Obama is quite the jerk.  He wants to quit Iraq and start a war in Pakistan?  How is that an improvement?  I am so sick of these "holier than thou" Democrats who maintain that because Bush started the war in Iraq under false pretenses, we should just pull out and let the Iraq go to hell.  Obama is so full of himself and it's all crap.  

The  reason that "Al Qaeda in Iraq" is disappearing is because the Pentagon is paying them $300 per month not to attack American troops. As soon as the money stops (probably after the US  elections in November), this so-called Al Qaeda will be back, armed with the weapons that Petraeus has given them.

"I will not surrender. I will not surrender to Al Qaeda."

"I will, however, surrender the Bill of Rights to a demented monkey without a peep. Yes friends, I fight for you."

I wish these @@@holes cared as much for this coountry as they do for Iraq. Go run for president of Iraq, John. Take Cheney with you.

Alan(NJ),KLBanes(Utah),Jarred (Texas) & Yes , You Soldier Not Blinded & some other's may still beleive GWB & his Boogeyman excuse. The American people have woken up to Reality & the fight is Not in Iraq as  of you wish.We know where Al-quida is, the ones America want.Our Troop's & resources will be well served by President Barack Obama. Pack your bags for the Afghanistan-Pakistan border soldier not blinded & thank you for your service.

Al Sadr will be more than happy to take the fight to al-quida in Iraq, after America is gone.

JA, NYC - "I wonder why John McCain, being the "war hero" he is, hasn't come out and said that we should have continued the war in Vietnam rather than pulling out."

North Vietnamese generals admitting on many occassions decades after the war that if the US had stayed just a few months longer the VC would've been destroyed. A lack of American perseverence is the reason the atrocities that took place after the war were allowed to happen.

"I am so sick of these "holier than thou" Democrats"

I'm sick of dumber-than-crap and still self-righteous-as-possibly-imaginable republicans.

Where's that leave us?

Of course there was no Al-Qaeda in Iraq, not even Abdul Rahman Yasin.

KL Banes, Provo Utah.....Molly Grant, Deerfield, Michigan......Jarrard Evens, Texas

Al Qaeda WAS NOT in Iraq before the war. And you rejected nominating this experienced war hero in 2000 and instead gave us the failed businessman, average governor with no foreign policy experience, who accomplished nothing politically prior to 2000 in George W Bush. So I don't think Republicans should lecture anyone on who is a worthy candidate. You have failed in that category.

Al Queda is probably just as strong or stronger in Afghanistan and Pakistan so why do we continue to allocate a huge portion of our resources (140,000 troops and Billions of $ per month) to a country that needs to start learning to function on its own? Isn't it time to reassess what's in our best interest? How long do we stay and do we actually enforce previous benchmarks that were meant to accelerate progress?

These are fair questions and require an answer better than calling me a "terrorist sympathizer" or "we are fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them here" type of response.

Bri - "In the summer of 2002, Zarqawi was reported[attribution needed] to have settled in northern Iraq, where he joined the Islamist Ansar al-Islam group that fought against the Kurdish-nationalist forces in the region."

True enough, I believe. But let's not forget that northern Iraq was readily available because of the U.S. enforcement of the no-fly zones in the north and south. Its not like the lawlessness in Iraq started immediately after the invasion. Our involvement since Desert Storm contributed.

And that's not to defend Saddam's regime. He was truly not a benevolent ruler. In the long run, the people of Iraq may well be better off without him. But in strategic terms, it was our efforts to curb Saddam's reach that enabled these organizations to operate in Iraq.

What I can not understand, is how anyone, Dem or Republican, could vote for or want McCain for President. He's too old. He has more scandals in his background than even Bush. He was a mediocre serviceman who never could rise to the stature of his father and grandfather (in spite of his POW bravery). To be passed over in the service with a POW after his name shows how ineffectual he is. I am so afraid of who he owes and how much. America can not possibly want another Republican in the White House after these last 8 years.

Hey Soldier Not Blinded - I want George Bush to stand up and address the thousands that have died since he declared "Mission Accomplished."  I want George Bush to stand up and explain to my child and children all over this country why this country has gone from a creditor nation to the largest debtor nation in our country's history. I want him to stand up and explain why he and his administration, for political gains and the economic benefit of corporations, intentionally ignored the warning signs of global warming, when we discover what great lengths we 'survivors' of his administration must go to save our children's future.

What do all the veteran soldiers who are suffering without adequate care upon their return from Iraq.

