Obama called Bush: Ending the Iraq war

Yes, thank you very much Shrub Jr. and Cheney. Thank you for all of the dead innocent people and the billions upon billions that your trumped up war in Iraq is still costing the American taxpayers.

So....... where's the rest of the story?

How will the war end? when will it end?

Hey Joe -start keeping stats on Barry's War in Afghanistan. The one in which He is increasing the US troops (17,000 more) and US dollars with. You'll let us know the numbers of dead innocent people and the billions upon billions spent to find BinLaden right? What did he and "Smilin' Joe Biden" put in his smoke and mirrors budget for his war?

Be sure to give us those numbers on a regular basis Joe!

Be great if Obama can end in 2010 but big worry is Iraq?

Thank you Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Dick Durbin, et al, who all voted for to authorize the use of force to implement Clinton's Iraqi Liberation Act (1998) which allowed Bush to strike Iraq.

And, let's thank John Kerry for being honest AFTER the 2004 election when he said that he only voted FOR since it would make him look good in his run up to the nomination.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that Bush couldn't have done anything in Iraq without Congressional approval.

And, Congress had the same access to intelligence information that Bush did. don't let anyone tell you different.

Oh, and I'd also like to thank Colin Powell for giving questionable information to the UN, also for endorsing Obama and being a character witness for Ted Stevens.

Great job, Colin.

A nice gesture for Obama to call Bush. Obama certainly has a lot more class than some of his supporters.

While I personally support the troop pull-out, President Obama's language reminds of Nixon's 'ole "peace with honor."

Let's hope, too, that we don't leave all of our equipment in Iraq. While the Obama administration examines further gun control on Americans, it is frightening to see the jihadists with all of our superior weaponry.

Perhaps John Reed was right when he said war is for profits. Reed said this back in 1917.

Hey Springfield - the President is allocating the troops and funds the way they should have been allocated all along - in Afghanistan. The "rest of the story" should have been the story from day one. Instead, it's taken 6 freaking years to get to. How will the war end? When will it end? the answer is 6 years longer than it should have.

We'll be happy to let you all know the fatalities and the cost it takes to find Bin Laden. The cost will be congruent with the cause. At least now our service people will be defending their country in response to the blood shed on 9/11. Remember that day? That's when BIN LADEN's terrorist organization killed some 3,000 Americans. At least now we're going after him on his turf.

Be sure to check back on those numbers on a regular basis Springfield!

Thank you Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Dick Durbin, et al, who all voted for to authorize the use of force to implement Clinton's Iraqi Liberation Act (1998) which allowed Bush to strike Iraq.And, let's thank John Kerry for being honest AFTER the 2004 election when he said that he only voted FOR since it would make him look good in his run up to the nomination.Let's not lose sight of the fact that Bush couldn't have done anything in Iraq without Congressional approval.
Posted by: Pete | February 27, 2009 4:24 PM
.................

Yes, let's not lose sight of the fact that W., Cheney and their Repug neocon minions trumped up intelligence against Saddam and then demanded a vote on it the next day. Thus leaving Dems with no choice but to back W., because at the time they had no reason to believe that he was lying to them.

Here's the thing Repugs. Until you start taking full ownership of your f-ups you will be the minority party and it doesn't appear that you are doing that the way you've been going about things the last few years.

I'm a believer that it's a good thing to have a Repug opposition party, but that party has to be sane to be taken seriously and the 2009 Repug party is clearly running off the rails.

Let's hope the Iranians aren't going in while we're leaving like the North Vietnamese during our last surrender.

Awwwwwwwwwww, you've gotta love how the Repukelicans on here are still delusional about their involvement and their cheerleading for Bush and Cheney's war mongering.

They Repukes have already lost that PR battle but true to form, that won't stop them from lying about it.

Courtesy call?? "Hello, W? Just wanted to give you a head-up. We're ending the war, so it's time to put a sell order on your Halliburton shares. No problem. Have a good one."

So Obama the Unqualified is ending the War in Iraq in 2010. Nope between 35,000 to 50,000 troops will still be there. That is not ending anything. And those extra troops are going to ---- yes you guessed it -----

Afghanistan!

Dear Pete:

I just spoke to Dubya. He's willing to give back those comprising pictures of you and the parrot, provided you stop trying to defend him.

