Obama to meet with Iraqi leader, honor vets

Obama to meet with Iraq's prime minister, honor Vietnam vets and visit New York City

AP
Oct 20, 2009

« Return to Article

Discuss

Member Comments

  • Posted By: lisarae38 @ 02/07/2009 11:04:40 AM

    GET THE US TROOPS OUT OF THAT DESERT......ALL OF THEM! THE US HAS SPENT YEARS "TRAINING" THESE PEOPLE TO DEFEND, PROTECT, AND MANAGE THEMSELVES. NOW LET THEM! THEY ARE THE ONES WITH ALL THE DAMN OIL, WE ARE THE UNEMPLOYED AND RAPIDLY BECOMING HOMELESS! BRING OUR SOLDIERS HOME, AND BRING THE CHECKBOOK WITH THEM!

  • Posted By: KReviewerH @ 09/10/2008 4:00:21 PM

    I, being from Arizona, find it funny that you bring this up Harleyis Here. McCain's absences have long gone unnoticed by us Arizonans. I agree with you 100%. McCain uses his POW status as making him a better leader. Explain how this works? And this is not a bash in any way to POWs. I simply ask how being held captive makes you a leader? I plan to press our Arizona Republic as to what his absences are implying: Another Bush on vacation most of his presidency while the country tries to run on empty.

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 08/22/2008 11:06:12 AM

    Iraq and the U.S. pushed close to a deal Thursday setting a course for American combat troops to pull out of major Iraqi cities by next June, with a broader withdrawal from the long and costly war by 2011.

    Subject to final approval by the top Iraqi leadership, the exit date for U.S. troops would be December 2011, although the Americans insist on linking that target to additional security and political progress.

    President Bush has long resisted a timetable for pulling out, even under heavy pressure from a nation distressed by American deaths and discouraged by the length of the war that began in 2003. But that has softened in recent weeks.
    -------------------

    They are leaving sooner than what McCain had wanted....if it takes 15 Yrs or more !!

    McCain: "Even if it takes 50- 100 Yrs"

    "We are still in Japan, Korea and Germany"

    Hey John, They want us there and when they Decide, They Don't Need us...We'll be Gone !!

    John McCain acts as though, this is a Toy Soldier game, as if it does not matter whose Lives are Lost !!!

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 08/22/2008 10:58:11 AM

    McCain's Broken Classics.....

    #1 Hit: I told You "The Surge Would Work"

    Note: As Though McCain Originated "The Surge" When in Fact "The Surge" is General McFarland's Military Strategy and it did not happen at Anbar, "The Surge" happened in (Bagdad) The Bloody Anbar Awakening Happened Almost a Year Before "The Surge" and General Petraeus was Not in Iraq, During "The Anbar Awakening" or "The Surge"...

    The Anbar Awakening: Is the Crucial Turning Point in the Iraq War and without it, The Surge would still be at Day One and the Casualties Would still be Prevalent. Yet Semi-Senile John McCain has Projected himself as the Creater of "The Surge", as though, Mccain Concieved, Created and his "Surge Strategy" was Implemented by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President, based on Mccain's "Military Experience" when all He did was Sign on a Non-Partisan BandWagon to send an Additional 20,000 Troops....

    Thats All McCain Did.

    McCain Hit #2: "I know how to Win Wars"

    Oh Really John ? Are you Counting Viet Nam as a WIN for America ? You were Locked Up and being Tortured Day & Night, Remember ? John, Name One Military Strategy that you had Concieved, Created and had Implemented by the President & his Joint Chiefs of Staff...

    Please and Don't Mention "The Surge" I just Squashed that LIE


    McCain Hit #3: "No Timetable for Withdrawal, Come Home in Victory"

    What is a Victory to You John McCain ? The President of Iraq wants us OUT, The President of the USA is setting a "Time Horizon" and its been said, the Time Frame is (2010) Yet, We should Leave in Victory, Not Enough Dead Bodies, for you John ??
    ---------------------------------------

    John McCain Hit #4: "The 4 1/2 Year Military Strategy Failed, Because it was a Poorly Planned & Poorly Executed"

    McCain is Condemning Joint Chiefs Of Staff, The President, The Vice President, Himself, The Senators & Congressmen and Women who Voted on all the Military Strategies, leading up, to the "Surge" and Above all else the US Military Performed their Jobs Incompetently, Thats Exactly what he's saying...

