Mr. Edwards:
Keep it up dems. The election of 2006 was not a referendum to get out and lose the war, it was to send a message to change direction to put us in a position to win the war.  Americans do not like to lose wars, no matter which party it is pinned on.

Here we go again, Edwards is simply clueless. Our military men and women are doing a great job, and Hillary is right to aknowledge that. She is also right to note that there is no military solution. If Edwards can't see that, then he is not fit to be the Commander in Chief.

This is a  prime example on why America needs John Edwards.

Edwards 08!

Desperate times call for desperate measures...

As he draws closer to Governor Richardson in the polls, Senator Edwards is trying anything and everything to get some traction in his slipping campaign. He's flailed at both front-runners this week, to little avail.
This is the guy who said less than three days ago,
"How about a little hope and optimism?"

I like Senator Edwards and I like a lot of what he has to say. He will be a real asset to Senator Clinton during the national campaign.

Van

I'm trying to figure out Clinton and the Democratic insiders. Now, Ms. Clinton seems to want to claim that the surge is working, that democracy is alive and well in Iraq, and at the same time Sam Levin apparently wants discuss removing that same "democraticly elected" government. Romney, on the other side, apparently wants to tout our soldier's courage and success all the while his cowardly brats hide behind daddy's life of privilege. It's little wonder that public opinion of Congress is at an all time low. The public is worried about (1) the ECONOMY, and THAT means ending this globalization nonsense, and (2) pulling out of Iraq. The fools in Washington apparently want to have it both ways, collecting money from their corporate bosses and changing the subject every time they appear before the voters. Somebody in Washington needs to start listening....

Domenico/Mark - per the tease on the front page of MSNBC.com, Hillary says the "troop surge is working." Where/when does she say that?

Here we have everyone in a tizzy, including Edwards, but I can't find a quote from Hillary or her campaign that says the "troop surge is working." The author of the NY Times piece brings up the escalation, but Clinton's aides refer specifically to the increased cooperation of Sunnis in Al Anbar. Have you contacted the Clinton campaign for confirmation that her quote was in fact referencing the "troop surge?"

You guys are saying: Clinton says troop surge is working. Is that true?

If Mrs.(Senator Clinton) keeps talking this way, she talk herself right into a job as Dog Cathcer. I agree with Mr. Edwards, you in or you out, thre is nothing but double talk now, as a Veteran of Vietnam I am from a Democratic family who voted for Nixon because I did not want to go back to Vietnam.

Hillary denied and then defended Bill's sodomizing an intern. She's a great republican candidate.

Edwards or Obama will be a far better president.

Brian Dobbs, we won the war, we had "mission accomplished", Saddam was deposed, the WMDs were neutralized, the military performed brilliantly; at that point we should have pulled out. What is not going well is an ill-defined peacekeeping mission in an active civil war. Experience shows that peacekeeping in an active civil war never works until the sides have agreed that a diplomatic settlement if preferable to continued fighting for dominance. We have not reached that point. We should get out and not return except under a UN peacekeeping mandate AFTER there is a commitment to a diplomatic solution. That is reality. Don't make it into a macho patriotic face-saving farce at the expense of the lives of thousands of people.

We've updated the post to include what Clinton actually said for context.

John doesnt have the balls, Hillary does. I do like the guy and will vote for him if he gets the nomination.

We've updated the post to include what Clinton actually said for context.

Domenico Montanaro (Sent Tuesday, August 21, 2007 6:09 PM)


One wonders if the Edwards campaign will be amending their comments accordingly.

Van

It seems Democrats cannot find their own backsides - even when they use both hands.

I give it just a couple of days before the rest of the Democrats "change course" and acknowledge the progress in Iraq...and then scramble trying to take credit for it.

They know that the Progress Report is coming, and their positions have been too far out on a limb.

If Mrs.(Senator Clinton) keeps talking this way, she talk herself right into a job as Dog Cathcer. I agree with Mr. Edwards, you in or you out, thre is nothing but double talk now, as a Veteran of Vietnam I am from a Democratic family who voted for Nixon because I did not want to go back to Vietnam.

Why is MSNBC twisting Hillary's words. What happens to excellence in Journalism?

Senator Edwards, rock on.

I'm an Obama supporter, but Edwards has it right on this!!!

Thank you Mr. Edwards in drawing my attention to this.  I had not noticed it.  Therefore I now have a little more respect for Hillary.  I look for honesty in the people I vote for, not some naysayer who all they can do is be negative about what someone else does or believes.  Just be honest and tell what YOU believe, not what someone else does or does not.

Clinton never wants to discuss the political aspects in Iraq.

Maybe she expects to nominate Biden for VP and will let him handle that problem, while she is busy, um...wait-- what policy ideas does Hillary have again?

