Barack Obama Acting Like George W. Bush??
Barack Obama Acting Like George W. Bush??
For the past several months Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has been repeatedly and doggedly hounded by broadcast and print media journalists and correspondents to answer their persistent and lingering question of him, and that is, “Why won’t you admit that the ’Surge’ is working? Barack Obama has continually praised the performance of the troops in Iraq while doing so under very difficult and dangerous circumstances, as well as their bravery, patriotism, heroism, and other such platitudes, but not once has he admitted that the ‘Surge’ is succeeding. Senator John McCain was in support of the Surge and Sen. Barack Obama was not in favor of it. Instead of Barack admitting that he is not ‘Nostradamus’ and no one can predict how these things will eventually turn out; still he will not acknowledge that he didn’t get this one right. In fact, the success in Iraq has nothing to do with McCain or Obama but with the successful implementation of military strategy at the Pentagon level and by the Field-Commanders and soldiers in Iraq.
For Barack Obama, the issue may be one of ‘character’ because the American people have been through 8 years of a President who never admitted to mistakes and now it seems, we might be on the verge of electing another man to sit in the Oval Office who is unwilling to admit that he can’t be wrong, also. Senator Obama has to realize that he isn’t going to get it right every time, but he needs to have the moral courage, fortitude, and integrity to admit this to himself, learn the lessons from unforeseen consequences and make better decisions in the future. It is not a matter of McCain wins and he loses because we all lose if Barack is the type of man who is driven by ego, and relishes in his own almost international Rock-Star, Celeb-type political high as opposed to a life of humble public service and leadership. Barack Obama has to accept the responsibility that he has raised the bar in American political discourse and he is going to have to live up to some very lofty expectations; and if he cannot, then he has no one else to blame but himself.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
August 30, 2008
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Surge
Bush, and more importantly the commanders in Iraq, have stressed that the gains in Iraq are "reversible." It could be argued, and should be noted, that much of the calm in Iraq is due not to the surge but to the decision of the Al Sadr militia to continue observing the truce.
If Al Sadr's group decides to no longer observe the truce, then all bets are off as to the current and future prospects for peace in Iraq.
Let's not forget ethnic cleansing of neighborhoods
Let's not forget ethnic cleansing of once-mixed Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods that preceded the "surge" and the fact that our government is paying the Sunnis cash to not fight. The fact that Bush attributes those two realities (and the Al Sadr militia standdown) to adding 30,000 more troops in a country of 14 million doesn't change the fact that the "success" is subjective and very fragile.
My view is that the political goals of the surge that Bush touted in the announcement of January 2007 have not been met and those success that supporters of the surge claim are due more to other factors than a few more troops.
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Good point...
Many mixed Sunni/Shia neighborhoods are now one or the other. The current lull in attacks can well be reversible, or temporary, and a larger problem in Iraq is that its legislators still haven't been able to hammer out laws and agreements to share political power and wealth, and to ensure stability and fair treatment for all groups.
Here is a good article about the Surge in terms of the elections
Candidates Spar Over Troop Surge and Iraq Chronology
This article also shows the gaffe spoken by John McCain, where he claimed that the announcement of the Surge by Bush in January 2007 somehow led to the Anbar Awakening that most people agree began in September of 2006.
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