Barack Obama Accused of Selling Out on Iraq

[defendandprotect]

Barack Obama has been accused of selling out his promises of change in US foreign policy by putting national security policy in the hands of establishment figures who supported the Iraq war.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3502411/Barack-Obama-accused-of-selling-out-on-Iraq-by-picking-hawks-to-run-his-foreign-policy.html

[Mari333]

1. sigh. n/t

[Maven]

2. OMG - HE'S NOT IN OFFICE YET

He hasn't even announced his full cabinet!

There is no reason to believe he won't start pulling out of Iraq as he promised.

[mopinko]

3. you can accuse anyone of anything, i guess

:eyes:

[BOBoyd]

4. He Wont Sell Us Out

Barak will not sell us out. He will stand by his word and do what he said. He is NOT like the politicians of Old. If he were like them, he would not have seen the overwhelming support he did during the election. HE DID NOT LIE

[alittlelark]

5. I accuse him of 'selling out' on the erradication of 'rick roll'

I'm sure someone told me he would 'get all up' on ppl who surreptitiously snuck in 'rick roll' shit.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2b1D5w82yU

I'm guilty as well.... but he's gonna close Guantanamo......right?!?

[G_j]

6. a cause for concern?

<snip>
There is growing concern among a new generation of anti-war foreign policy analysts in Washington, many of whom stuck their necks out to support Mr Obama early in the White House race, that they will be frozen out of his administration.
Mrs Clinton is expected to appoint her own top team at the State Department, drawn from more conservative thinkers.

A Democratic foreign policy expert told one Washington website: "They were the ones courageous enough to stand up early against Iraq, which is why many supported Obama in the first place." Their fear, he added, is that they will not now secure the mid-level posts which will enable them to reach the top of the Washington career ladder in future.
Suspicion of Mr Obama's moves has been compounded, for some liberals, by the revelation that Mr Obama has for several months been taking advice from Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser to the first President Bush.

His return to prominence in Washington represents a resurgence of the old school conservative realists, who were largely eclipsed during this Bush administration by the neoconservatives.

They place US national interests above the quest to defend human rights or to spread democracy. Progressives and liberals see Mr Scowcroft's hand in the move to retain Mr Gates, an old friend, at the Pentagon and also in the expected elevation of Gen. Jones.
<snip>

I'd say so,

[defendandprotect]

8. Right ..of course these HAWKS will lead us out of war ....

It has nothing to do with keeping the MIIC going with perpetusal war --

Imperialism now, Imperialism forever ...!!

[liberalmuse]

7. Holy shit. Obama was elected over two weeks ago.

And already his Presidency is a complete FAIL. I wish we could have at least waited until the guy was sworn in. I'm going to go watch 'Dexter' and hopefully purge the negative energy I picked up on DU tonight. Yes, it is that bad here.

[Tarheel_Dem]

10. The energy here certainly has changed over the past couple of weeks.

So much speculation, jumping on Obama for rumors and leaks. Not even giving him a chance to answer these allegations before hanging him in effigy. I wish they'd take this b.s. back over to Daily Kos.

[Odin2005]

14. The closet Naderites are self-destructing. n/t.

[Tarheel_Dem]

15. I've noticed the resurgence of some sore losers from the primaries.

And of course there are the Naderites who are still pissed that they had absolutely no effect on the outcome of this election. I just hope that PE Obama is as aware of their irrelevancy as the rest of us are.

[BeFree]

9. And

he was accused of palling around with terrorists, and being a Muslim, and inexperienced.

Didn't believe them then, don't believe 'em now.

[stillcool]

11. It's kind of funny how our media...

is now trusted, and un-named sources are taken as gospel. I think it's time for me to take a little break. The kerfluffle is tiring.

[BeFree]

12. A break may be good

But the crap will keep on coming without good folks around to put a lid on it.

We can trust that the majority of DUers can see thru the fog, eh?

[Odin2005]

13. BS, and your source isn'ty called the TORYgraph for nothing, it's a right-wing rag.

So I'm sure they are digging up as much anti-Obama spin as possible.

Obama has clearly stated that he is getting us out of there, sending most home and the rest to Afganistan so we can put Osama's head where is belongs, on the end of a pike.

[defendandprotect]

16. Right ... they made up the list of "HAWKS" ... actually they're anti-war activists---!!!

[Odin2005]

20. Obama said he's getting us out. His appointments will do what they are told.

Chill out.

[defendandprotect]

23. Stay in touch -- and hope you're right ---

We have gotten where we are now because people have kept promises --

[Orwellian_Ghost]

17. I think much

of what is suggested in your OP depends greatly on what people believe the Obama administration "promised" as relates to Iraq. If folks believe that Obama plans to end the illegal US occupation of Iraq I'd say they are in for a disappointment. He has never said such a thing to my knowledge. It seems more likely that what will occur is a drawdown of "combat" brigades and a friendlier face to the occupation or at least a less visible one.

I wonder if Negroponte will still be hangin' out in the Green Zone.