Why did Johnny Boy say this?  One thing I'm sure had absolutely nothing to do with it is the Zogby poll released today from Iowa, conducted Aug. 17-19:

Clinton  30%
Edwards  23%
Obama    19%

And the U. of Iowa poll conducted July 29--Aug. 5, I'm certain, also had nothing to do with it:

Clinton  27%
Obama    22%
Edwards  22%

C'mon now.  Even Obama said today that he always knew the surge would work--in the short run.  Which is pretty much what Sen. Clinton said.  Johnny Boy, admitting the surge has had some short term beneficial effects from a strictly military standpoint is not condoning Bush's continued escalation of the war.  And denying what everyone knows are the facts just totally kills your credibility.  You poor SOB.  All that time spent in Iowa for nothing!

hey nuanced... what WMD's? I guess it was easy to neutralize them, since they DIDN'T EXIST!!!

Domenico - The update does not answer my core question: did you/msnbc contact the Clinton campaign for clarification or confirmation that the change in tactics Clinton references is in fact the surge in troops? You say on the front page of MSNBC.com that "Clinton says troop surge is working." Per the article, the "military tactics" were specifically the increased cooperation of the Sunnis in Al Anbar.

Given the inherent volatility of "Clinton says troop surge is working," did you guys hear that from the campaign? or did you infer it? If you inferred it, did you contact the campaign to make sure your inference is correct? Or, did you put words in her mouth?

First Read is far from complete read;

Read the entire speech:

CLINTON:
I am deeply honored to be here, and I greatly appreciate the privilege of addressing you and the invitation to do so.

I couldn't help, as I was preparing to come here today, thinking about my late father, a World War II veteran who served as a chief petty officer in the Navy, training young men during World War II at Great Lakes Naval Station.

I imagine he is looking down and saying, "I never thought I would see my daughter addressing the VFW." And I'm sure many of you didn't either.

But I am so excited to have this chance, and I want to start by expressing my deepest gratitude to all of you and to the veterans you represent across our country for the service you and they have rendered to our nation. I want to thank the commander in chief.

Thank you, Gary, for that very kind introduction.
I want to acknowledge and congratulate your senior vice commander in chief who will assume the commander in chief position, George Lisicki.

And I want to acknowledge both the National Ladies Auxiliary president, Linda Meader, and the senior vice president, Virginia Carman, because it is always true that whenever we send one of our very best to serve our country, particularly when they go to war, their families serve as well. And I am grateful for the service of the family members who are here today.

(APPLAUSE)
I want to acknowledge a few of your guests and friends of mine. I know that Governor Corzine was here earlier -- I saw him as he was leaving -- two members of Congress who do an excellent job not only for their constituents, but for our country, and particularly for the values and security of America, Congressman Emanuel Cleaver and Congressman Dennis Moore, and two old friends of mine and of yours, Hershel Gober and Mary Lou Keener, who have served with distinction in the Pentagon and the Veterans Administration. And I am very pleased that they could be here with me.

(APPLAUSE)
I also know you'll be hearing from others who are pursuing their party nominations, and immediately after I conclude, a friend of mine and a genuine American hero will stand here before you, Senator John McCain.

(APPLAUSE)
I want to acknowledge not only John's service to our country, his heroism in the face of unspeakable atrocities, but his continuing leadership. I was privileged to go to Iraq and Afghanistan with Senator McCain. He and I were in Baghdad and Fallujah and Kabul together, and I have the greatest respect for him.

Just like him and all of you, in America's darkest hours you answered the call, coming from every corner of our nation, serving in every part of the world, on beaches and in jungles, across deserts and mountains, and through bullet-scarred streets. You came from different backgrounds and from all walks of life, but you served because you know freedom is never granted. It is earned by each generation.

The history of America is forged and sanctified by the men and women who love their country enough to sacrifice their lives for it. You and your fallen comrades know that in the face of tyranny, cruelty, oppression, extremism, sometimes there is only one choice. When the world looks to America, America looks to you, and you never let her down.

I know how deeply my own father cared about the young men he sent off to the South Pacific and how heartbroken he was when so many of them never returned. When he died 14 years ago, I received letters and pictures from many of the men that he helped to train. And looking at the pictures of all those young faces reminded me of the incredible sacrifice that not only that greatest generation, but every generation of Americans have made.

As the poet Archibald MacLeish reminds us in his poem, "The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak," those we have lost have a silence that speaks for them at night. They say we have done what we could, but until it is finished, it is not done. They say our deaths are not ours; they are yours. They will mean what you make of them. They say we leave you our deaths. Give them their meaning.

How do we give those lives their meaning? How do we continue the work started at Normandy or Guadalcanal, Chosin or Hue, Mogadishu or Sarajevo, Kandahar, Baghdad and so many other places? How in the 21st century do we preserve our democracy, protect our shores, keep our families safe and continue to lead the world toward a better and more peaceful future?

Your mission says it all. Honor the dead by helping the living through veterans services, community services, national security and a strong national defense.