    Yet McCain Double Talks and Calls the U.S Military Honorable, Brave and Corageous..McCain has to Open his EYES WIDE and Accept that he was a Major Force in Voting 95% of the Time on the Iraq War and All Bush Military, Foreign and Domestic Policies....Fact

  • Posted By: Mimi13 @ 08/21/2008 7:53:18 PM

    John McCain would rather draft you or your kids to keep the war in Iraq going indefinitrly. True response to a question in a town hall meeting on 8/20.

  • Posted By: jnakhoul @ 08/21/2008 5:04:33 PM

    hahahahaha lets see how fast mccains old ass can backpeddle. do you really think there'd be a withdrawl if the iraqi gov refused to sell us oil

  • Posted By: mayday1 @ 03/20/2008 7:42:38 PM

    I'm ashamed at all these comments. I am 25 years old, work at a nightclub here in Austin, Tx. and yes I even own a ps3 (observer104). I have also chosen to enlist in the U.S. army and go into combat infantry; and that was WITHOUT mtv's say so. Belive it or not I'm giving up the one night stands, the pot (marijuana for those out of the loop), and the endless amounts of free alcohol at my immediate disposal to fight for the same democracy I'm choising to forfeit= my generation is the same as yours ever was. There is no "greatest generations" or "gerneration x's" but only those who can wake up and respond to the call of duty. It's also not because (isis5632) my government might sell me to the chinese ??.... ITS FOR YOU.... Its the faith in the simple agenda that even though all you lackys have very one dimentional ideas of each other or public policy, its the conviction that God will bless you with children that are 30 million times smarter than their parents. Cheers you yuppies--keep watching CNN and complain about who's in office-- Its time to dig in gentlemen, and I hope to see more of you at Fort Benning Georgia with me in 2 months! God bless this country that has harbored, protected, and insured the sanctity of my freedom so that more of you can complain. Now who is tired of complaining and who's ready to "ruck up"?!!? Any questions send to markgriggs1@hotmail.com

    • Posted By: Texas-conservative @ 08/21/2008 2:42:10 PM

      I salute you Mayday1 (Markgriggs1)!
      May God bless you and keep you safe while you are standing up for our nation and way of life. Sometimes the good guys have to fight, and it's important that the good guys always win, because if they don't, then the bad guys try to impose THEIR authoritarian way of life on you.

  • Posted By: Mimi13 @ 08/21/2008 2:18:02 PM

    So let me get this straight. Obama said that we should carefully withdraw our troops from Iraq (as careful getting out as we were careless getting in). McCain said we should stay in Iraq for 100 years. Now we are scheduling a withdraw of out troops from Iraq at the request of the Iraqi government. And which candidate is it who is supposed to be incompetent to manage foreign policy?

  • Posted By: ajaxtheleast @ 08/21/2008 10:35:29 AM

    All out election-time propaganda,,,,,and as they are using the word "timetable" it's

    DESPERATE propaganda.

    If it weren't merely propaganda and they really CAN pull troops out of Iraq and not compromise

    security they would've yanked them and rushed them to Afghanistan.,,,,,

    But it's just paust-urine for the election,,,

    We're in Iraq and we're stuck there.,,,And we're stuck there because of a hugh ego and the

    push to make things turn out "all right", ,,as if,,,,,,that's right,,, AS IF things turning out "all right"

    in Iraq will NULLIFY the man's ILLEGAL WAR CRIME INVASION OF A SOVEREIGN COUNTRY.,,,

    Yes, he IS that far out of it !!!

    Every day that you get the news George and or Condoleezza Rice are either threatening sanctions

    against some country or defending themselves from something.

  • Posted By: Omaar @ 08/21/2008 10:30:31 AM

    McCain's Broken Classics.....

    #1 Hit: I told You "The Surge Would Work"

    Note: As Though McCain Originated "The Surge" When in Fact "The Surge" is General McFarland's Military Strategy and it did not happen at Anbar, "The Surge" happened in (Bagdad) The Bloody Anbar Awakening Happened Almost a Year Before "The Surge" and General Petraeus was Not in Iraq, During "The Anbar Awakening" or "The Surge"...

