the East and West coast and in some possibly, in the South.

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Military men are dumb, stupid animals, to be used as pawns for foreign policy

Boon Mee

The McCain campaign has a powerful new advertisement focusing on Barack Obama’s continually changing positions on Iraq, consisting of nothing but Obama’s own statements: The Obama Iraq Documentary.

...thanks to LGF

sabang

"Obamas Priorities: Lets take a Look"

Well I think the answer is quite obvious- to win the US presidential election.

The considerable discomfiture emenating from the US right wing is compelling evidence that he's going about it the right way.

Guess you'll always blame 'the other person', or snipe at Obama- thats human nature- but much more productive would be to look within, and make an honest appraisal of the results of these neo-con policies. Self criticism is a powerful tool for learning and improvement.

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Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Boon Mee

Heh...should have its own thread - maybe I'll start one on BO's gaffes as they are accumulating rather rapidly. Anyhow, check out this one!:

"Throughout our history, America’s confronted constantly evolving danger, from the oppression of an empire, to the lawlessness of the frontier, from the bomb that fell on Pearl Harbor, to the threat of nuclear annihilation. Americans have adapted to the threats posed by an ever-changing world."

This fool grew up in Hawaii and never learned the particulars re Pearl Harbor? Ignorant of World History or what?

The Weekly Standard

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ผมเป็นคนบ้านนอก

Milkman

OK, so he forget the 's' at the end of bomb. A speaking error more than a mential one, IMO.

Irrelevant.

Boon Mee

Iraq PM did not back Obama troop exit plan.

Spiegel lied, Americans sighed...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki did not back the plan of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq and his comments to a German magazine on the issue were misunderstood, the government's spokesman said on Sunday.

Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement that Maliki's remarks to Der Spiegel were translated incorrectly."

Imagine that? No Media bias here...move along...

Iraq PM did not back Obama troop exit plan: government | U.S. | Reuters

Norton

Of course he wouldn't back Obama's plans. Obama will insist the Iraqi government meet it's obligations to unscrew the political gridlock in Maliki's disfunctional governement. McCain like the current administration are quite happy to pretend "progress" is being made when none of the hard issues are close to resolution.

Obama has said firm deadlines holding the Iraqi's responsible for meeting them will be set and if not met troops will be withdrawn anyway.

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There is such a thing as a nation being so right that it does not need to convince others by force that it is right.

Woodrow Wilson

Boon Mee

Hmm..

"All of the most important objectives of the surge have been accomplished in Iraq. The sectarian civil war is ended; al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has been dealt a devastating blow; and the Sadrist militia and other Iranian-backed militant groups have been disrupted."

The New Reality in Iraq - WSJ.com

Seems like we still have "hard issues" with N. Korea & elsewhere around the globe...

sabang

Well, if the US has won the glorious Iraqi War, they can leave now anyhow.

Norton

This is as per the words of the recent report card as released by GWB administration. The hard issues, IMO:

The May 2008 report card, obtained by the Associated Press, determines that only two of the benchmarks—enacting and implementing laws to disarm militias and distribute oil revenues —are unsatisfactory.

New Iraq report: 15 of 18 benchmarks satisfactory

Boon Mee

Unless we want to start another Obama thread, I'll post this latest bit of Obama news here:

Obama is snubbing the Foreign media as he's afraid of making more stupid comments on topics he's woefully ignorant of.

Barack Obama is on his way to Europe, where an adoring public awaits. But I wonder if the reception would be quite so enthusiastic if Obama's fans across the Atlantic knew a dirty little secret of his remarkable presidential campaign: Although Obama portrays himself as the best candidate to engage the rest of the world and restore America's image abroad, and many Americans support him for that reason, so far he has almost completely refused to answer questions from foreign journalists. When the press plane leaves tonight for his trip, there will be, as far as I know, no foreign media aboard. The Obama campaign has refused multiple requests from international reporters to travel with the candidate."

washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines

Norton

Or....

He knows full well if he has foreign press along the Republicans will claim he is pandering to foreigners in what should be a purely domestic Presidential Campaign.

Wouldn't be hard to predict what your comments would be if Al Jazeera was allowed to accompany him.

Boon Mee

Not at all. reason he's keeping the foreign media at bay is they ask hard questions while the US press is in 'the bag' for him.

Norton

And what would these hard questions be coming from the foreign media? I will have to check but wonder how much foreign press McCain had on his visits to other countries?

Jet Gorgon

The US goes, so does the cash flow until the oil revs come in.