I don't know what planet you're from, but Bush certainly had access to more intelligence info than Congress, since the Admin decides what Congress does and does not get.

Besides, the Congressional Approval that Bush received was assured, regardless of whether Dems (a spineless bunch, to be sure) voted for it.

The grownups are in charge now, Petey. Deal with it.

Yes, Springfield, do tell us about "Barry's War in Afghanistan." Last time I checked, it was W who sent troops there in the first place--but never allocated enough resources to get any traction. Oh yeah--he was running out of troops because of Iraq! One more mess for Obama and the American people to clean up.

"...Thus leaving Dems with no choice but to back W., because at the time they had no reason to believe that he was lying to them..."

Posted by: Teresa | February 27, 2009 4:55 PM

Tesesa-There was no lying, maybe bad judgement or perhaps drawing conclusions that should not have been drawn- but there is little evidence that Bush lied..if so, then everyone- US intel, French Intel, British Intel... Bill Clinton, Colin Powell and many other smart people all lied when they agreed with the assesment of the Iraqi threat...

But to your point, so you are saying one of two things..

1. Dems had access to the same intel as Bush, DIDN'T read it and still voted yes?

OR

2. Dems had access to the same intel as Bush, DID read it and still voted yes?

Either way, dont you worry about your Dem congress folks ability to read and comprehend English, or else their inability to do their homework and get themselves informed BEFORE they vote for something as urgent GO TO WAR OR NOT!

So Obama the Unqualified is ending the War in Iraq in 2010.
Posted by: Darkwater | February 27, 2009 5:03 PM

Yes Clown,
Afganistan, you know, WHERE THE PEOPLE WHO ATTACKED US ON 9/11 LIVE!

If the BushCo Neocon Republicans hadn't decided that it would be a great idea to invade Iraq for no reason we would already have finished up the Afganistan job by now.

And speaking of being "unqualified"...that would be your entire 2009 Rethuglican party, who judging by the last two landslide elections against them, have been deemed by the American people of not only being unqualified but also inept and corrupt.

I prefer the term "repiglicans."

Soon after the invasion in 2003 American troops found 550 metric tons of yellowcake uranium near Baghdad. For obvious reasons the discovery was kept secret.
Beginning last June the entire amount was shipped to Canada and on July 5 it arrived in Montreal, where today it is being used as part of Canada's nuclear energy program.

Given the above is it not reasonable to assume that there might be MORE discoveries that were kept secret.

Think I'm making it up? msnbc.com/associated press July 5, 2008

I love the people who feel that because there are some troops in Iraq that the combat operations can't be over. I guess we are still fighting WWII and the Korean war since we still have troops in Germany, Japan, and Korea.

Either way, dont you worry about your Dem congress folks ability to read and comprehend English, or else their inability to do their homework and get themselves informed BEFORE they vote for something as urgent GO TO WAR OR NOT!

Posted by: heartburn | February 27, 2009 5:26 PM
................

Quit trying to pass yourself off as a war intelligence expert, PrePuke.

Iraq is the Rethuglicans war, your team trumped it up and your team is responsible for the death, destruction and loss of life that has become of it. The American voting public has already past judgement on you Rethugs regarding Iraq, so you can quit lying any time now since no one is listening.

In only a month and half Barack Obama has done something that I would have never thought possible.
He's even more annoying to watch and listen to than GWB.
And that's going some!

"Repukes," "Rethuglicans," "neo-cons,": all this stupid name-calling says more about the Democratic, nihilistic name-callers than about the Republicans they so despise. Somewhere along the way, perhaps we might give credit to the Bush administration for nurturing a democracy in Iraq that might be our good friend in the hostile Mideast. But then, we wouldn't want to give President Bush credit for anything, would we? As for our 9/11 perpetrators, I think Saudi Arabia is more likely their home than Afghanistan.

Vader

Your history is confused. It was not just the Republicans who voted for the War in Iraq. Both the Democrats and Republicans voted to go into Iraq, and made funds available for it. They could have not funded the war, and the troops would have to come home.

And yes, Obama is Unqualified to hold any elected office. He has proven that time and again. Without his puppetmasters helping him, he would fall flat on his face. No one has ever told me why Obama the Unqualified should be elected to any office. Heard a lot of BS answers but nothing, absolutely nothing that shows any real qualifications.

1. Congress did not have the same intelligence info as the admin. Cong had the info that the Admin selected for Cong's review.