    The Anbar Awakening: Is the Crucial Turning Point in the Iraq War and without it, The Surge would still be at Day One and the Casualties Would still be Prevalent. Yet Semi-Senile John McCain has Projected himself as the Creater of "The Surge", as though, Mccain Concieved, Created and his "Surge Strategy" was Implemented by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the President, based on Mccain's "Military Experience" when all He did was Sign on a Non-Partisan BandWagon to send an Additional 20,000 Troops....

    Thats All McCain Did.

    McCain Hit #2: "I know how to Win Wars"

    Oh Really John ? Are you Counting Viet Nam as a WIN for America ? You were Locked Up and being Tortured Day & Night, Remember ? John, Name One Military Strategy that you had Concieved, Created and had Implemented by the President & his Joint Chiefs of Staff...

    Please and Don't Mention "The Surge" I just Squashed that LIE


    McCain Hit #3: "No Timetable for Withdrawal, Come Home in Victory"

    What is a Victory to You John McCain ? The President of Iraq wants us OUT, The President of the USA is setting a "Time Horizon" and its been said, the Time Frame is (2010) Yet, We should Leave in Victory, Not Enough Dead Bodies, for you John ??
    ---------------------------------------

    John McCain Hit #4: "The 4 1/2 Year Military Strategy Failed, Because it was a Poorly Planned & Poorly Executed"

    McCain is Condemning Joint Chiefs Of Staff, The President, The Vice President, Himself, The Senators & Congressmen and Women who Voted on all the Military Strategies, leading up, to the "Surge" and Above all else the US Military Performed their Jobs Incompetently, Thats Exactly what he's saying...

    Yet McCain Double Talks and Calls the U.S Military Honorable, Brave and Corageous..McCain has to Open his EYES WIDE and Accept that he was a Major Force in Voting 95% of the Time on the Iraq War and All Bush Military, Foreign and Domestic Policies....Fact


  • Posted By: Omaar @ 08/21/2008 10:28:03 AM

    1. We Won't Touch Pakistan, Militarily.

    Note: Pakistan has Nuclear Weapons and we use their Air Space...We paid off their National Debt, as a matter of fact and we use their Air Space.

    2. Bombing Iran...You Must be NUTS !!!! That too, would lead to Nuclear and Military Action by Both Russia and China, by the Way, Both Nuclear and Militarily Strong Countries have Blocked Further Sanctions Against Iran.

    Note: After the Olympics, which is this Week's Ending, Hu Jin tao will make his Presence known and Felt, regarding The georgian-Russian Conflict, its a Conflict, Not a War. Jin Tao will side with russia, in this case.

    Bigger Note: China Provides the USA with Money to Finance the Wars in Iraq & Afghanistan and Fuel our Fledgling Economy, what will happen to Us, if Jin tao decides Not to Finance our War Occupations,,,Hmmmmm

    Russia Supplies the USA with Both Oil & Gas...What will Happen, if Russia decides to Cut out our Gas & Oil Supplies, we recieve form Russia...Hmmmm

    Russia & China did Joint Military Excercises August 27 07, Keep this in mind going Forward...

    We're not the only Big Boys on the Block and we have No Money to get us out of a International Crisis.

    Keep in mind, it took us 5 years to get to this point in Iraq and its still unstable and they want Us out...Soon

    We are Too Spread Thin, Militarily and Economically, to cause Any International intrigue or Chaos...China and Russia Hold the Advantages and they know it, All Except Some of you faux-Patriots, under the Illusion, "We are All Georgians" statement by John McCain

  • Posted By: getzel @ 04/11/2008 10:52:17 PM

    Terrorist are at war with The West because terrorist believe Islam can not survive against a free market, free speech to criticize Islam, representative Republic. Yes, terrorist believe Islam is doomed to the trash heap unless freedom to criticize Islam and democracy are eliminated. That is why they send suicide murderers and attack the West. Propaganda, the big lie???

