Obama finally announces Iraq withdrawal

I don't see this as any news at all. The Iraqi and US had already came to an agreement that all troops would be pulled out BY the end of 2011 under the Bush Administration.

U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have agreed to the withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces from the country by the end of 2011, and Iraqi officials said they are "very close" to resolving the remaining issues blocking a final accord that governs the future American military presence here.

This meant that it would be up to the next administration to live up to this agreement and make a plan on gradual withdrawal. And that is exactly what Obama spelled out. In the end all troops will be out of IRAQ by 2011 exactly as what Bush and the Iraqis had agreed to.


Now if Obama had pulled everyone out in the next six months then I would consider that NEWS.

reply to post by jam321


The only thing that is news is that he's leaving 50,000 troops there after the "end of the Iraq war."

One has to wonder how many troops will be in AFGHANISTAN by then.

[edit on 28-2-2009 by David9176]

Originally posted by Blaine91555
reply to post by Southern Guardian

 

Forgive me if someone else pointed this out, but is that not exactly the same as the plan Bush left in place upon his departure? I believe it is.

That was an interesting question,

One reason was that presidential advisers had calculated early on that whatever option Obama chose, even the most passionate in the anti-war camp would most remember that he ended the war — not when. Also, Obama entered office with the decision having been made much easier for him by none other than Bush, through a last-minute agreement with Iraqis requiring all U.S. troops to leave by December 2011.

So at most, Obama was talking about speeding up some parts of that by a year and a half.

www.google.com...

"Before announcing his plan for withdrawing troops from Iraq, President Obama made an intriguing courtesy call on Friday morning: to former president George W. Bush, who began the war that Obama has so vehemently opposed," Kornblut writes.

Kornblut adds, "White House officials did not elaborate on the call, which Obama placed from a holding room at Camp Lejeune just moments before he gave his long-awaited speech. Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said Obama made the call ‘as a courtesy’ to the former president."

www.infowars.com...

Oh I would love to know what was said in that call.

edited to add
Shocking Video Unearthed Obama Hypocrisy On Iraq Success

www.youtube.com...

[edit on 062828p://bSaturday2009 by Stormdancer777]

reply to post by Blaine91555


Both Obama and Hillary clinton stated throughout their primaries that they will withdraw troops. Obama stated specifically by 2011 and it has been that way through out the 2008 year. The republican standpoint was always to keep troops in Iraq despite the fact that the majority of the country wanted a withdrawal. Republicans, conservatives and co did not want a withdrawal and intended to keep troops there for a long period of time, this was McCains standpoint. Towards the end of the election when it became apparent that the Republicans were loosing out Bush announced that he had changed his plans and that he will sign an agreement to withdraw troops by 2011, this was months after the calls from democratic candidates and the population to do so, this was months after the conservatives, the republican candidates and fox news stated the "need" to stay there in 2011.

What you dont get blaine is that there was an intention to withdraw troops until it became apparent the republicans -re-election hopes were in the goober, so they quickly changed their minds.The original intention was never to withdraw for the next five years and that has been the intention until the end of the elections when the republicans needed a lift in votes.

reply to post by jam321


Jam, Bush and conservatives never even considered any withdrawal or time table until the last quarter of the election year when they were desperate for votes. The announcement was a political stunt from Bush during the election year, just weeks before the election night. Do you really think his decision was not one of politics? Do you really think he would have announced that if there were no elections last year, or whether the republicans were sure to win?

No need to play dumb on the matter, we all know why Bush pulled that little stunt of his off, and well before he, mccain and the conservatives even dared utter consideration of withdrawal Obama was promised complete withdrawal by 2011. Bushes decision was irrelevant because it was a political stunt out of act of desperation.

reply to post by Southern Guardian


Southern, you may have a point it was a political move for votes. But I question that based on 2 reasons.

1) the Republicans dis Bush and distanced themselves from him like he was the plague. Nobody wanted to do anything with him or his ideas.

2) Bush asked for a 700 Billion dollar bailout that went against everything Republicans stand for and that caught McCain by surprise. This news was basically the last nail in the coffin for the McCain campaign.

These 2 points highlight that Bush no longer cared about party politics and IMO got a little pay back on the Republicans for treating him like dirt.

That being said, regardless of our disagreement on this issue, i applaud Obama for setting a plan to get our troops out. Hopefully, if things go well, Obama can pull them out even sooner.

I question how it could have been considered a political ploy for votes, when there was nothing stopping any R candidate from advocating withdrawal at any time, thus garnering any voters to whom this mattered. Most R candidates had distanced themselves from Bush early on in the process.

The difference between the D's and R's was always that the D's were quick to put a specific date on withdrawal, while the R's were more likely to evaluate the effects of the surge and the reports from the field commanders before announcing withdrawal.

Originally posted by David9176
One has to wonder how many troops will be in AFGHANISTAN by then.

A lot. Al-Qaeda is essentially trying to take over neighboring Pakistan, and there is a strong chance that they could pull it off due to the fact that they have a lot of sympathizers within Pakistan's military. Pakistan has nuclear weapons. If Al-Qaeda gains power in Pakistan, then the people who want to kill us have suddenly gone nuclear. This is the single biggest "terrorist" threat that we're facing; and in hindsight, the biggest problem with the Iraq war is that it diverted our attention away from Afghanistan.

This should be the top concern of the Defense Department and concern 1b of the State Department (along with making sure that other nations don't resort to "beggar they neighbor" economic policies).

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott

Originally posted by Southern Guardian
A war waged under false pretenses... an unconstitutional war...

You could at least get your facts straight in your first paragraph.

The Iraq war is a war that was authorized by congress, based on the best intelligence available.

Saddam's unwillingness to comply with UN resolutions following his expulsion from Kuwait following his illegal invasion is what was responsible for the misinformation.

Now of course, the enemy has a timetable for our withdrawal and they can wait it out before rushing in to create a new terrorist safe haven.

But, let's be optimistic and hope that the new democracy created in Iraq will continue to flourish and will stand as a beacon of freedom in a region of terror and repression.

BULL @#$@!

The war was being planed before 9/11 - READ up GP...

The country was manipulated and congress folded due to public fears.


WHATs the terror alert level today???


We are bound to repeat this mistake... FAOY

reply to post by Southern Guardian


ITs so true, ya know...

Maggots on roadkill

I'm gonna go have a more full filling conversation with my shoe...

Or maybe I can take a ball p hammer to my head and join the parade.

Hey OP, look on the bright side.
He withdraws the troops and he gets credit for victory in Iraq at the same time.
Obama's first major victory, how cool is that?

/sarcasm off