2. It was hardly a foregone conclusion that war was appropriate if even there were WMD. Iraq was not a threat to anyone. It was Bush's judgment to go to war; his poodle Blair acceded, but France and others wisely refrained. As history has proved (and as millions of people protesting recognized), Bush's critical thinking skills are, um, lacking. Starting the war was, at best, an awful mistake and, at worst, murder.

Good luck washing the blood from your hands, Bush apologistas. It will never come off.

Yes Clown,
Afganistan, you know, WHERE THE PEOPLE WHO ATTACKED US ON 9/11 LIVE
----
Oh yeah, I forgot that terrorists only live in Afghanistan. My Bad. (scuse me for being ignorant, but didnt they fly planes IN the united states and LIVE here on student visa's for years? ahh yes The United States of Afghanistan.. my bad again..)

We don't learn, do you?
---------------------
Let's hope the Iranians aren't going in while we're leaving like the North Vietnamese during our last surrender.

Posted by: Gary | February 27, 2009 4:57 PM

This is a good plan. Let it work. I know many would like a faster draw-down and a smaller residual force. I am one of them. I will help keep the pressure up, and I'll hope that both our pressure and the improving conditions on the ground will prompt the president to complete this plan ahead of schedule. But the President is keeping his promise of ending our mission in Iraq, redirecting our attention to actually fighting Al Queda and its extremist associates. When the history of this time is written, few will refuse to give President Barack Obama credit for a major shift in American policy and beginning a new era of rational leadership.

And as far as the Republicans on here who are trying to shift the blame for Iraq onto the Dems. Iraq is your war, your President (Bush) sought it out and your majority Republican party congress fast tracked it for him. The American people have already made up their minds as to who is to blame (Republicans) for Iraq and that is one reason why, among many, that you're a very small minority party bordering on going the way of the Whigs right now.

Yes, and President Obama you make sure that you thank former president Bush for the success in Iraq and that you won't have to deal with Saddam Hussein.

Miguel, kind sir, how do you know Afghanistan is Obama's home turf?

Finger pointing doesn't work - they are all guilty of misjudgement. We, as Americans are so GUILTY of fingerpointing . . . to the enth degree. "It's his fault, it's hers." Get over it. Let's find real solutions instead of laying blame.

i'm also a big proponent of the pull-out method

heartburn......OR.....

Washington, DC– The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) has produced a report that clearly rejects White House assertions that Congress had access to the same intelligence as the President in the march to war with Iraq.

“There have been a number of claims that Congress had access to all the same intelligence before going to war as did the Administration. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service study released today indicates that these claims are patently false,” Senator Feinstein said. “The report demonstrates that Congress routinely is denied access to intelligence sources; intelligence collection and analysis ‘methods;’ ‘raw’ or ‘lightly evaluated’ intelligence; and the President’s Daily Brief (PDB). This report goes to show that members of Congress were not seeing the same picture as the Administration.

Funny. That's the same timetable the Bush Administration had in mind. Funny how critical Obama was about the Bush Administration but follow Bush's plan to a tea. Funny how Obama is stepping up troops for Afghanistan just like the Bush Administration recommended. Can anyone see thru his lies just to win the presidency? Or is it because they wanted their first black president? And I'm black by the way and didn't vote for him!

I am a democrat that voted for Barack but I do not agree with his new policy of 18 months of pull out & leaving 50,000 troops. You said during the campaign that it was the wrong war, so why prolonged it and endanger the 50,000 souls out there. Iraq is not part of America, nobody can fly above Iraq w/o being shot, what is the worry in leaving it to the Iraqui government to establish their own military & police their own criminal elements. Why do we need to stay more than 3 months in Iraq. Barack? You are the President, not the stool pigeon of these Conservatives who have vested interest on this war.

Pete, You included Powell at the UN, but didn't mention Condi Rices' lies to justify the invasion. Why? Because that leads to noting Obamas' earlier senatorial vote to confirm her for Sec. State. True justice would have Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Powell, Rice, Wolfowitz, AND Obama along with all the other Iraq invader backers with Guantanamo cell reservations. What was Bidens' vote?

