Please give SPECIFICS on Obama's Current Position Regarding WITHDRAWAL of ALL US Troops from Iraq

[Orwellian_Ghost]

[AX10]

1. Shut up and except Obama blindly!

:sarcasm:

[Orwellian_Ghost]

3. Yeah

I hear nothing so far.

Seems if I was ardently supporting a rumored progressive I'd want his position on the major issue FOR progressives to be highlighted.

Yet it's muted.

I'd wonder why but I'll await further erudition from the faithful.

[OzarkDem]

5. They haven't read it yet

details..details...

[AZBlue]

12. I'd suggest cleaning out your ears then.

[underpants]

35. I think you mean ACCEPT

:hi:

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. He "reserves"

[FARAFIELD]

6. Specifics

It wont be "100 years"

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. Could be 99.

[AZBlue]

13. Actually, it's 16 months maximum.

[The_Casual_Observer]

19. But he "reserves"

Funny how all that 16 months shit changes when he is "pressed". In fact he's not talking 16 months anymore either.

[AZBlue]

22. Really? 'Cause that's almost a direct quote from when I saw him about a week ago.

[OzarkDem]

4. ...

:popcorn:

[Webster Green]

7. Here..

Bringing Our Troops Home

Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.
Press Iraq’s Leaders to Reconcile

The best way to press Iraq’s leaders to take responsibility for their future is to make it clear that we are leaving. As we remove our troops, Obama will engage representatives from all levels of Iraqi society – in and out of government – to seek a new accord on Iraq’s Constitution and governance. The United Nations will play a central role in this convention, which should not adjourn until a new national accord is reached addressing tough questions like federalism and oil revenue-sharing.
Regional Diplomacy

Obama will launch the most aggressive diplomatic effort in recent American history to reach a new compact on the stability of Iraq and the Middle East. This effort will include all of Iraq’s neighbors — including Iran and Syria. This compact will aim to secure Iraq’s borders; keep neighboring countries from meddling inside Iraq; isolate al Qaeda; support reconciliation among Iraq’s sectarian groups; and provide financial support for Iraq’s reconstruction.
Humanitarian Initiative

Obama believes that America has a moral and security responsibility to confront Iraq’s humanitarian crisis — two million Iraqis are refugees; two million more are displaced inside their own country. Obama will form an international working group to address this crisis. He will provide at least $2 billion to expand services to Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries, and ensure that Iraqis inside their own country can find a safe-haven.
Barack Obama's Record

* Barack Obama opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning. In 2002, as the conventional thinking in Washington lined up for war, Obama had the judgment and courage to speak out against the war. He said the war would lead to "an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs and undetermined consequences." In January 2007, Obama introduced legislation to responsibly end the war in Iraq, with a phased withdrawal of troops engaged in combat operations.
* Obama has a plan to immediately begin withdrawing our troops engaged in combat operations at a pace of one or two brigades every month, to be completed by the end of next year. He would call for a new constitutional convention in Iraq, convened with the United Nations, which would not adjourn until Iraq's leaders reach a new accord on reconciliation. He would use presidential leadership to surge our diplomacy with all of the nations of the region on behalf of a new regional security compact. And he would take immediate steps to confront the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Iraq.

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/

[Hippo_Tron]

8. From barackobama.com

"Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda."

And no not all US troops will be removed, all combat troops will be removed. There will be troops left to protect the embassy.

[OzarkDem]

20. Where will the combat troops go?

Will they return home or will they still stay in the area?

Why doesn't he propose that allies take over to manage Al Qaeda? What is his plan to make sure the US economy isn't destroyed by the cost of this war?

$10 billion per month.


Is Obama's half measures on health care reform because he knows we won't get out of Iraq and will have to keep running deficits to pay for it?


Its a vague plan, like all of his policies. It won't hurt him to be more specific in these areas.

[Hippo_Tron]

The combat troops will come home and it won't cost $10 billion a month to defend an embassy

[jackson_dem]

27. "He will keep some troops"

How many?

[Hippo_Tron]

34. I'm not a military expert...

But I know it doesn't even take a small fraction of 100,000 troops to guard an embassy.

[AZBlue]

9. Straight from his website:

Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/#bring-home

Before the war in Iraq ever started, Senator Obama said that it was wrong in its conception. In 2002, then Illinois State Senator Obama said Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat to the United States and that invasion would lead to an occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. Since then, Senator Obama has laid out a plan on the way forward in Iraq that has largely been affirmed by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group led by James Baker and Lee Hamilton.

"But conventional thinking in Washington lined up for war. The pundits judged the political winds to be blowing in the direction of the President. Despite - or perhaps because of how much experience they had in Washington, too many politicians feared looking weak and failed to ask hard questions. Too many took the President at his word instead of reading the intelligence for themselves. Congress gave the President the authority to go to war. Our only opportunity to stop the war was lost.

I made a different judgment. I thought our priority had to be finishing the fight in Afghanistan. I spoke out against what I called "a rash war' in Iraq. I worried about, ‘an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences.’ The full accounting of those costs and consequences will only be known to history. But the picture is beginning to come into focus.”

