Obama On Iraq: If we hadn’t lit a fire under Bush’s ass, you see, he wouldn’t have been motivated to do exactly the opposite of what we wanted him to do
Video via ABC and a partial transcript via HA:
Q: If you had to do it over again, knowing what you know now, would you support the surge?
A: No, because, keep in mind that:
Q: You wouldn’t?
A: Keep in mind: These kinds of hypotheticals are very difficult. Hindsight is 20/20. But I think that, what I’m absolutely convinced of, is that at that time we had to change the political debate because the view of the Bush administration at that time was one that I just disagreed with.
The truth is that Obama needed to take that stance in order to get his nominated.
Where is does this stray from what the Administration and Maliki have already been saying:
Obama said that during their discussion, Maliki spoke about the need for a time frame for withdrawal, “but his view is he wants some flexibility in terms of how that’s carried out.”
Obama also said the Maliki feels his government is ready to exercise more sovereignty.
Obama Concedes That Surge Didn’t Go As He Expected
“But,” asked Moran,”if the country had pursued your policy of withdrawing in the face of this horrific violence, what do you think Iraq would look like now?”
Obama said it would be hard to speculate. “The Sunnis might have made the same decisions at that time. The Shii’as might have made some similar decisions based on political calculation. There was ethnic cleansing in Baghdad that actually took the violence level down,” he said.
Obama also told Moran that there were circumstances under which he could revise his instruction to U.S. generals to begin withdrawing combat brigades at the pace of one-to-two per month.
“I’ve always reserved the right, uh, to say—let’s say that ethnic, uh, ethnic fighting broke out once again—I’ve reserved the right to say—I don’t–I’m not going to stand idly by if genocide is occurring. I’m not going to stand idly by if vital United States interests are at stake. Um, so in that sense yes, I retain the flexibility anyone who in the job of commander in chief is constantly reassessing facts, risks, and so forth.”
Mark has an interesting read about this trip:Â Â Andrea on Obama Trip: ‘What Some Would Call Fake Interviews’
View video here:
ROGER SIMON: The optics are all very good on this trip. I mean, the beginning of this trip is so good, Senator Obama might just want to call off the end and just keep running the videotape. He goes into a gym, everybody, all the service people there cheer. He shoots a basket, you know, it goes through the hoop. He’s obviously standing there with troops, they seem to be liking him, smiling. They don’t seem to feel that Barack Obama wants to desert them, to leave them in Iraq. This is exactly what the Obama campaign hoped for, and this was supposed to be the tough part of the trip. The meatiest part of the trip in Jordan and Israel may be tough in terms of foreign policy, but the back end of the trip to cheering European crowds will certainly be as good if not better than this. So I think he’s feeling very good right now.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: Andrea, I want to get ethnic a little bit here –
ANDREA MITCHELL: This is message –
MATTHEWS: Yeah, go ahead, please.
MITCHELL: Let me just say something about the message management. He didn’t have reporters with
him, he didn’t have a press pool, he didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq. What you’re seeing is not reporters brought in. You’re seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questions by the military, and what some would call fake interviews, because they’re not interviews from a journalist. So, there’s a real press issue here. Politically it’s smart as can be. But we’ve not seen a presidential candidate do this, in my recollection, ever before.
When Matthews inquired about the atmospherics of the trip, Mitchell made clear her frustration as a reporter.
MATTHEWS: Let me ask you about access to the troops, Andrea. A lot of African-American faces over there, very happy, delighted faces. Is that a representation of the percentage of servicepeople who are African-American, or did they all choose to join someone they like, apparently? What’s the story?
MITCHELL: I can’t really say that. Being a reporter who was not present in any of those situations, I just cannot report on what was edited out, what was, you know, on the sidelines. That’s my issue. We don’t know what we are seeing.
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July 22, 2008 - 02:54 AM on July 22nd, 2008
Ah, yes…Obama not only now tries to act as though he was right all along, but now will try to take credit in some warped, convoluted way for the success?
Unbelievable! I mean no disrespect to RV posters, but if you vote for Obama, you are a moron!
July 22, 2008 - 07:02 AM on July 22nd, 2008
I don’t get Ambinder.
Obama Concedes That Surge Didn’t Go As He Expected?
Did he look at the same interview I did? I can’t see the concession… especially when he still doesn’t get it.
We’re talking about a man who gave a speech ‘before’ he went. Think about that.
He said he didn’t expect the awakening, as if the idea of muslims fighting with the enemy (us of course), wasn’t supposed to happen. Make no mistake, he gave the troops no credit.
As far as Andrea, maybe she put the kibosh on coverage by stepping on Lee Cowan to be on the trip. Nevermind he’s followed Obama all year on the trail and got his producer cut, had to cut his own tape and you name it (whereas they paid for Andrea’s to go as well as her assistant). Not that i’m a fan of his, but the man gave up a year of his life following him then nothing.
I would like her to be pinned down on what she means ‘exactly’. Will she say straight out the military’s making up all these great Obama stories, video and pics? Even the one that reported he and Maliki wanted a timeline for withdrawal? Please.
If I were stationed there I wouldn’t see anything coming out of the press good… that’s for sure. I wouldn’t be in a rush to protect them either… look at the history of what they’ve put out and leaked.
July 22, 2008 - 09:18 AM on July 22nd, 2008
As most experts insist, the surge, amoung many other things, including a cease fire from an independant militia contributed to the downplay of violence there. This was actually the third “surge” since the idiot-in-chief did his famous “mission accomplished” dance on the aircraft carrier
McCain makes me ill that his pat answer is to now recommend a “surge” in Afghanistan. How about recommended to the President to not take his eye off the ball again. Oh, oh, a hurricaine is coming to Texas. Perhaps a “surge” there as well? How about a “surge” in Congress as well. No that wouldn’t work, it would be more of the same.
NY-David
July 22, 2008 - 10:34 AM on July 22nd, 2008
Cindy,
Thanks for sharing those points
I actually took Andreas comments to mean that the entire press junket is staged, but I may have read more into it then was there.
I do think that there were squadrons asked to participate in this, but you know what?…so be it, it passed the time and i would bet some did it so that the family could see them
Others because they do support Obama. How would it look if the world sees our military snubbing him? Not good. Sometimes they do need to do what they need to do to survive. Obama was a part of the cut the funding for the troops brigade.
July 22, 2008 - 12:44 PM on July 22nd, 2008
Obama was a cut-and-run leader, make no mistake. He advocated defeat and retreat.
July 22, 2008 - 10:28 PM on July 22nd, 2008
“Obama Concedes That Surge Didn’t Go As He Expected”
I’m looking forward to the big debates between McCain and Obama now more than ever. (Of course, that’s assuming Obama won’t be able to weasel out of them like he did with the town hall meetings.)
And, yes, Obama was all for cut-and-run. If McCain hadn’t successfully pushed for the surge, Iraq would be a horrific mess.
July 23, 2008 - 04:49 AM on July 23rd, 2008
6- Wow so you agree that Iraq had problems…
NYD
July 23, 2008 - 07:05 AM on July 23rd, 2008
Yes, it had AQ in it.
July 23, 2008 - 08:28 AM on July 23rd, 2008
Yeah, Iraq sure had problems. Like Saddam, who had already invaded one neighbor, looking to establish himself as the next Nebuchadnezzar. In a volatile region. Providing payments for families of suicide bombers. Harboring known terrorists, including AQ members. Using WMD on his own people.
Yes, Iraq had these problems. Not anymore…
October 26, 2008 - 10:45 AM on October 26th, 2008
did obama ever go to Iraq and if yes why did he go?
/
and happy holloween
thats my birthday
thanks for lising