But we have to begin with a clear-eyed understanding of the new challenges and threats we face in the 21st century. From my service on the Senate Armed Services Committee to my time as a first lady, as senator, I've been privileged to travel to more than 80 countries, representing America.

Whether I was meeting in Kabul with President Karzai about the threat of the Taliban and Al Qaida or Israeli leaders about the threat of Iran or meeting with defense officials in Europe about shared security interests or pressing officials in China about human rights, I have confronted the complexities of the world as it is, not as I hoped it would be, because you have to start with what the world is today and with hope and determination and understanding, move it toward what we hope it can be.

But I have never lost faith in America's essential goodness and greatness. I believe no challenge or threat is too dangerous or difficult for us to meet, if we work together, if we have sensible policies, if we cross the partisan divide that too often substitutes for reason and come together around our shared values and a commitment to that future we want for our children and grandchildren.

That's the American way, I believe. Throughout our history when we've faced challenges to our position in the world or threats to our security, we have confronted them head-on without fear, without delay, without hesitation. And that is exactly what I intend to do as president. I will start by standing up every single day for the men and women who have stood up for us, our veterans.

(APPLAUSE)
I know all too well that, unfortunately, our veterans haven't always felt welcomed, respected and cared for by the country they served. I think particularly about the young men of my generation, the Vietnam veterans, many of whom felt like they returned to America, but never really came home.

Well, let me be clear: Every servicemember is a hero who deserves our respect and our gratitude, not just on Veterans Day or Memorial Day, but every single day.

(APPLAUSE)
When they put on that uniform, when they make that sacrifice for our American family, then they are all of our sons and daughters, and it's time we started treating them that way.

Unfortunately, too, we are far from having a government and a system worthy of our veterans' sacrifice. The truth is that the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed were just one symptom of a much larger problem.

I have met with soldiers around our country and around the world. I have been honored to represent some of the very best as a senator from New York. I have been often to Fort Drum in northern New York, home of the 10th Mountain Division, the most deployed division in the U.S. Army.

I have been to military hospitals. I have listened to the problems and concerns of our veterans and our wounded warriors and their families, heartbreaking stories of having to confront red tape and bureaucracy after dodging sniper bullets and escaping improvised explosive devices, stories of struggling just to get the care and treatment they need.

It's embarrassing, and it's disgraceful that there is one veteran, let alone scores and hundreds of them, who have such stories to tell. It is time we fought as hard for our troops and our veterans as all of you have fought for us, going back to the beginning of our country.

(APPLAUSE)
And that is what I have tried to do as a private citizen, as first lady, and as a senator.
I remember when I started getting letters in the White House. We have these massive correspondence units. Hundreds of thousands of people write the president, write the first lady. They even write the pets of the first family. Buddy and Socks got a lot of mail during those years.

And I remember that the people working in the correspondence unit started coming to me with letters that were addressed to me, often from veterans or from their wives, about what was happening to people who had been in the Gulf during the first Gulf War and who had come home and now were suffering from undiagnosed illnesses.

And I took the letters and I went to my husband and I said, "Bill, I think there's something happening here. One or two or three letters -- that might be a coincidence -- but dozens of letters where young men who could run marathons and lift weights before they went to the Gulf can hardly climb up stairs now, can't sleep at night?" And he said, "Well, look into it. Find out what's going on."

So I worked to establish the commission that recognized Gulf War illness for the serious problem that it was and began to address it. I still meet some of those veterans and their families. A lot of them are still suffering, but at least they feel that we recognizing that something happened to them when they were serving us.

So when I got to the Senate, I advocated for legislation to track our troops' health before they were deployed and after they were deployed so that we would have a baseline examination, because too many of the people who came back from the Gulf War were told that the V.A., or within the DOD system, that "we have no evidence that you weren't suffering from something before you went over."

And I said, "No, wait. We have to make sure that we have a system to track the health of each and every person who serves us and then monitor them for illnesses."

I joined with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to increase military survivor benefits from $12,000 to $100,000 -- hardly any kind of compensation for the loss of a life, but a way of recognizing the needs of the families who are left behind.

And I worked for four years with Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina to provide access to TRICARE for National Guard and Reserve members.

When I got the Senate, I'm sure many people thought I would never talk to Lindsey Graham, let alone work with him, but I decided that we had a job to do, and he in South Carolina and I in New York were seeing the same things -- that is, our National Guard and Reserve troops were being activated to go to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Many of them were considered medically unready, because they were uninsured in their private civilian lives. They worked for employers who didn't provide insurance. They were self-employed and couldn't afford it. They were young and didn't think that they had to really worry about their health. But a thorough exam found problems.

So Senator Graham and I said we're going to make sure that if you're a National Guard or Reserve member, you will have access to health care, and you'll be part of this great American military from the very beginning. We will take care of you and your family.