—Barack Obama, Clinton, Iowa, September 12, 2007
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/

[Orwellian_Ghost]

23. Poor scholarship

First of all if you believe what is written on a candidates website I've got a bridge to sell you...

This is the worst possible and laziest technique for examining political matters.

But in any case let's take it at face value and examine a few points of omission:

They're all talking about withdrawing combat troops, but there's 162,000 troops there, there's 100,000 American contractors there, many of whom are security forces, and only a certain percentage, maybe half, are combat troops. So what about the rest?

The implication of all the candidates is that they want to continue a counterinsurgency campaign on behalf of the so-called Iraqi army. They want to keep contractors, advisors, trainers, counterterrorist units, intelligence operations going in Iraq to turn it into—and they're not saying this, but to turn it into Central America in the 1970s. What about this?

What about the embedding of American advisors with Iraqi combat troops?

That's the wording. Meaning, the war won't go on; it'll be more of a civil war, more of an El Salvador or Afghanistan type war.

Number two, trainers: 20,000 trainers embedded in the Iraqi security forces, police, interior ministry, so on.

Number three, security contractors: there are at least 17,000 Blackwater-type Americans who are security contractors. And you can go on. Special forces, intelligence units, etcetera.

Barack has been, as usual, the most sophisticated and nuanced, but there's absolutely no question that he will be leaving behind thousands of American special forces to engage in something.

They are leaving behind trainers by the thousands.

If you ever look for a new car do not accept as gospel the promo from that New Car Co. That would be lazy and you would be disappointed after the test drive.

[AZBlue]

31. So you knew the answer, you were just looking for an argument?

There's enough ugliness on DU right now, why make more?

As for the trainers and advisors, if they are troops, they're under the above referenced plan. If they're private contractors, no one seems to be in control of them and not sure anyone can be - they are there voluntarily for business, doesn't seem like anyone has any jurisdiction over that.

As for my buying any candidate's proposed plan lock, stock and barrel, please don't mistake me for a fool. I realize that things change, espeically when the candidate is not currently and has never been in that position for which they are running. But, you've got to base your votes on something and proposals and plans are a big part of that.

As for my buying a car, well, I've gotten dragged along on several friends' trips to the dealer because I don't accept the B.S. that goes along with the process and always help them get a better deal or walk away to a better car.

As for future posts from me, I won't stoke the fire that you're looking for but I'm sure there are others on DU that will.

Peace.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

33. But remember

when you support the candidate you support their policies. Not what they say on their website but WHAT THEY DO.

And so then YOU bear responsibilty TO ACT when they don't bear up to their hollow promises.

See ya' there.

[msongs]

10. consistently votes to support and fund the occupation nt

[K Gardner]

17. consistently votes to keep troops supplied with armor, tanks, food and bullets, i.e., votes to keep

the troops Hillary voted to send INTO THE HELLHOLE

Alive.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

26. That's been proven false

the money is in the pipeline to support the troops while withdrawing them AND using no further supplementals.

Your point of argument is false.

[K Gardner]

32. Joe Biden didn't think so, and given his position and experience and superior

knowledge, you'll excuse me if I believe him and not you. Also, Obama and Clinton both voted against one of the funding bills.. if you can keep up with bills versus supplementals, blah blah blah. We never should have gone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nj3bLv8AFKg

[jackson_dem]

28. That's false. He was for funding the war before he was against it

So he was for the troops in 2005-2007 (he voted to fund the surge) but against them ever since he began running for president?

[tammywammy]

14. Bring home 1-2 brigades a month, all troops out in 16 months.

Bringing Our Troops Home

Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.\

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/#bring-home

[OzarkDem]

21. Removing troops is not the same as bringing them home

If they are simply redeployed in the ME, the result is the same, the cost is the same.

[jackson_dem]

30. All "combat" troops

And what exactly are troops who conduct targeted strikes if not combat troops? What does Obama call them? He isn't going to be sending JAGs and the MASH unit on those strike missions.

[ProSense]

15. Here's Hillary's

uncertainty

[Orwellian_Ghost]

24. We're not talking about Hillary's

We know it sucks. But many are under false illusions about Obama's.

Let's talk about that.

[RoadRage]

16. He wants all troops out within 16 months of him being elected. He has set a withdrawl date,

Clinton has not. She wants time to talk to the generals and situation on the ground before she commits to anything.

[journalist3072]

18. Not sure about Barack's position. But I can tell you Sen. Clinton's, without even having to go to

her website.

Sen. Clinton says that she believes she can start withdrawing droops within the first six weeks, with about one brigade per month being withdrawn.

And she constantly focuses on the need to do this safely....talking about the need to get not only our troops out...but the equipment as well, and civilians who are there (i.e. humanitarian workers, etc).

[Orwellian_Ghost]

25. We were talking about Obama's

I don't care about Hillary's. I know it sucks. She's straight about keeping US forces in Iraq.

Unacceptable.

Tell me about Obama's policy on Iraq.

[journalist3072]

29. Ignorance does not become you. eom