    ..if only Israel???is only an excuse, propaganda, for Islamic terror; as we see that wherever the Moslem terrorist bump against another culture they say the same thing they say about Israel. In India: same thing in Kosovo: same thing In Israel: same thing. In Darfur: same thing. In Thailand: same thing, the Philippines: same thing. Wherever the Moslem terrorist are contiguous with another people: They say the same thing they say about Israel: If only???Sharia???and no freedom of speech to criticize Islam???

    international law, have defined a set of war rule parameters that guarantee no war can be won by good guys and that guarantee nice long lasting wars with lots of weapons sales.

    Generals: Patton. Eisenhower, Marshall , Sherman et al would all be war criminals under EU (international law) and Europe would be under Hitler. Cut off terrorist infested areas: no phones, no lights, no motorcars not a single luxury. No food, no water, nothing till they give up the terrorist. Better the terrorist and their hostages should die right there than have a hundred year war where the world is terrorized for 100 years. Make a law to criminalize "appeasers" and jail the EU (Chaimberlinian) appeasers.

    Bush/Rice (Google: supertanker Rice) for a picture of her oil supertanker; renamed when she went in politics) support creating a terror state on the West Bank and Gaza and are trying to get a terror state in Pakistan and Iraq and elsewhere. Clinton succeeded in creating a terrorist Islamic state in Kosovo, where it did not previously exist: as a State.
    It is not in the USA interest to create an Islamic terror state on the West Bank and in Gaza or anywhere else.

    The Mohammedans only view ???lets sit down and talk as a sign of weakness and an indication Moslems should attack.

    The leadership that sponsors these terrorist suicide murders are the Heads of state in Tehran, Riyadh, and Damascus.

    • Posted By: raddave @ 08/21/2008 6:18:35 AM

      The EU has nothing to do with international law, that is UNs territory, and The Geneva Convention covers the laws of warfare adn the U.S. has signed and ratified these treaties. The people you mention, minus maybe Sherman would not be war criminals under the Geneva Conventions.

  • Posted By: jonstorm @ 07/16/2008 8:39:07 AM

    Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Nepal.

    What do these countries have in common?

    Democracy. Human Rights for Women, and Hope for the future which they did not have 7 years ago.

    What do Iran, Saudi Arabia and Syria have in common?

    They better get with the program soon or they will get democracy American Style like Germany, like Japan, like Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

    Thank You Mr. Bush.

    Thank you to all the American men and women who volunteered, sacrificed and died to make this dream a reality for millions of people in the Middle East.

    God Bless The United States of America.

    • Posted By: raddave @ 08/21/2008 6:09:01 AM

      Pakistan a democracy, human rights for women, hope for the future? Are you blind or just insane? Pakistan does not control of its territory along the Afghanistan border and their military is afraid to go in there and have basically turned it over to the warlords who support the Taliban. These warlords practice Taliban style control of this region. Nepal? They became a parlimentary monarchy in 1990, 11 years before Bush came into power. Even though they have a parliment, the Communist Party of Nepal has a majority in the government. So I do not see what Bush has done to bring democracy there.

  • Posted By: americancitizen200 @ 07/17/2008 11:36:38 AM

    Seems to me that Obama has been saying we need less troops in Iraq now your President wants to maybe reduce troop levels in Iraq, send an envoy to Iran, send more troops to Afghanistan...Republicans for someone who in your parties words has no experience it's real funny that you keep following Obama plan. Anyone who wants to same thing your getting now then vote Repub. McCain is no different

  • Posted By: Alvy @ 06/25/2008 5:13:38 PM

    Bush talking to terrorist? Extremists?
    Communicaton first?

  • Posted By: the_shelton @ 05/01/2008 1:33:36 PM

    The money that should be used to rebuild Iraq, should come from Iraq. They have more than enough that has been held up and stockpiled for whoever wins the debaucle over there. You don't really think all those folks coming across the borders and from other countries are doing this out of love for country and freedom do you. Anytime a war goes on, it is being financed by someone for the sole purpose of economic gain. No one does anything in this world unless it has a paycheck attached to it.

    So, let the games begin. We can go over and help them rebuild, and send them a really good sized bill. We fought the war for nothing, That is no reason to let the rest of it get away for free also.

  • Posted By: C. MacLean @ 04/23/2008 2:37:11 PM

    "...I don't know anybody in the U.S. military better qualified to lead that effort..."

