Obama: "I'm not interested in saber-rattling"

[sabra]

http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSN22285578

<snip>

Obama, who on Tuesday faces Clinton in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary, rejected her rhetoric as saber-rattling. Tuesday's vote could help decide which Democrat will face Republican John McCain for the White House in the November general election.

"One of the things that we've seen over the last several years is a bunch of talk using words like 'obliterate,'" Obama, an Illinois senator, said in a separate ABC interview. "It doesn't actually produce good results. And so I'm not interested in saber-rattling."

[Independent-Voter]

1. A clear-headed response, and something Veruca should learn.

[marylanddem]

2. Thank you, Soon-to-be-President Obama.

[Zachstar]

14. I look forward to him becoming the president so this era of MAD and fear mongering will end.

[polpilot]

18. We've enuff of 'bring it on'..obliterate' rhetoric & childless blather from pro-war Clinton.

[knixphan]

44. Amen.

[Coexist]

3. amen.

[SIMPLYB1980]

4. Only I should be able to saber rattle.

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will,"
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0132206420070801

Dennis Kucinich attacked Obama for saying that "all options are on the table? Its important for people to reflect on the real meaning of that, that you're setting the stage for another war." And Obama attacked back: "I think it would be a profound mistake for us to initiate a war with Iran. But have no doubt, Iran possessing nuclear weapons will be a major threat to us that is a profound security threat for America and one that we have to take seriously."
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/rosnerBlog.jhtml?itemNo=860406&contrassID=25&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=1&listSrc=Y&art=1

[grantcart]

6. Taking action against an enemy of the United States is not sabre rattling

[Zachstar]

10. Bingo!

[roguevalley]

20. I have seen no real evidence that the people they wish to turn into

dust have earned it. I would be more open to the possibilities if all our 'enemies' weren't sitting on oceans of oil. How about some of the fuckers we do business with that are as evil if not more but don't have oil?

[roguevalley]

38. yeah, like Iraq was an imminent threat enemy. no evidence, compadre.

however, feel free to enlist and join the seals and go with hillarity to the enemy. easy to kill from an arm chair. who else has done that lately? Oh yeah, bush. take out hillarity and put in bush and tell me if you support it:

Said BUSH (Clinton) on Good Morning America, "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran. In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

Insert Jon Stewart doing a bush laugh. Enjoy your neo con candidate, y'all. she will never get near the button. ever.

[ProSense]

13. Let Hillary respond:

Clinton's Iran Threat Contradicts Previous Position on Making Such Comments

April 22, 2008 9:50 AM

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, told Chris Cuomo on GMA this morning that should Iran attack Israel with nuclear weapons, "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran...In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

The comment seems to contradict previous statements Clinton has made on the subject -- not so much about her willingness to attack Iran, but about the wisdom of discussing such a move.

During a debate on MSNBC last October, moderator Brian Williams asked Clinton what her "red line" would be "concerning when to, if to attack Iran? What would make it crystal-clear in your mind that the United States should attack Iran?"

Clinton at the time wouldn't answer the question, even when pressed by Williams, who had to come back at her after she gave a lengthy non-responsive answer.

"Respectfully, Senator," Williams said, "same question though: Do you have a threshold…?

Clinton would only say, "I want to start diplomacy….I am not going to speculate about when or if they get nuclear weapons."

Her current remarks are quite a contrast from that cautiousness.

Moreover, at the AFL-CIO candidate forum last August after Sens. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and Chris Dodd, D-Conn., got into a heated exchange about Obama's pledge to attack targets within Pakistan -- with or without the Pakistani government's permission -- should he as president get actionable intelligence of high-value al Qaeda targets in that country.

Clinton at that time scolded her colleagues for having the discussion.

“Well, I do not believe people running for president should engage in hypotheticals," she said. "And it may well be that the strategy we have to pursue on the basis of actionable intelligence -- but remember, we’ve had some real difficult experiences with actionable intelligence -- might lead to a certain action."

more

(emphasis added)

[bowens43]

24. So in your hillary addled mind

talking about taking action to a clear and PRESENT threat is the same to spouting off about a hypothetical?

[DemVet]

5. Obama is not interested in protecting America, that's quite clear.

[Zachstar]

8. Your fear mongering will fail

[roguevalley]

34. really? get ready to be drafted because after Hillarity starts WWIII

you will be needed. Spin this exact quote: Said Clinton on Good Morning America, "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran. In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

CLOSE YOUR EYES AND PICTURE BUSH! No difference.

[sabra]

12. wow - because he won't have a "bring it on" approach to foreign policy?

[thewiseguy]

Your stupidity is whats quite clear.

[burythehatchet]

37. amen

[uponit7771]

23. Saber rattling is protecting America!??!!? No wonder we're in this stupid ass'd war!!!

[bowens43]

26. Wow. What an amazingly stupid post!!

Congrats!