We NEED to get the hell out of that war that is costing us billions of of own taxes to the extent of not having any money here for our own social programs.  We are in a war that never should've been, it has been longer and cost more lives and more expenses then Viet Nam.  For what???  Can someone puleeeeeeeeeeeeze tell me what we are "Winning"???  The definition of democracy is freedom of choice and here we are shoving it down the throats of people who haven't a clue what it is about because they have NEVER lived that way!  I think we need some new blood in the Whitehouse, and I think Obama is right on track! Bush has managed to screw up this country beyond belief in almost 8 yrs, and nearly bankrupting us, making the dollar almost worthless on world markets.  He is the most useless, corrupt president we have ever had in history!  McCain is a Bush clone.  I personally am sick and tired of the BS.  McCain cannot do a dang thing in my state of AZ, what makes anyone think he can run a country??  He is arrogant, pompous, mouthy and clueless and a well known fact that he is not beyond telling someone to go f*** themselves if they disagree with him. I'm sick and tired of losers like him in the whitehouse as well as that Bush mentality. It is kinda like if you are mad at someone, don't try and talk or negotiate as adults, just walk up and punch them in the mouth!  Bush and McCain at their best, because they don't know how to do anything else.  Obama amongst all his training, also has a degree in international relations.  I think this is EXACTLY what we need right now to start winning back some of the respect Bush has lost for us throughout the world.  GO OBAMA!!!!  MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!!!

Billy G.  you are a complete IDIOT.  Firstly, "quit" is the wrong word to sue.  Secondly, " start a war in Pakistan" ... where the heck did you pull that from (probably out of your A$$)??

The KKK will take you out if you support the Nation of Islam - live by the sword and refuse to reject Farakhaan and die by the same sword of a different race. Two wrongs doesnt make a right and neither does one wrong when refusing to reject and stalling to reject Farakhaan;s teachings.  get ready america race wars are coming your way I'm afraid - obama has aligned himself with the nation of islam

Ahhh...yes, Hillary tried the mocking sarcasm-thing.  McCain apparently needs to discover for huimself that such foolishness doesn't distract Sen. Obama or voters.  I tell ya folks, McCain is going to find himself on the wrong side of a landslide in November.

Senator McCain cannot scare up any legitimate points against Senator Obama, so he's grasping at straws. Senator Obama is going to be asking all Americans to join with him to change America and the world for the better. And they will respond and say, Yes, We Can!

It is not a matter of if one group gains the other loses; it is a matter of all groups being at the table of riches, and participating equitably. Senator Obama and his team of advisers will be ready to show America how to create new wealth. All groups, rich, middle class, or poor, will fare miles better.

In the meantime, look for a landslide in November.

if you are align with a hate groudp such as the nation of islam and you stall in rejecting them then you are living by the sword so die by the same sword of a different race: KKK vs. nation of islam race wars to come - obmas supports Farakhaan. don't stand close to him - they gonna get him after his support last night of Farakhaan. it is brewing now you can imagine.

Basic military strategies are lost on Mcain. One should NEVER reinforce failure. We are bleeding our military to death. We need to withdraw, regroup and then re-attack the enemy, in Afghanastan, Pakistan, or wherever they are.

Marbw: Thank you for posting that. It's funny to me that people sit here, and say Obama is all speeches, and no substance. It really means you have not done your homework, and are very uneducated in terms of following politics.

If you look you will see that he has very strong convictions on what needs to be done globally. Not just in terms of Iraq, but Russia, Kosovo, and other very important global issues. If you watched the debate last night he was much more direct and concise on his ideas going forward as president in terms of foriegn policy. The real issue about the future of Iraq is what Obama has said all along. If we go in there, we will create a quagmire of conflict. You now have an open field with the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds all vying for power. The only thing that kept them whole was rule by dictatorship. What can we do once we have secured Iraq to the best of our ability? The only answer here is to leave it in the hands of the Iraqi governement that has been given the tools to take it from there. If they fail, then it is a failure of the Iraqi people to take control of their own destiny. If civil war does insue, then civil war is an inevibility that American pressense in Iraq will only delay. The question is at what cost is it worth it for America to delay the inevitable?

The very tired argument that Al Qaeda was working with Iraq has been shown to be false a LONG time ago, and it is well known that their pressense there became apparant after we invaded. They crossed weakened borders to fight American troops, which makes Obama dead on in his assessment prior to going in.

America's occupation of Iraq equates the creation of more terrorists determined to push them out. It is time for Iraq to allow Iraqi's the freedom to either be successful with their new government, or to seek out the route that will lead them to establishing a government that will work for them.

Obama said last night that he would reserve the right to return in full force should terrorists try to take over in Iraq.

McCain would have us holding off the inevitable for the next hundred years. Can we really afford to have McCain investing that much of our resources? And for what?  