(APPLAUSE)
I joined with many of you to fight the so-called CARES Commission that tried to close down so many V.A. hospitals. Well, we fought them in New York, and I'm proud to say that we've had more letters of support to keep Canandaigua Hospital in upstate New York open than any other facility in the country. And we were able to keep our hospitals from Canandaigua to Manhattan.

At a time when we're getting more returning veterans, what sense does it make to shut down facilities when people have to drive hours and wait months before they can see a doctor at a V.A.? We need more facilities, more outpatient, more outreach in order to help our returning veterans.

(APPLAUSE)
Last year I authored the Heroes at Home Act that will begin to help service members struggling not only with post-traumatic stress disorder, but with the new signature wound of these wars, something called traumatic brain injury.

I'm fighting as hard as I can to expand my legislation, which passed last year, because this is taking a devastating toll on our veterans and their families.

I was recently at Walter Reed, and I met a young Army captain. He'd lost his right arm in an improvised explosive device attack in Baghdad. He also lost his ring finger on his left hand, because his wedding ring had melted into his finger. And I asked him, "Well, Captain, how are you doing?"

He said, "Well, Senator, I'm making progress. I'm getting great help. The prosthetic is working. I'm really feeling like I'll be able to get mobility back." But he said, "Senator, where do I go to get my brain back?" He was suffering from traumatic brain injury.

He said, "You know, if it weren't for my wife who has moved here to be with me and who gives me a list every day of where I have to go and what time I have to be there, I don't know what I would do. But, you know, Senator, I went to West Point, and I can't remember where I'm supposed to be at 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock every morning."

That's why I have proposed providing family members the education and training they need to help their loved ones with TBI and giving them the option to become certified caretakers and paying them for providing this care for their own family members.

(APPLAUSE)
Two weeks ago, I teamed up with Senator Chris Dodd to pass legislation in the Senate to extend the Family and Medical Leave Act to families of wounded warriors. This was a recommendation from the commission the president appointed, headed by former Senator Bob Dole, a great American war hero, and former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. They said, "The Family Medical Leave Act is great, but it's not enough."

If you're going to give up your job and move from the West Coast to Walter Reed or somewhere else in the country to be with your loved one who's been injured, you need more time, and you need to make sure your job is safe while you're there doing the most important work any of us do, caring for those who care for us.

When I'm president, I will continue this work and this record. I will summon the resources and will of this nation to give our veterans the gold standard health care, earned benefits and support they deserve. Our veterans have served America, and it is time that America served our veterans.

(APPLAUSE)
I will start first by ensuring that my Veterans Affairs department is on your side and that my V.A. secretary is a true veterans advocate who understands the problems of our veterans.

(APPLAUSE)
I'm not going to have a secretary of veterans affairs. I'm going to have a secretary for veterans, someone who will be qualified and committed and dedicated every single day to help our veterans.

I will also work to guarantee funding for V.A. health. It is outrageous that veterans have to come every year to the Congress, begging for the money they need to get the health care they deserve. We're going to work for mandatory funding and end the yearly budget.

(APPLAUSE)
Health care for our veterans is not an option. It is a fundamental obligation.
And we have seen what has happened the last several years when many of us have fought for increased funding for veterans only to be denied and then to come back later and have to put more money in. But how do you run a veterans health care system if you don't know what your budget is going to be from year to year? You can't make the kinds of changes that we were on the road to making in the 1990s.

Former Veterans secretary Jesse Brown, a great American veteran whom we lost too soon, and Hershel Gober and others had the V.A. headed in the right direction. We were streamlining the health care. We got the computerized medical records.

There are articles being written in medical journals today which say that now the V.A. system takes better care of many veterans with diseases like diabetes and heart conditions than out in the public. And what did that mean? More veterans started going to the V.A. I thought that was great. The administration thought it was problem.

Well, I want to get back to where veterans want to go to the V.A., where they feel the choice is the best for them and where we have the services readily available to take care of whatever problems any veteran might have.

(APPLAUSE)
Secondly, I have proposed a new G.I. Bill of Rights for the 21st century, and when I am president, we will pass it, and I will sign it into law. We'll have the biggest signing ceremony in the history of the White House.

The original G.I. Bill of Rights was one of the VFW's signature accomplishments. It didn't just help a generation of veterans build their lives; it helped a generation of Americans build a thriving middle class. So I take personal pride, tremendous personal pride, in the fact that the VFW has endorsed my G.I. Bill of Rights.

And I want to pay tribute to my House sponsor, young congressman from Pennsylvania, Patrick Murphy. I met Patrick Murphy when he was a captain in the 82nd Airborne in Baghdad in 2003 when I was there on my first trip. That was still a time when we could get out of the green zone.

We went to Sadr City, and we met with members of the 82nd, one of whom was this bright young captain named Patrick Murphy. When he left the Army, he decided to continue his public service another way, ran for and won a seat in Congress.

So when I was thinking about what kind of bill of rights, the G.I. Bill of Rights, we needed for the 21st century, he was one of the first calls I made, because he had lived it.