On Iraq, Obama said nothing especially new in his July 14 New York Times op-ed piece and his foreign policy speech in Washington today. In both, he forcefully restated his commitment to combat troop withdrawals after his recent statements suggesting that he would "refine" his views when he consults military commanders on the ground. He neglected to address how many American "residual forces" he would leave behind in Iraq to fight Al Qaeda and "protect American service members," though he made additional US trainers conditional on the Iraqis making "political progress." It is a proposal that seems to promise a phased diminishing of the American military presence, not a complete withdrawal.

Many independent analysts question the wisdom of leaving some 50,000 American troops as advisers, trainers and counter-terrorism units in Iraq after the withdrawal of 140,000 by 2010. Those forces would be protecting a sectarian political regime that is linked to death squads, militias and a detention system now holding 50,000 Iraqis in violation of human rights standards.

<snip>

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080721/hayden3

Here's what is listed at Obama's website:
http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/

It's all rather vague at the moment.

And finally:

OBAMA RECORD
Refuses to Pledge to Get Our Troops Out by 2013, the End Of His First Term

RUSSERT: "Will you pledge that by January 2013, the end of your first term, more than five years from now, there will be no U.S. troops in Iraq?"

OBAMA: "I think it's hard to project four years from now, and I think it would be irresponsible. We don't know what contingency will be out there.

What I can promise is that if there are still troops in Iraq when I take office -- which it appears there may be, unless we can get some of our Republican colleagues to change their mind and cut off funding without a timetable -- if there's no timetable -- then I will drastically reduce our presence there to the mission of protecting our embassy, protecting our civilians, and making sure that we're carrying out counterterrorism activities there. I believe that we should have all our troops out by 2013, but I don't want to make promises, not knowing what the situation's going to be three or four years out."
-- From 9/26 DNC Debate at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Would Leave a Residual Force of Up to 60,000 troops in Iraq

"My plan for ending the war would turn the page in Iraq by removing our combat troops from Iraq's civil war."
-- Speech in Clinton, Iowa 9/12/2007.

Under the Obama plan, American troops may remain in Iraq or the region. These American troops will protect American diplomatic and military personnel in Iraq, and continue striking at al Qaeda in Iraq. If Iraq makes political progress and their security forces are not sectarian, we would also continue training othe Iraqi Security Forces.
-- Barack Obama: Turning the Page in Iraq. BarackObama.com

The Center for American Progress estimates that such an undertaking in Iraq would require a force of around 60,000 troops.
-- "Strategic Redeployment 2.0: A Progressive Strategy for Iraq." The Center for American Progress. By Lawrence Korb and Brian Katulis. May 2006.
Claims to Want to End War, but Votes for Half Measures

Senator Obama has again and again advocated ending the war in Iraq, but has settled for half measures, including an amendment proposed by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) that, by Senator Levin's own admission, would only, "cut troop levels in Iraq by more than half."
-- From "Senate Blocks Bill on Combat Tours." Associated Press. By Anne Flaherty. 19 September 2007.

http://action.richardsonforpresident.com/page/content/2013/obamarecord/

[cali]

18. Obama is a neocon blood thirsty war mongering monster, a towering

figure of EVIL. Impeach!! Impeach now, before he's president and nukes Iran!!!!

There I said it all for you.

[LWolf]

19. Except that he never was, campaign rhetoric to the contrary,

"against the war."

He campaigned on a speech he made before he got to the senate. Once he got there, he supported the war every step of the way, all the way up to the primaries, when he wanted to run on not supporting it.

He's a hawk. He supports the war on terror. He's talked about unilateral military action in pakistan.

His appointments are no surprise to those who were paying attention.

[Odin2005]

21. And I approve of his position of Afganistan, which is why we need to get out of Iraq.

n/t.

[LWolf]

22. And I don't.

I don't now, and never have, approved of any part of the bogus "war on terror."

[blonndee]

24. Wow, when did they allow Obama to assume the presidency almost two months early? UNPRECEDENTED!

Seriously, people. Let's just see what happens. Sigh. Anything to create a story.

[TexasObserver]

25. Obama. The first president to be held responsible two weeks after his election.

It's still almost two months until he takes office.

By then, they'll be asking if he should be impeached for not yet solving all the world's problems.

[wisteria]

27. Did you even read the article? They are writing about his appointments

and how they differ from what he promised when he ran. No one is blaming him for the worlds problems yet- just poor or questionable judgement in chosing cabinet members.

[TexasObserver]

29. Did you even read my comments? I was writing about the idiots who are hyperventilating.

Calm down.

You act as if your inferences are the only ones appropriate. You're clearly not equipped to make these kind of political evaluations. Is this your first election? I can see how you'd be kind of scared your first time.

[wisteria]

26. Mostly alll of his appointments lead to this being the case.

And then there is that appointment of Clinton that came out of nowhere. We needed a progressive voice in this position, someone who knows the sacifices of war and the true costs. And, someone who can be trusted to carry out our foreign polcy without being watched. What we are gettng is someone who has a reputation as a hawk (without real merrit or experience) and someone the right is pleased with. Frankly, he has snubbed those who are actually loyal to him and would have told him the truth straight up and settled for self-serving tough talking people instead.

[BlooInBloo]

28. What - is there a rule that only DUers get to shit on him or something?

Don't be greedy, now, folks.

[leftofthedial]

30. well, I'll say one thing for him regarding Iraq.

He didn't bring Rumsfeld out of retirement to head his national security transition team.