To Molly Grant of Michigan:  Clearly you have the intelligence of a three year old.  Blah Blah Blah?  How intelligent you are.  Obama has an insight you will never have because you are clearly a war mongering Republican.  Those of us who do our homework know this unnecessary war has already killed more Americans than died in 9/11.  It has single-handedly destroyed our economy and continues to do more harm than any outside force.  This was a war waged for no good reason.  To continue the war is both harmful to us and to Iraq.  They must find a way to stand on their own feet and be an independent country.  We cannot stay there forever and subject our desimated military to a war they should never have had to fight.

Soldier Not Blinded.....learn from Chamberlain

Saying that Bush has done a good job and that Iraq has proved it's worth because we haven't been attacked since 9/11/01 is like saying "we were doing a good job with terrorism on 9/10/01 becasue we had not been attacked". This type of statement means nothing to reality as we saw on 9/11/01.

Paul Miller snd if they follow us out where will they follow us to - Afganistan or the US?  Isn't that GWB's argument.  How ironic

To Billy G:  So we should stay in a war that was started on false pretenses for how long?  And, how many American troop deaths will satisfy you?  And, how many billions of dollars should we waste there while we let our economy go to hell?  What an idiot!!!  My guess is you're related to George Bush!

OBAMA is awesome!!!!

All you Bush/McCain lovers need to wake up.  It is 2008, and Americans are looking for a new direction.  McCain is too old.  Obama is smart, intelligent, and has the judgement to lead this country on day one.  We are looking for a president to be "Right" on day one.  Not a president of the past.  Obama knows more about foreign policies than McCain thought he know.  

Obama 2008!

I am amazed by the comments from soldier not blinded that he continues to support chickenhawks who successfully made every lame excuses not to fight and get treated so badly by this administration i.e., Walter Reed and refusing to acknowlege PTSD. I am sure many, many people pray that another 911 will not occur again considering the majority of the national guards/reservists are in Iraq. Thanks to the Democrats and a solid majority of Americans prevented this sorry excuse of a president to sale the safety of our ports to Dubai. I admire your service not your blind loyalty to corrupt and lying administration who used you and others for their political agenda.  

The War in Iraq will never have a military solution without a political solution. Look at Baghdad, it is basically divided into ethnic groups with walls and barriers. The only way is to Let Iraq Govt and people take the responsibility of their lives and destiny by having a political solution. The Iraq Govt is pretty much useless. We have to Force them to take responsibility and take the lead by giving them a withdrawal schedule. Iraq withdrawal will accelerate the responsibility handover to Iraq Govt. For those who are not sure of what to say, You imagine someone invading your House and then forcing you to live by his rules. That is what we are fighting about. We are actually fighting the culture not a war. Don't we get it?

How would you feel when someone walks into your house and commands you to live by his rules ===> Naturally we rebel and that is what is happening in Iraq.

Member of Navyseal (" We rule the night")

All you McCain supporters, based on what you are saying the only concern you have is protecting america.  Which is fine, I want america to be protected as well.  But it doesn't bother you that this coutry is in a recession right now and your candidate as admitted he has no idea on how to fix the economy.  So we are going to continue the billion dollar war.  The jobs are going to continue to go overseas.  More and more people are becoming homeless because of the housing crisis.  Inflation is looking worse and worse.  So if McCain wins, we will have a safe america (by his words), but no economy, a lot of homeless american's and unemployed american's just because McCain is a war hero and don't know anything else about running a country.  

Step right up folks and vote for "The President of War".  But when you vote for him, make sure you are helping out with your own son or daughter.  My son is headed to Iraq this coming November.  I am not voting for "The President of War".  

Go Obama!!
Al-Qaeda was NOT in Iraq until after we invaded. Saddam would have had them killed - they were NOT working together. We had no business invading Iraq,they were not a direct threat to us. We were already in Afghanistan and needed to kill bin Laden. Going into Iraq only ended up taking troops away from Afghanistan and now Al-Qaeda is getting stronger there. What a stinking mess Bush, McCain and the rest of them got us into.
And just because McCain was shot down, captured and tortured, and has been in the Senate for years does not mean he would make a better president.
And no, we have not been attacked since 9/11 - thank God and all those people working black ops or undercover or whatever. No thanks to Bush.

Obama has to pull out the troops from Iraq.......if not we will be killing his family.  

While Obama has attracted money, notoriety and delegates, he has yet to attract military advisers who know what they are doing. If he doesn’t, and he becomes president, the United States won’t fare any better than it has for the past eight years.

'Blinded Soldier'

If we correctly focus, we can find him!!!!

With the way you talk I have to respectfully question if you are a Soldier as you say, because my brother did 2 years total in Iraq and now 9 months in Afghanistan; and your thoughts of Osama attacking us in the mainland if we leave Iraq leads me to think that you don't know where he really is and it's not IRAQ Also  what are you talking about us leaving Iraq and correlating it with an Attack on US soil????