And together, our bill provides educational opportunities from college to trade and technical training to certification and licensing programs. It expands opportunities for veterans to buy, build, repair and improve their homes.

It creates a veterans micro loaning program to provide loans, up to $100,000, at very low interest rates and without collateral so that veterans can start their own small businesses.

And I appreciate your support, and we're going to get it done together.
Third, as president I'll implement a new seamless career transition assistance program. It will start the minute a service member steps back on our shores, either at a base or a medical center.

Each veteran will be provided a human resources counselor who will be responsible for his or her successful re-integration back into the civilian world. The counselor will have to track and monitor the veteran's progress, and if the veteran is struggling, he or she will not get lost in the weeds of the red tape and the bureaucracy, but someone will be there to help him or her get back on track.

And let's go one step further than that. Many companies already give preference to veterans. Let's make that universal. Our veterans have done an extraordinary job fighting for our country. Let's make sure they have the jobs they need and deserve right here at home.

Fourth, I want to transform the bureaucracy. We have a 20th century veterans infrastructure, and we need a 21st century system. I will do it by appointing a single, high-level, experienced veteran in the White House, reporting directly to me, responsible for streamlining and coordinating all health care, educational and career programs for veterans.

The reason I recommend this is because my last trip to Fort Drum I spoke to 50 of our 10th Mountain Division soldiers who had just come back from Afghanistan, all of whom had been wounded. The Department of Defense wasn't talking to the V.A. The medical records at DOD didn't find their way to the V.A.

continued...

I personally don't know if the surge is working or not.  But if Clinton has info that it is working, why does edwards bash her for that?  Does edwards think that it hurts the dem party to report that there my be some progress in Iraq?  That's what I think.

pt2

This made no sense to me at all. We need a single seamless system, and the way to get it done is to have somebody in the White House reporting to the president who will drive every single agency of this government to take care of every one of our veterans the way they deserve to be taken care of.

(APPLAUSE)
I will also ask this person to oversee what has been another disgrace, because I will devote the resources we need to process the endless backlog of disability and life insurance claims.

I have walked through V.A. offices and seen stacks of paper that have not yet been processed. I think we've had enough of the delays. I believe everybody should know that their government is working hard to give them what they have earned.

I've already sponsored legislation calling for an independent review of denied disability claims and assigning more lawyers and social workers to help people through the claims process. I've proposed legislation to require an independent review of every single traumatic insurance claim.

It's another thing that the soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division told me. They would call to get their insurance claim processed. They wouldn't get a human being voice. They would never get a callback. Well, we're going to end that.

No one should be wrongly deprived of their earned benefits. And we're going to make sure, when I am president, we clean up that backlog and make it work for every single one of our veterans.

And finally, we will end the prohibition on concurrent receipt for disabled veterans. I am a proud co-sponsor of the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2007. This rule is nothing more than a tax on disabled veterans, and when I am president, we will do away with it once and for all.

(APPLAUSE)
Yesterday, we had another of the debates that are seeming to come earlier and more frequently in this election season, and one of the questions was whether a candidate represented change or experience. Well, I think we need both in our next president. And with me it's not either-or.

I have 35 years of experience, fighting for real change, and I will use my experience to change Washington, starting on day one.

I know it won't be easy. I know how difficult this job is. I've seen it in an up close and personal way for eight years. And it's going to be especially hard because of all the difficult issues we face. But I believe we can do this.

I am confident and optimistic that we can pull our country together, and our first order of business here at home has to be taking care of our veterans.

But when all is said and done, caring for our veterans is about more than laws we pass or programs we fund. It's about the values we promote and the culture we create.

A woman I met in Iowa provided a perfect example of what I mean. She told me that when military people come into her salon for a haircut, she gives them a discount as a way of saying thank you for serving our country.

Now, can a president sign an executive order or pass a law to require this? Of course not. I believe it is a president's job to foster a culture of gratitude and respect for the men and women who serve in our armed forces.

So when I am president, I will call upon our people to come together to support our veterans in large ways, as well as those small important kindnesses and recognition that can mean so much, whether it's offering a job or inviting someone to your child's school to speak, or saying a simple thank you line at church or in the line at the grocery store.

We owe them everything, and that also means confronting our national security challenges with courage, strength and wisdom. We all know that one of our key challenges is what to do about the war in Iraq.

I have met with our brave men and women serving in Iraq, and I have seen first hand the sacrifices they are making. And when the history of the Iraq War is written, I want future generations to know that our troops did everything our country asked of them, everything their commanders asked of them, everything their comrades expected of them, everything they expected of themselves.

They were asked to get rid of Saddam Hussein and bring him to justice, and they did. They were asked to provide the Iraqi people with free elections so they could elect their own government, and they did. They were asked to give the Iraqi government the space and time they needed to do what only the Iraqis can do to stabilize their own country.

