Did anyone pay attention to the candidates answers on Iraq?

[butterfly77]

I notice the differences this has always been a problem for me how George Bush says the generals on the ground will determine if or not we leave Iraq,and hillary seemed to be saying the same thing. Obama gave the answer I have always thought of when I look at a President, the president determines what he must do or not do according to what he sees for himself and by listening to what the military on the ground.

Hillary seems to be playing the same game as George Bush of stay the course. Obama will determine what type of strategy is needed and the Generals will use certain tactics to fulfill the mission, this is one of the question that I have been waiting to hear the media call Bush on..

We also know that we don't know what the conditions on the ground will be by the time our president takes office. So in reality we can't determine what we will do and the president will determine also who will be assigned where... I think that Obama was right on point..

[newfie11]

1. We must have listed to a different debate

Hillary said yes she would be removing troops within 60 days!

[newfie11]

2. We must have listed to a different debate

Hillary said yes she would be removing troops within 60 days!

[LisaM]

3. I agree. You must have watched something different.

Hillary stuck by her statement that troop withdrawal would begin within sixty days (even when they pressed) her, and made an eloquent statement about civilian leadership of the military.

Of course, it doesn't matter anymore if her policies are better than Obama's. No one cares.

[ProSense]

4. Obama's answer was excellent:

MR. GIBSON: And Senator Obama, your campaign manager, David Plouffe, said, when he is -- this is talking about you -- when he is elected president, we will be out of Iraq in 16 months at the most; there should be no confusion about that.

So you'd give the same rock-hard pledge, that no matter what the military commanders said, you would give the order: Bring them home.

SENATOR OBAMA: Because the commander in chief sets the mission, Charlie. That's not the role of the generals. And one of the things that's been interesting about the president's approach lately has been to say, well, I'm just taking cues from General Petraeus.

Well, the president sets the mission. The general and our troops carry out that mission. And unfortunately we have had a bad mission, set by our civilian leadership, which our military has performed brilliantly. But it is time for us to set a strategy that is going to make the American people safer.

Now, I will always listen to our commanders on the ground with respect to tactics. Once I've given them a new mission, that we are going to proceed deliberately in an orderly fashion out of Iraq and we are going to have our combat troops out, we will not have permanent bases there, once I've provided that mission, if they come to me and want to adjust tactics, then I will certainly take their recommendations into consideration; but ultimately the buck stops with me as the commander in chief.

And what I have to look at is not just the situation in Iraq, but the fact that we continue to see al Qaeda getting stronger in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, we continue to see anti-American sentiment fanned all cross the Middle East, we are overstretched in a way -- we do not have a strategic reserve at this point. If there was another crisis that was taking place, we would not have a brigade that we could send to deal with that crisis that isn't already scheduled to be deployed in Iraq. That is not sustainable. That's not smart national security policy, and it's going to change when I'm president.

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[butterfly77]

5. This is the what I was talking about...

hillary sounds as if she will start playing the game Bush has been playing for years, start pulling some out and then start putting them back in...