Tit for tat is not the issue, Norts. If BO is panning to the world, he should talk to the foreign press. EU folks love him coz he is a lefty (albeit moving quickly to center).
I talked to some pros of diff busineses in the States on the wkend. They all think badly of BO. US history? Tax programs? Social welfare? Foreign issues? Trade agreements? Economiy? All said he was a pumped-up ad for fake leadership. Who are his admin folks that will choose what info to give him and ultimately make all the decisions?
No kind words for his wife either.
He looks pretty, but can he do the job? You want an America that panders and grovels to all the other nations? I think not. America needs a strong leader. Personality is not the issue. Leadership is. This ain't a fekin tea party decision choosing the winner by who has the prettiest face and most charm.

Texpat

How do I break this to you, Jetty ...?

I think that's exactly what many want.

Texpat

AMMAN -- Senator Barack Obama said Tuesday that there was "no doubt security has improved in Iraq," but that he would not hesitate to overrule American commanders and redirect forces to fight what he called "a perilous and urgent" battle against terrorism in Afghanistan.

"My job as a candidate for president and a potential commander in chief extends beyond Iraq," Obama told reporters in Jordan after finishing a three-day tour of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama, who is on a weeklong trip through the Middle East and Western Europe, lauded the efforts of the U.S. military to reduce violence in Iraq.

He conceded that top U.S. commanders had said they resisted the idea of a timetable for withdrawing troops, saying that they wanted to "retain as much flexibility as possible."

Asked whether he intended to ignore their advice, Obama declared: "No, I'm factoring in their advice, but placing it in this broader strategic framework that's required."

With the old city of Amman in the background and the Temple of Hercules in the distance, Obama held a news conference with his delegation to Iraq, Senators Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska; and Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island.

All three senators, critical of the Bush administration's policy on Iraq, renewed their support for a gradual withdrawal of troops from that country and a stronger focus on Afghanistan.

"My goal is to no longer have U.S. troops engaged in combat operations in Iraq," Obama said, declining to put a specific number on forces who should be left behind to perform counterterrorism operations and to train Iraqi troops.

The presidential campaign of Senator John McCain immediately criticized Obama for his remark about overruling commanders, saying that McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate, would always listen to commanders in war zones.

For nearly an hour in Amman, Obama took questions from U.S. and Jordanian journalists before heading to a private meeting with King Abdullah II and dining later with a delegation that included Queen Rania.

It was the first time during the highly publicized trip abroad that Obama held a news conference, and he responded to extensive questions about what he had learned after meeting with commanders and troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Obama conceded that the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, opposed setting a timetable for withdrawing forces.

But if elected president, Obama said, he would have to factor in a wider degree of concerns, including providing a boost to the U.S. economy and expanding the fight in Afghanistan, whose situation he called "perilous and urgent."

"If I were in his shoes, I'd probably feel the same way," Obama said of Petraeus. "But my job as a candidate for president and a potential commander in chief extends beyond Iraq."

In Afghanistan, he noted, "you've got a deteriorating security situation, and all the commanders uniformly indicated that two to three brigades would be extraordinarily helpful in allowing them to accomplish their goals."

He added, "The only way we're going to get those troops over there in a meaningful way is if we are taking them from someplace else. So that's something that I have to factor in."

Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for McCain, criticized Obama for failing to listen to the guidance of U.S. military commanders in Iraq.

"By admitting that his plan for withdrawal places him at odds with General David Petraeus," Bounds said, "Barack Obama has made clear that his goal remains unconditional withdrawal rather than securing the victory our troops have earned."

At a meeting in Rochester, New Hampshire, McCain said that while he had often said that he would rather lose a campaign than a war, "It seems to me that Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign."

Obama hesitated when asked in the news conference whether voters should give McCain credit for his judgment in supporting the buildup of U.S. troops last year, which contributed to the reduction in violence in Iraq. Obama has mentioned other factors that contributed to the reduction, including U.S. understandings with Sunni leaders in Anbar Province.

"I will leave it to the voters to make that decision," Obama said.

Then, as he squinted into the bright sunshine, he made a call for bipartisanship.

"Regardless of who becomes the next president, Democrat or Republican, I think we're all going to have to strip away the ideology, we're going to have to strip away the politics," Obama said.

"The next president is going to have to make a series of very difficult judgments and balance a set of risks based on the best possible intelligence and information available."

Obama says he would not hesitate to overrule American commanders - International Herald Tribune

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I agree with BO's message here. The president must look beyond theaters and factor in strategic interests of the US and it's allies. I also agree it's high time the Iraqis take control in Iraq. But I'd hate to see him fcuk it all up in the name of politics (Iraq was the GOP's war, Afghanistan's going to be ours -- the good fight)

Although I agree with his message, he bombed in the delivery.

The term unconditional withdrawal sounds too much like surrender. Despite all the recent gains, If Iraq goes to pot in a year or five, nobody will blame the Iraqis.

BO made no friends with the military in this speech either. Not that the Dems ever had many military friends.

Norton

Good summation. Except Obama didn't use the term "unconditional withdrawal".