There is a vigorous debate in our own nation, and probably among many of you, about the right way forward in Iraq. I know we may disagree about whether there is or isn't a military solution to this war.

Having been there, having studied it and having seen the heroism and the accomplishments of our troops, I do not believe that we alone can impose a military solution. And I do not think the Iraqis are ready to do what they have to do for themselves yet.

Therefore, I think it is unacceptable for our troops to be caught in the crossfire of a sectarian civil war while the Iraqi government is on vacation. I think it is time the Iraqi government took responsibility for themselves and their country, because the American people and our American military cannot want freedom and stability for the Iraqis more than they want it for themselves.

As we move forward in these next months awaiting a report from General Petraeus, we have some very hard decisions to make. I'm not sure there are any good options. But one decision I know we will make is to continue to honor the service of our own American troops and to make sure that they are given the respect that they so richly have earned.

Some of us will disagree. I think the best way of honoring their service is by beginning to bring them home and making sure that when they come home that we have everything ready for them.

But Iraq is not the only serious challenge we face. We have seen in the last months a resurgent Taliban and Al Qaida in Afghanistan and along the border with Pakistan. I have been one of those who from the beginning have said we never put enough troops into Afghanistan, and we should have stayed focused on wiping out the Taliban and finding, killing, capturing bin Laden and his chief lieutenants.

Now we're playing some catch up, but Afghanistan is critical, because it is in an arena where the Afghan people are real allies, their government is working hard, they are trying to build an independent, strong military, and we cannot let them fail.

These are just some of the challenges we face in this increasingly complex world.
One area that I am particularly concerned about is the spread of global terrorism. As a senator from New York, I am too familiar with the horrors of the attack on our city and our country on 9/11.

I was there the day after with a small group of office holders, and I saw those firefighters coming out of that black curtain of smoke and debris. We couldn't even see them until they broke clear, having worked around the clock, dragging their fire axes.

And at that moment, I certainly made a commitment I have tried to follow through on, and that is not only to do everything I could for our first responders who, like our Gulf War veterans, suffered because of the work they did at Ground Zero, many of them not only getting sick, but now dying of the exposures that they breathed starting after the attack, but I also made a full commitment to martial American power, resources and values in the global fight against these terrorists.

That begins with ensuring that America does have the world's strongest and smartest military force. We've begun to change tactics in Iraq, and in some areas, particularly in Al Anbar province, it's working.

We're just years too late changing our tactics. We can't ever let that happen again. We can't be fighting the last war. We have to be preparing to fight the new war.

And this new war requires different tactics and strategies. We've got to be prepared to maintain the best fighting force in the world.

I propose increasing the size of our Army by 80,000 soldiers, balancing the legacy systems with newer programs to help us keep our technological edge, re-evaluating the training and education programs that service members need in the 21st century.

And let's be sure that the American military does not fight terrorism alone. It is time that we demanded that our alliances, including NATO, are united with us in this fight, and that their intelligence, law enforcement and homeland security systems are working together with ours.

And let's not forget that the war on terror, like the Cold War, is fundamentally a battle over ideas and values. I'm fighting for a Cold War medal for everyone who served our country during the Cold War, because you were on the front lines of battling communism.

Well, now we're on the front lines of battling terrorism, extremism, and we have to win. Our commitment to freedom, to tolerance, to economic opportunity has inspired people around the world. They're not just what we fight for. They can be our most powerful weapons in this fight.

I want to get back to a point where people respect and admire the United States again, not just because that would be a good thing, but because that's critical in our fight against terrorism.

People have to root for America. They have to want to be on our side. Somebody knowing that another member of their community is perhaps putting together suicide bomb kits has to think twice about whether to say nothing or maybe to tell somebody.

Law enforcement in countries that could become havens for terrorists have to believe that American values are not just about America, but they speak to the human dignity, the God-given spark that resides in each and every person across the world.

I want to end with this story, because it sums up for me what I hope to do as your president. It was told to me by my friend and our former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright. As some of you may know, she was born in the former Czechoslovakia. Her family had to deal with the Nazis. They had to deal with the communists. They came as refugees to America.

And in 1995 Madeline was asked if she would represent our country at the 50th anniversary commemoration of the end of World War II, and she immediately said yes. And she went to Europe, particularly to countries behind what we used to call the Iron Curtain.

And everywhere she traveled she saw American flags. But when she looked more closely, she realized that a lot of those flags had only 48 stars. And she started asking people, "Where did this flag come from?" And everyone told her the same story that when the American G.I.s liberated Europe, they passed out these flags.

And remember, back then Hawaii and Alaska weren't states yet. That's why there were only 48 stars.
And people had saved these flags like family treasures, passing them down from grandparent to parent to child, often at great risk, because if the Soviet occupiers had found them with an American flag, they could have gotten into serious trouble.

So Madeleine asked them, "Why did you save these flags all these years, knowing you could have gotten in trouble?" And everyone said the same thing: "Because we love America, and we love America's values. And we always hoped someday we'd be able to live in freedom like Americans."

