Posted by Jeff Zeleny 11:03 am CST
The weekend box score from Sen. Barack Obama's first trip to the Middle East: Two lost basketball games, one stomach-lurching airplane ride to Baghdad and spending the night in one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces.
Yes, the Democratic senator from Illinois slept in the pool house.
"As you might expect, it has a nice pool," Obama quipped. "It's next to the mess hall for the troops, part of the main compound that's used by American personnel."
On his way to Iraq, he stopped in Kuwait, where he didn't fare so well on the court. A team of U.S. Marines beat him in two straight games of two-on-two.
In weekend telephone call with reporters, the senator was asked whether any troops were angry with him, considering his opposition to the Bush administration's Iraq policy.
"If they are," Obama said, "they've been too polite to say so."
Indeed, Obama's weeklong trip to the region provided his first up-close view of Iraq. He was tagging along with Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.) and two other members of Congress.
He left Iraq - continuing to the next stop in Jordan - with one over-arching thought about the next six months. Unless there is "significant political progress," he said, it's time for a change in policy.
"We can pour money and troops in here until the cows come home," Obama said, "but we are not going to be successful."
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Comments
The difficulty I have with comments made by the good Senator are these: He apparently views Iraq as a stand alone event and not as a part of any overall war. When you look back historically at most other wars--it would be a problem to pick an event or a time to say " we need to do this or that or we can not win" Hitler would have loved it. In fact the end game for Germany and Japan was to bleed us enough that we would see our people and politicians seek an end to the conflicts before we achieved victory. Sound familiar? The enemy today wants to kill us all--everyone one of us--even those who would take us out of the war before any chance of victory.
Posted by: David Dawson | January 9, 2006 3:41 PM
To interject the “Hitler” word into the situation is to magnify the underlying misunderstandings that come from approving war as a means to establish free trade for corporations. There is no one evil person behind corporate motivations.
It appears that the people of Iraq are being introduced to a “democratic way” and to paraphrase the words of Obama: “if there is no progress in establishing a democracy within six months – then change the game plan!” This might mean trying “something new” in terms of military involvement, corporate involvement, financial bindings, and political support of the Iraqi democracy installation.
It is not the presence of forign money and soldier’s bodies that make a democratic union form anew for a people. It is motivating the Iraqi peoples willingness:
to accept change,
to accept people of all walks of life,
to compromise and understand all sides of disagreements,
reach agreement,
want peace,
never accept a compromise of human rights.
The comment by Obama “We can pour money and troops in here until the cows come home, but we are not going to be successful.” This comment has the strong notion that our highly qualified and properly elected Senator from the great state of Illinois has directly observed one or more of the following:
a lack of successful transfer of democracy to the Iraqi people,
a lack transition to order,
a lack military effectiveness and civil respect in Iraq or other untold problems,
possibly a bad environment in this country for democracy to thrive.
I suggest we support Senator Obama in his observations and be patient with the lack of success in a wounded people’s soul. He has the big game coming up with some of da players in Washington soon!
Posted by: Mark Vavra Ph.D. | January 9, 2006 6:00 PM
Bush and Co. would like to put this "war" in black and white; things are so much easier that way. Profits and losses are more recognizable.
Maybe "we" have won already and don't know it. The people of Iraq now enjoy inane leaders, shady elections, a shaky economy, large-scale unemployment and soaring gas prices. They seem to have achieved the American dream.
Posted by: Z | January 10, 2006 3:03 PM