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  • From: bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Homestead] Change ? Hardly ..
  • Date: Fri, 5 Dec 2008 04:42:21 -0800 (PST)

>From the WSJ , referencing an article in the NYT rag, all concluding what
>those of us who were honest with ourselves said all along. BO already
>acknowleding thousands and thousands of troops will remain in Iraq for who
>knows how many years.

Watch for some of his swooning cheerleaders to once again make excuses. Just
start calling him "Bush light" .......................

--------------------------------------------------------------------

'Muted by Reality' Now that Obama has won, we could be in Iraq for a hundred
years.


By JAMES TARANTO

Barack Obama was elected president a month ago and does not take office for
another 6½ weeks. But his most fervent supporters already have reason to be
disappointed in him. Witness the headline of a "news analysis" in today's New
York Times: "Campaign Promises on Ending the War in Iraq Now Muted by
Reality."

"As he moves closer to the White House," the Times reveals, "President-elect
Obama is making clearer than ever that tens of thousands of American troops
will be left behind in Iraq, even if he can make good on his campaign promise
to pull all combat forces out within 16 months." That itself is a big "if,"
as the Times acknowledges:

That status-of-forces agreement remains subject to change, by mutual
agreement, and Army planners acknowledge privately that they are examining
projections that could see the number of Americans hovering between 30,000
and 50,000--and some say as high as 70,000--for a substantial time even
beyond 2011.
We may be in Iraq for a hundred years! The Times notes that "there always was
a tension, if not a bit of a contradiction, in the two parts of Mr. Obama's
campaign platform to 'end the war' by withdrawing all combat troops by May
2010":

To be sure, Mr. Obama was careful to say that the drawdowns he was promising
included only combat troops. But supporters who keyed on the language of
ending the war might be forgiven if they thought that would mean bringing
home all of the troops.
Hmm, here is what the Times editorial page said about the subject when it
endorsed Obama back in October:


The unnecessary and staggeringly costly war in Iraq must be ended as quickly
and responsibly as possible.
While Iraq's leaders insist on a swift drawdown of American troops and a
deadline for the end of the occupation, Mr. McCain is still talking about
some ill-defined "victory." As a result, he has offered no real plan for
extracting American troops and limiting any further damage to Iraq and its
neighbors.
Mr. Obama was an early and thoughtful opponent of the war in Iraq, and he has
presented a military and diplomatic plan for withdrawing American forces. Mr.
Obama also has correctly warned that until the Pentagon starts pulling troops
out of Iraq, there will not be enough troops to defeat the Taliban and Al
Qaeda in Afghanistan.



It is awfully generous of the Times to forgive Obama's supporters for
believing what they read in the Times.

It must be said that not everyone is surprised to find Obama's campaign
promises "muted by reality." Those of us who were paying attention to reality
before Nov. 4 never took Obama's pledge to flee Iraq seriously. Although it
is especially repugnant to seek political gain by promising to lose a war, it
is also common for presidential candidates to make unrealistic promises,
especially on foreign policy, and disregard them once elected. (Remember how
George W. Bush was going to stop "nation building" and Bill Clinton was going
to get tough on the Red Chinese?)

Obama thus is carrying on a long tradition of making empty and irresponsible
promises. While he may deliver victory in Iraq, his war against cynicism has
already been lost. .......................








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