[DinahMoeHum]

29. That was satire, right?

Problem is, for the last 7 years or so, our so-called "leaders" were thinking with their cocks, instead of their brains.

Frankly, I'm sick of all this talk about being "tough on terror" - we need somebody who is finally going to be "smart on terror".

:evilfrown:

[Chulanowa]

30. Genocide is protecting America?

Do you not know the definition of "obliterate"? Obliteration of a nation is not "protecting America."

Hillary: The candidate for those who really wanted a Miller / Lieberman ticket for '08.

[myrna minx]

32. What an awful thing to say.

:-(

[Zachstar]

7. Thank you Obama. We need to move away from the days of MAD and fear mongering.

Saber rattling against nations filled with people that if they die for religion they do not mind, does NOTHING but fills the ranks.

[BzaDem]

16. Just curious, if you are so against MAD and deterrence, what would have been your solution

in preventing the Cold War from turning into a nuclear holocaust?

[Zachstar]

25. MAD worked in the 1960s when the chances of a warhead hitting a target were limited

Otherwise it was used in both nations to scare people. Remember the "Dark forces"?


You cant use MAD against a nation who has made up it's mind that if it dies in any war they will go to heaven automatically.

You replace MAD with special forces, Education to turn the people against the dictatorships, and localized destructive weaponry. (Railguns)

You NEVER fucking say you are going to Obliterate a country in war. That gets the populace for the war they are doing because they believe they are defeating "Evil"

MAD DOES NOT WORK!!

[Erin Elizabeth]

9. THANK YOU.

Exactly.

[Maddy McCall]

11. Be interesting to see what strategy he'll develop to replace deterrence.

He should talk about that, since he's saying he'll ditch the 60-year-old strategy of deterrence.

[BzaDem]

17. EXACTLY.

[Zachstar]

21. It will be better than saying he will Obliterate a nation.

[bowens43]

27. Making idle threats on a talk has nothing to do with deterence.

What it shows us is that she knows nothing of diplomacy and even less about diplomacy in the middle east. She talks like she's in 7th grade.

[burythehatchet]

39. thank goodness I'm unable to read her entire post. Did Obama say anything about

abandoning deterrence? What a bunch of deluded people.

[meow mix]

15. i agree K&R

obama ftw

[cali]

19. Great response

spot on. And her saber rattling and belligerent rhetoric are disgusting and cheap.

[uponit7771]

22. I just don't see Hillary as a smart leader, she goes along with the crowd too much for me.

[bowens43]

28. It's worse then going along with the crowd.

It shows us that she will say anything no matter how irresponsible is she thinks that it will help her achieve her ambitions.

[Bonobo]

31. Threatening to obliterate a country is NOT saber-rattling.

Oooops, yes it is.

[Orsino]

33. Now that's a good answer. n/t

[rndmprsn]

35. K&R

time to put adults back in charge...clinton you should (if you had any) be ashamed at your own war mongering.

[PVnRT]

36. WHY DOES OBAMA HATE JEWS??

:sarcasm:

No, really, that seems to be the standard spin tactic today by the positive, uplifting, uniting Hillary supporters.

[wowimthere]

40. I'm sorry but I have to say this... Clinton is starting to look like another politician

who talks dumb to appeal to the knee jerk reaction in people who love this kind of stuff. Microcosms here, microcosms there, microcosms everywhere and if you throw everything at the wall then someone will search for something they like about her. This is dumb and only gets us another four years of Bush no matter what party she belongs to.

She is still in the mindset that people still trust Bush. How dumb. He lies a lot. So she lies a lot too. He beats the war drums and so she does that too. With the way she operates I don't understand how anyone can look at her with a straight face. Her and Bush don't look so dissimilar at this point.

To think... at one point in time, I wanted to vote for her. Not since her war vote and certainly right now. Obama for 8 years, please because I hardly recognize her. She looks like Bush and McCain dressed as a woman.

[OzarkDem]

41. He's not interested in getting out of Iraq, either

I wish he would make up his mind.

[wowimthere]

42. He's not talking stupid though. She has been doing a lot of that since Super Tuesday

[bunnies]

43. This is exactly the answer I wanted to hear.

America doesnt need to be going around bullying and threatening everybody. Yet according to Hillary thats exactly what shes going to do. Kinda hard to paint McCain as a Bush third term with Hillary going around yackin about 'obliterating' nations.

[knixphan]

45. On the same topic

If you guys haven't seen 'Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden',

Check it out - it's great ammunition against the sabre-rattlers!

[Lucky 13]

46. Thank GOD we have ONE reasonable candidate

Threatening Iran = NOT A GOOD IDEA. Do none of her supporters see this as a bad policy stance? It scares the shit out of me!

She's as hawkish as the Republicans.

[ProSense]

47. Interesting piece about the question asked over breakfast

Hillary: We’ll “totally obliterate” Iran