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This past week the two candidates for the Democratic Nomination for President were present on Capitol Hill for the report on the war in Iraq by General David Petraeus (a 4 star general) and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. After being grilled by Clinton, Obama and other members of the Democratic Party, I'll bet both Gen. Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan thought they were back in Sadr City or facing Iraqi insurgents. The mood could not have been more hostile.
Right from the opening statement by Sen. Carl Levin, with a terrible tirade against the war, to the less vehement, but completely disrespectful and hostile statements by Hillary Clinton and her rival, Barack Obama, were completely unwarranted and unprofessional.
Hillary discounted the obvious fact that a fast and hasty troop withdrawal from Iraq would be dangerous and irresponsible. Hillary further refused to answer the question or admit the surge is working. I really didn't know that Hillary was such an expert in military and defense planning. It's funny, this woman wants to be the person answering the phone at 3:00 a.m., but has no real clue how to be the Commander-in-Chief.
Obama attempted to define the success in Iraq as when "there is still corruption, but the country is struggling along, it's not a threat to its neighbors and it's not an al-Qaeda base". Oh really, well, here's the 411 Sen. Obama, an immediate, a hasty withdrawal of U.S. Armed Forces would create a nightmare situation for the entire Middle East. If this is an example of Obama's foreign policy, then we are all in trouble.
The late, great Gen. Douglas MacArthur stated the so-very-true declaration: "There is no substitute for your country's defeat when you want to win elections". How true.
I noticed that when questioned by Mrs. Clinton, Gen. Petraeus treated her like a lady, despite the fact that the last time Gen. Petraeus was on the Hill to speak about the situation in Iraq, Hillary all but called him a liar before his appearance. Nice, one Hillary.
If we had listened to the defeatists Democrats there would not be 175,000 trained Iraqi soliders, 379,000 trained Iraqi police, 90,000 trained Sons of Iraq, and Maliki, a Shia Leader, sending his military into Basra to fight the Shia militants and insurgents. Instead, al Sadr would be running Iraq, with help from his friends and fellow terrorists in Iran and from bin Laden. They would be using Iraq as a training base for al-Qaida.
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Clinton and Obama both present themselves as being so concerned about their fellow man on foreign soil but they are not addressing the complexity of withdrawing our support and the blood bath that would follow. We must consider this very carefully and not use the war issue to get votes. If we are so hated now how much more will we be looked down upon for abandoning what we started. There are no easy answers to this complex situation. Clinton and Obama seem so ill equipped to handle the very important issues surrounding this situation.
There is no simple solution.
Okay I believe this needs to be addressed from my point of view. I believe that Obama realizes that there are no simple solutions. This is why he DOESN'T have concrete solutions to issues in his campaign. In terms of Iraq I believe that he understands that to pull the troops is a complex situation. In fact, in the California Debate he stated " I think it is important for us to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in." He stresses that we need to get the Kurds, Sunni,and Shia to negotiate by pressure. Notice he stressed a diplomatic solution to the problem. In terms of the fear of Iran overtaking Iraq. Remember he stresses diplomatic solution to that problem as well. The point here is that he understands that here is no simple solution to the problem unless we understand and negotiate with those that make a difference in the problem by putting pressure on leaders. This is not mentioning the fact that the Shia are already receiving help from Iran. I believe because of Senators Obama's comments he sees the situation for what it really is. A Complex Problem with no simple solution.
Great points! You responses
Great points! You responses are very well thought out and impressive!