Obama says he would withdraw from Iraq by end-2008

[Purveyor]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday called for completing a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by the end of 2008 and said if elected president he would start an effort to help Iraqis bridge sectarian differences.

"I am here to say that we have to begin to end this war now," the Illinois senator said in excerpts from a speech he was to deliver later in Iowa. The excerpts were released by his presidential campaign.

He said he would immediately begin to pull out troops engaged in combat operations at a pace of one or two brigades every month, to be completed by the end of 2008.

Obama also cautioned against dumping Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is held in deep skepticism by many U.S. lawmakers.

---eoe---

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070912/pl_nm/usa_politics_obama_dc_1;_ylt=AjIowrXx_wvRNI7UJ7mm9K8E1vAI

[Tellurian]

1. Did he say he would withdraw from Iraq or the Primary?

not abundantly clear on that..

[Colobo]

2. Obama is right once again. Let's give this man the chance to lead us!

[DemKR]

3. So, he essentially wants to end the war the same time Bush does

How is ending it "Now" pulling out in a year and a half??? What a mouthpiece

[sandnsea]

4. If you repeat Bush's lies

Bush is only talking about returning to pre-surge levels. Obama is talking about ending the war. Two totally different things. But you keep beating up everybody except DK, and then be prepared to vote for Hillary and like it.

[Tellurian]

10. Yeah, Obama was so interesting during the Patreus Inq...Biden was reading the newspaper..

sigh...When is Obama going to stop cramming his boring stump speeches and propose a plan for something someone else hasn't already proposed...

[Netbeavis]

5. huh? if elected president he can't begin withdrawing troops until 2009

Does Obama use his way-back machine to go back in time to get the troops out by the end 2008? The next president isn't inaugerated until January of '09.

You-know-who will still be the Commander in Chief until January '09 and you know he's not pulling anyone out anytime soon.






-typo-

[madrchsod]

6. read the link.......that`s not what he said

[Catchawave]

7. How will he vote on funding while he's still in the Senate?

:shrug:

[Connie_Corleone]

8. Well, he voted against funding the last time. As did H. Clinton.

So, I assume he'll vote against it again, especially if there's no withdrawal date.

[Catchawave]

9. ...I know...after the bill safely passed.

They need to be working the Senate cloakroom along with Sen. Boxer:

from email today:

Dear -,

Yesterday, General David Petraeus and Iraq Ambassador Ryan Crocker appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to deliver their report on the war in Iraq. It was a very somber hearing, and I did my best to convey our strong opposition to the President's war in Iraq.

To hear General Petraeus tell it, you'd think things were on the right track. But let's face facts: This has been the bloodiest summer for U.S. forces in Iraq since the war began -- and despite the hard work and sacrifices of our brave men and women in uniform, the Iraqi government has met only 3 of the 18 benchmarks that they agreed to over a year ago.

This war is the biggest foreign policy mistake ever. President Bush took our nation's eye off defeating the terrorists, led by Osama bin Laden, who killed thousands of Americans six years ago. We have lost thousands of American lives, thousands more have been wounded, and our military and our national guard and their families are being strained to the breaking point.

It's time for President Bush and General Petraeus to take off their rose-colored glasses. Once again, they tell us that everything is going well, but a recent BBC/ABC News poll showed that 79% of Iraqis oppose the presence of American troops in Iraq, and 70% of Iraqis think that President Bush's "surge" has made them less secure.

As General Petraeus told the Boston Globe in November 2003, "We want to be seen as an army of liberation and not an army of occupation...There is a half-life on our role here, you wear out your welcome at some point. It doesn't matter how helpful you are. We aren't here to stay."

It's time for President Bush, Congress, and General Petraeus to heed those wise words.

We are sending our troops into a country where they're not wanted, into the middle of a civil war, into the middle of the mother of all foreign policy mistakes, with no end in sight.

Next week, the Senate will have another chance to begin bringing our troops home. I'm going to continue fighting as hard as I can to end the war -- and I'll be asking for your help to do just that. Stay tuned.

No more rose-colored glasses. We must end this war.