They never gave up on America's ideals, and neither should we. These are the ideals that will light our way forward, just as they have illuminated our past. They are the ideals that inspired you to leave your homes and families and everything you knew and loved to fight for our freedom around the world.

Standing here with you, I feel that same sense of hope and optimism that has always marked our country. And I want to be the president who restores those feelings about America around the world.

We are a good and great nation. We can renew the promise of America here at home, and we can stand tall for freedom and democracy around the world again.

I believe that with the right leadership and with a country committed to a future that reflects the best of who we are, the 21st century will be America's century, and we will continue our history in an unbroken line from those first soldiers who fought for our revolutionary ideals that all men are created equal, to those young men and women who are fighting for us and our ideals right now.

With your help and God's help, we can once again be the country that all of us love, admire and know is worth fighting for. Thank you all very much, and God bless you."

Van

I was going to vote for Hillary in the primary, but definetly not now.  Hillary - WTF?

Well Edwards couldn't lure one She Devil into a flame war so I guess he had to try for another.

First Hillary was for giving Bush war powers to use for diplomacy.  Then she voted against the Levin amendment to give diplomacy another shot before going to war and spent many months as one of Bush's biggest cheerleaders on war policy.  Then she decided that she wouldn't have given Bush war powers if she had thought he WASN'T going use them for diplomacy and thinks we should start pulling out because there is no military solution.  Now, she still thinks there is no military solution but DOES think the surge is a success.  Even so, we should pull the troops out anyway.  HUH?  

Give me Edwards, Obama, Biden or Dodd, none of whom are talking about just bugging out overnight and leaving our mess behind.  ALL of them are more coherent on the war than Hillary.  The only thing Hillary IS coherent on his her feeling of entitlement to be the first woman President, no matter what she has to do or say to get there.  NOBODY who wants something besides the  politics as usual in the White House ought to even be THINKING about voting for Hillary who obviously missed her true calling; circus contortionist.

Senator Clinton--If the surge is working, why don't you support the war?
Senator Clinton--If the surge is working, wouldn't it be better policy to stay in Iraq?
Senator Clinton--If the surge is working, why don't you come up with a better policy that will make the war successful?

If the surge is working, wouldin't it be a better policy to stick with it, create a democratic Iraq and avoid an all-out civil war/genocide?

The fact of the matter, is that the surge is not really working and it is not sustainable.

"We're just years too late changing our tactics. We can't ever let that again. We can't be fighting the last war, we have to be preparing to fight a new war."

Would the surge have worked it implemented two years ago?
Ummm, new war???

It's a real shame our so-called journalists can't seem to read the speech before putting up a BS headline.  To me, Hillary only said what everyone already knew, that Anbar Province was a bit better off now.  

That's a hell of a long way from supporting the surge.

of course the troop surge was going to work, Bush was finally doing what his military asked him to do in the first place. Now the military is saying they would be able to start pulling troops by next year. Wow! the very same thing that democrats have been called traitors, sypathizers, and cowards over. The administration needs to show significant and unarguable progress in Iraq for any GOP candidate to have a shot.  

HIllary was again well spoken and correct.

Nicholas, you're a reformed bush voter, aren't you? one can tell by your understanding of english shows.

HIllary was again well spoken and correct.

Nicholas, you're a reformed bush voter, aren't you? one can tell by your understanding of english shows.

Hillary lost my vote long ago . . . this just makes me realize my decision was correct.  We need a ticket with Obama and Edwards on it . . . UNLESS they don't have the guts to send the illegal aliens back to Mexico where they belong, seal the borders, and prosecute any company that hires them (i.e., that profits by exploiting this criminal system of virtual slave lobor).  If Edwards and Obama don't have the guts to do that, then I'll be forced to vote for whichever Republican IS willing to do so provided they are also least likely to continue Bush's failed war, to least likely to continue his pandering to the religious right (i.e., American "Taliban" fundamentalists), and most likely to restore our Bush-stolen civil liberties.  But I'll have to try hard not to vomit when I mark my ballot for a Republican.

I'm done. As a life long Dem. when I say I have had enough, there must be hundreds of thousands more that feel like me. At first I would have been satisfied with any of the top three. Hillary almost lost me when she said of course we are safer now in that debate.Guess what, I stay a half step away from losing what little my family has with this economy that has destroyed the middle class. I do not feel any safer. I gave her the benifit of the doubt but after her news that the surge is working I'm done. Believe me if I feel that way, she can't win the general election people. Is she going to agree with the repub. candidate in the debate on everything? It wouldn't really be a debate would it in that case.Now for me its either Edwards or Obama or my four voter family just stays home.

Democrats cannot have the Surge in Iraq work.  It would defeat their entire premise for next years election.

Hey Bob, SD - my tongue was a little bit in my check on WMDs. We did neutralize them, under UN inspector auspices in the 2 years before we invaded; that much is very clear.

