Obama stresses Iraq war opposition
Posted: Thursday, September 13, 2007 3:23 PM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ’s Aswini Anburajan
MAQUOKETA, Iowa -- Ending the Iraq war dominated Obama's town hall here held under the rustling of leafy green trees and a bright blue sky. Obama largely repeated his stump speech on turning the page in Iraq from the day before to a crowd made up of students, town officials and senior citizens.
He stressed his initial opposition to the war and the importance of personal diplomacy in helping to make American safer. He also that said unlike other Democrats, he was not focused on "the political winds in Washington." The audience was more subdued and attentive than the crowds from the day before, but they gave strong rounds of applause each time Obama criticized the Bush Administration.
Obama also stressed his desire to reach out to America's enemies was a sign of his strength as a leader, someone who is unafraid of criticism. He referenced the spat he had with Clinton on the issue of speaking to America's foes during the question-and-answer period.
"I got into an argument with Senator Clinton about this,” Obama said. “She said that will lead to propaganda. And I said I'm not afraid of losing a propaganda battle to a bunch of dictators. That sends a signal to the world."
He added that he would personally go to Muslim countries because the U.S. has to be more diplomatically engaged. "I think we need to lead an aggressive diplomatic effort led by the president,” Obama said. “The next president has to be engaged in personal diplomacy…I will travel personally to Muslim nations and give a major address there."
He also re-emphasized, slowly and deliberately, that the surge was intended to create reconciliation among Iraqi leaders by stemming the violence so they could meet and reconcile. Obama referenced the Petraeus hearing (departure from prepared texts) to make this point: "Remember what General Petraeus said this week. He said as a consequence of the surge, we have reduced the violence back to the levels that existed back to June of 2006. That's the success we are being touted, that we are back to where we were 15 months ago. That's all -- that is the strategy that was presented this week and that is the strategy that the president will be talking about tonight.
”We've had enough of extended deadlines and benchmarks that go unmet. The only thing they agreed to while our troops were in 120-degree heat in and 90-degree packs was the motion to go on vacation. The stated purpose of the surge was for the Iraqis to reconcile and the Iraqis are not reconciling."
At this speech the call to open America's doors on Iraqi refugees was greeted with silence, unlike yesterday when he received rousing rounds of applause.
One thing Obama does that receives a strong response from the crowd is to say that it's the will of the American people to come home from Iraq. "The American people have the right instincts on Iraq,” he said. “It's time to heed their judgment."
He added this line today: "It's not too late to care for our veterans." At yesterday's town hall in Davenport, two veterans came forward and complained about the treatment they had received after coming home.
During the Q&A, Clayton Melbit, an impish 7-year-old, grabbed the microphone from his aunt and said, "I think we should end this war. I'm not going to wait for the president to just wait."
Obama laughed and said, "You're right. You don't want to wait."
Room to grow
A local teacher warmed up the crowd with some Obama trivia, asking what was his motivation to run for politics, what he did after law school. The crowd was woefully short of answers. A few did manage right answers and won Barack Obama bumper stickers. The one answer everyone knew -- how Obama met his wife -- he hit on his boss.
