Obama Tries to Quell Iraq Criticism

[cal04]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/02/26/obama_tries_to_quell_iraq_crit.html?hpid=topnews

President Obama has invited members of Congress to the White House for a meeting later this afternoon to discuss his plans for drawing down troops in Iraq -- a plan that has already drawn stiff criticism from his Democratic allies.

After Speaker Nancy Pelosi complained that the level of troops -- 50,000 -- who would remain in Iraq is too high, other senior Democrats voiced similar concerns on Thursday. Among Democratic leaders, only Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois is defending the new Obama plan, which will take three months longer than he promised and still leave a significant force structure on the ground.

"I'm happy to listen to the secretary of defense and the president, but when they talk about 50,000, that's a little higher number than I had anticipated," Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said.

"It has to be done responsibly, we all agree, but 50,000 is more than I would have thought, and we await the justification," said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).

(snip)
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama is comfortable with his plan, which he will formally announce in a trip to Camp LeJeune, N.C., on Friday, delivering a speech shortly before noon. "The president will lay out exactly what that plan is. And I think tomorrow you'll see a president and the national security leadership comfortable with the recommendations that have been made and accepted by the commander in chief," Gibbs said.

[derby378]

1. So am I now supposed to be comfortable...

...with actions from the White House that lend credence to Bush 43's illegal invasion of Iraq?

We still went in there for no good reason. Our nation still got lied into supporting it. Even when millions of Americans protested, Bush ignored them and sent the troops in, anyway.

I am not happy.

[FrenchieCat]

2. This new found outrage by the media about Iraq and Afghanistan

is just their way of weakening public opinion by Obama's base support in order to undermine
his economic plans.

Obama will not "escalate" Afghanistan in the way of Vietnam, and all but a very small residual force will be out of Iraq by 2011, as was agree to with the Iraqi Government.

The fact that it isn't all done exactly on cue, and the media is bitching about it and encouraging "disappointment" with some should give anyone with 1/2 a brain pause.

But it can be said that there is, after all, a sucker born every minute.