    I do. Admiral Fallon.

    Putting General Petraeus in charge will guarantee that Iraq remains the focus, instead of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan, where the focus truly belongs.

    Once again, Bush is snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

    January 21, 2009 can't come soon enough.

  • Posted By: burbank @ 04/12/2008 2:58:33 AM

    The ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker states "that the Bush Administration is really intrested in talks with Iran", despite the fact that Iranian diplomats have backed out of recent attempts to meet with him for such discussions. And what would be the result of those discussions? A peace treaty? Perhaps a non-agression pact like the one signed between Neville Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler in 1938. Mabye that dubious entente would guarantee "peace in our time". Then again, mabye not. Mabye its about time we skip the diplomatic subterfuge and call any kind of negotiations with Iran what they really are...a sham. A factitious attempt by pompous diplomats to appease the tyranical dictators of totalitarian states. History has taught us that this kind of diplomacy will only end in failure and that the blood of our national treasure will sacrificed to secure a final and lasting peace. After you have beaten your enemy decisively on the field of battle, "hearts and minds" will follow.

  • Posted By: burbank @ 02/26/2008 6:19:15 AM

    There are those who would sacrifice our life and liberty to promote their altruistic world view. The sad reality of this short sighted policy neglects the lessons of history and in doing so puts us all at risk. The reason that war is so horrific is that the solution to prevention was nurtured in the womb of political debate. The emperor fiddled and Rome burned. Now, these Men of Munich (Reid, Finegold, et.al.) would cut and run as we stand at the threshold of victory. They are cowards unfit to lead or command. Fortunately for America and for the rest of the world when these fatuous oafs promote a policy of cut and run, there are others with backbone who stand in the shadows and fight.

    • Posted By: Driver of wagons @ 04/09/2008 5:17:01 PM

      Once again, the president is passing the buck to the uniformed military to justify continuing a ludicrous imperial adventure, and the good general has dutifully performed. It is an abdication of civilian control of the military, the basic principle of American constitutional governance, to assign a central role to an active duty general to make the decision to end the war. It betrays the legacy warnings of our two most famous wartime generals, George Washington and Dwight D. Eisenhower..

      Have you read the Patriot Act ? READ IT! It is long and convoluted but it is a real eye opener.
      American history is also a very fasinating subject to research

    • Posted By: steberg @ 02/26/2008 1:07:30 PM

      I don't even know where to begin with this one. Those "other with backbone who stand in the shadows and fight," would these be the same chickenhawks who blundered and lied us into the biggest foreign-policy tragedy in history? The ones who have committed a trillion dollars (so far) of our money, money that could have been spent in so many more constructive ways it makes one want to weep? The ones who can't even explain coherently why we are in Iraq in the first place because the story keeps changing? These are the brave leaders we are supposed to trust? I think I'll take my chances with someone, ANYONE, else. And by the way, after what you and your ilk have given us for the past seven years, I don't think you should be allowed a say in this current debate, other than a heartfelt "we're sorry."

      • Posted By: Jumpingnots @ 04/09/2008 2:32:48 AM

        Burbank , by all means go to Iraq and do the fighting and send my grandson back ,he spend more than two years in this mess ,but you have no backbone to do this i am sure.

      • Posted By: gattmosa @ 02/26/2008 1:11:41 PM

        Denying a person from a debate.... That doesnt seem to uphold our democratic ideals now does it?

  • Posted By: Driver of wagons @ 04/09/2008 5:05:43 PM



    George Washington and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

    American history offers no greater heroes, not because of their considerable success in battle but because they gained the wisdom to sound the alarm against unbridled militarism so passionately and effectively. The farewell addresses of both those departing generals-turned-president still stand as the essential bookends for what has been written about the limits on military adventure required for democracy's survival. Washington's plea to the nation "to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism" sets the standard for enlightened political discourse. A close second is Eisenhower's warning that, "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex."

    Strange how these two distinguised Americans were able to rationally with intellegence see their role and the role of the political and military forces in our country with such insightful vision. Yet we turrn a blind eye and just keep letting or pulling that Trojan Horse in through the gate knowing full well what the end result will be!

Reply

Report Abuse

Enter comments if any for reporting abuse