Last summer, my Second Lieutenant Army officer nephew told the family here in the Midwest that the Defense Dept. and the administration (that's the Bush administration), was quiety shifting folks out of the Iraq theater and into Afghanistan. A month later, Barack Obama came back from Iraq, talking as if this re-deployment was all his bright idea. And the media followed Obama's line on this. Our lowest ranking officers knew what was going on, and who was doing it, but Obama took the credit, and the adoring media and his mindless followers were more than happy to buy his explanation and give him credit. And, as pointed out above, the war would have almost certainly ended the way he's now proposing under the Bush plan. Yes, Obama's a genius alright.

Pete, You included Powell at the UN, but didn't mention Condi Rices' lies to justify the invasion. Why? Because that leads to noting Obamas' earlier senatorial vote to confirm her for Sec. State. True justice would have Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Powell, Rice, Wolfowitz, AND Obama along with all the other Iraq invader backers with Guantanamo cell reservations. What was Bidens' vote?

Posted by: stewart | February 27, 2009 9:04 PM
..

Biden said he regretted puting his trust in Bush and voting with him on Iraq and Obama wasn't even a member of congress when the decision to invade Iraq was made - in fact Obama gave a speech in front of the IL state legislator spesking out AGAINST invading Iraq.

Bush, Cheny, Rumsfeld, Powell, Wolfowitz, Rove, Yoo, Adington etc, yeah, they should be in a cell at Gitmo right now.

The Repiglican party is really falling apart. It's one thing when they lie to each other but it's another when they lie to people outside of the little delusional bubble world that they live in and then expect us to believe them too.

ahahah, please reread Miguel's post again and offer an appology. Your reading skills are nearing a pugs.

but Obama took the credit, and the adoring media and his mindless followers were more than happy to buy his explanation and give him credit. And, as pointed out above, the war would have almost certainly ended the way he's now proposing under the Bush plan. Yes, Obama's a genius alright.

Posted by: Bill | February 27, 2009 9:47 PM
...

Obama said he was going to do it (add troops to Afganistan) before Shrub Jr decided to do it and Shrub Jr only agreed to a withdrawal date for Iraq because he had to, the SOFA was going to expire and then we would have officially been deemed of being in Iraq illegally.

Shrub Jr is a war criminal, a schmuck and pompus arse.
Deal with it.

Enough of the fingerpointing! Every party (dems and gop) knew all info and all voted for invading Iraq. It is time to exit but the final answer on if this was successful or not will not be known for a long time. And for the record, the cost of the war is nowhere near the cost of bailing out the US banking system.

Posted by: heartburn | February 27, 2009 5:26 PM

He did lie. The "16 words" in the 2003 SOTU?

Not that it mattered, the vote to "authorize" war had been made anyway.

The crime was that the UN inspectors were in Iraq doing their jobs. And Sadaam was certainly no threat to the United States. In fact, all Bush's folly really did was make Iran stronger in the region. Iran and Iraq were mortal enemies. They kept each other in check. And Bush eliminated Iran's primary enemy for them.

When Bush saw Ahmadinejad visit Baghdad and hug Maliki, he must of thougth, "oops, my bad".

AlQaeda could have been cornered and destroyed if we just put everything into Afghanistan and Pakistan. But the Iraq invasion allowed AlQaeda to spread into Iraq. Where they had not been before.

The only thing I'll say about the need for troops now is, once Bush started it, there's not a heck of a lot you can do. He broke Iraq, now Obama will start to fix it.

We are going to be leaving Iraq because it is no longer profitable to be there, in the broad sense of the word. Do not fool yourselves, this war was started for one simple reason - profit. It is not possible to leave in 3 months - too much 'stuff' to move. And yes, Bush is a war criminal and a murderer. He deserves prison, at least.

my goodness, you guys can't spell.

For the Bush apologists out there, be brave enough to read these books and articles. It shows a deliberate creation of false information to justify war against Iraq. Hubris, Fiasco, The Price of Loyalty, State of War, The 1% Doctrine, State of War, Worse Than Watergate. "The New Pentagon Papers", "The Downing Street Memo", "Sham Dunk, Cooking the Intelligence for the President". Additional reading to show how torture was approved at the highest levels: The Terror Presidency, Taxi to the Dark Side. Articles: "The Memo", "The Torture Memo", The Court Martial of Willy Brand", "Tortured Reasoning", "Did Bush Commit War Crimes?".

Im very glad to see he's ending the war in Iraq. It was never justifiable in the first place.