Welcome to the "Misquoted Club" how does it feel?


Obama supporter

First I was spooked by Senator Clinton's reference to a new war -- I hope she will clarify that to everyone's satisfaction real soon; I am assuming it was a poorly worded point. Now I hear that she wants to increase the size of the Army by 80,000; what the heck for? There are people who want the Army to be big enough to fight 2 wars simultaneously and I am not one of them. If the Army had been bigger I guarantee we would be in Iran right now. That is moving in the wrong direction. I want a candidate smart enough to find solutions that don't involve causing 400,000 people to die.

If she wins the nomination I will still vote for her but I will hold my nose just as I did when voting Joe Lieberman for VP. I know I will have to work real hard to elect progressive to congress to keep her in check and the Republicans will help. I can't ever vote for a Republican because I know they have shown a complete inability to perform their checks and balances duty.

It never ceases to amaze, how often people react before they have a chance to think or read, and how little information they are willing to base that reaction on.
What if the Headline had been;

Clinton; "Honor Troops' service by bringing them Home"

Or, "Clinton; "No Military Solution for Iraq"

What would the, "snap opinions" have been than?

When you let others digest your intellectual nourishment, you are often left with MUSH.

Here's and exerpt that WASN'T quoted from the speech;

"There is a vigorous debate in our own nation, and probably among many of you, about the right way forward in Iraq. I know we may disagree about whether there is or isn't a military solution to this war.

Having been there, having studied it and having seen the heroism and the accomplishments of our troops, I do not believe that we alone can impose a military solution. And I do not think the Iraqis are ready to do what they have to do for themselves yet.

Therefore, I think it is unacceptable for our troops to be caught in the crossfire of a sectarian civil war while the Iraqi government is on vacation. I think it is time the Iraqi government took responsibility for themselves and their country, because the American people and our American military cannot want freedom and stability for the Iraqis more than they want it for themselves.

As we move forward in these next months awaiting a report from General Petraeus, we have some very hard decisions to make. I'm not sure there are any good options. But one decision I know we will make is to continue to honor the service of our own American troops and to make sure that they are given the respect that they so richly have earned.

Some of us will disagree. I think the best way of honoring their service is by beginning to bring them home and making sure that when they come home that we have everything ready for them."

Van

Jonathan Alter just mentioned a good point about Iraq.  Said it's 140 degrees over there and, quoted some song in saying, "it's too damned hot to kill people," so the killing normally goes down during the month of August, so to say it's becuase of the surge is a bit premature.  

It is hard for me to really know what the
candidates are thinking about the war
in Iraq. Maybe waiting to say.  
Trying to read a lot. Thanks for
all the great info.

Starting to school next week.
I will try to get something in our
school paper about your Blog.
1st time voter in 2008.

Elizabeth G.
http://BookTestOnline.com
http://booktestonlinecom.blogspot.com

And now the Paper hanger wants to jump on the gravey train! You see the self serving agenda she wants you to think it was her Idea!! Get out the puke bucket and the Glade stink bomb!

This is just open door horse Sh1t! she is where a coat tail and clear minds are are insulted with her presences

Domenico Montanaro, why can't you just report the fact and let people decide? I noticed that Chuck Todd and Chris Mathews are equally biased. Journalism profession will be well served if all of you can separate your personal feelings from your professional judgements.

The so-called journalists have hidden agenda, they are twisting other candidates words to make them look bad. For example Hillary does not opposed to talking with enemy countries, she just would not commit to a presidential level meeting in the first year. However, Chuck Todd and the rest are twisting her words by saying that she is opposed to talking to non-friendly countries. They acted like they did not understand the question. They are always happy to attack democrat leading candidate and at the same time calling Rudy Giuliani a hero. MSNBC are happy to discuss Hillary's family issues in gory details but Giuliani's family and his lack of family values are off limit. When it comes to Giuliani family woes, Chris Mathews will say no one is perfect, but will not give Hillary that same cortessy. What a bunch of bunch of hipocrits.

How fast can the Democrats backpedal on the good news regarding the surge?  Hillary's, John's and Joe's votes are going to hold up yet.  

I'm no Hillary fan, and am neutral about Edwards.

I thought this was a disingenuous attack by the Edwards campaign.  My image of him has been reduced by this.

When Obama gets his words twisted like with Pakistan, I kick and scream right? Well this is the same thing in my book.

Plus this is just going to result in a contribution solicitation through Hillary's campaign e-mail list.  When she's attacked, it just results in defend Hillary mode, any opportunity her campaign can cast an 'us vs. them' perception.

Bush sucks, that is all.

Who has proof that the surge is working? Because Hilary says so it's true? We want out of Iraq, surge working or not. The idea that you pander to the center notwithstanding the fact the the occupation is a complete failure for the purposes of not wanting to offend the right is pathetic. I hate the politically correct. They mislead the public and screw us over in the end.

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