Ending the war will help isolate al Qaeda and give Iraqis the incentive and opportunity to take them out. It will also allow us to direct badly needed resources to Afghanistan (Pakistan Border) where it is heavily thought HE IS! If we eliminate the threat, and stop wasting time trying to police Iraq, and not holding the Iraq government accountable for the lack of leadership and control in there country.

Respectfully (support our troops, not the cause!) Bring our troops home safely

Obama has to pull out the troops from Iraq.......if not we will be killing his family.  

While Obama has attracted money, notoriety and delegates, he has yet to attract military advisers who know what they are doing. If he doesn’t, and he becomes president, the United States won’t fare any better than it has for the past eight years.

Wanda Goin, Chicago, IL (

To Molly Grant of Michigan:  Clearly you have the intelligence of a three year old.  Blah Blah Blah?  How intelligent you are.


Apparently considerably more then you. You're just like Obama, all high and mighty on decribing the past, real short on what to do about it. Both of you are all talk. Nice cut-and-paste from the Moveon site too. It's getting hard to tell the difference between moveon and the Demcartic party anymore. They appear to be one in the same.

I love these comments above. Go get 'em Obama!! McCain is living in the past! W

HERE HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN???? It is old news that AQ was not in Iraq prior to the invasion. That was 6 years ago but now they quite obviously are. Go ahead and blame our commander-in-chief at the time (I guess that was John McCain according to some of the misguided comments). Blame him over and over. This does not change the fact that they are indeed there and Obama's comments represent a major shift in his "Out of Iraq" promise.  You will not be able to engage in precision strikes from Kuwait or carriers in the Persian Gulf when it comes to hitting AQ. You cant. Obama is starting to build his "Entry Strategy" for Iraq. Why leave in the first place? AQ is already well represented in the country. I guess some fools just think they will pack it up and head back home once we leave?

Obama will lose this election when people get over their Obamamania this summer and realize that his "only attack al-qaeda" strategy won't work. They will regroup. Its that simple. They are already effective at intimidation even with our 150K+ troops. Yes, only the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people can effectively eliminate the AQ elements. But sending 1-2 brigades home a month in Feb or Mar 2009 will not provide a deterent to AQ and will have the new Iraqi army scrambling.  Muqtada will end his cease fire since we're not there, the sunni on shia violence will flair, and the sunni's will realign with AQ.  Does anyone here understand that?

Bravo Barack!  Put that BS argument right back in its place.  Finally it has ceased working on America & all it takes is someone with the b@lls to refute it in no uncertain terms.  Who's afraid of the big bad McCain?  Not Barack!

Hillary is outside the discussion entirely.  By next Wed. it will be official & she should step aside so we can start the general without giving them a months-long headstart.

Barack will wipe the floor with McCain.

I think it important to understand that the Iraqi government has not lived up to the expectations of the United States as well as the Iraqi people themselves.  

Now an extreme view:

We, as Americans, have lost too many soldiers and marines in the conflict; we are the only ones who are really holding the country together.  What have we gotten back for that?  Not a whole lot really, and I, as an American taxpayer and citizen, would like to know why we shouldn't just carpet bomb the place.  I know that it would lump the civilians with the terrorists and insurgents and isn't very friendly is a good reason why.  I don't think that these people really understand what a non-combatant really is.  I say that we strip everyone over there of weapons and put them into small areas until we can finish fixing what we broke.  When we are done fixing everything, then we will let them out slowly.  If there are major problems, then back they go.  I think this is a harsh, but it is far cry better than having to worry about shooting the wrong people or having bombs in market places.  

McCain will be lucky to have his health by election
Obama Inspires this country to be better than the rest.

Why has Edwards stayed mute on his endorsement?

Go Obama!!
You prove over and over that you are the man for the job. I believe we can go all the way in 2008.

Yes we can!!

So Obama not serving in the military makes him unqualifeid to be president. I guess this type of thinking makes John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Quincy Adams, Woodrow Wilson and FDR not suitable to be president. By the way, FDR did a pretty lousy job as commander-in-chief during WWII, dying only a few weeks before the Germans surrendered. I wouldn't call Bush's stint in the Guard military experieince since he flew outdated aircraft and had trouble showing up. We still haven't seen a copy of his discharge papers yet, probably something to do with National Security.
What are McCain's national security credentials anyway? Can you think of anything he has done, outside junkets?

How can Neocons believe they can be taken seriously in an intellectual debate when facts dont phase them? Facts didnt phase their leader, or their party. They had control of the country for 7 years and got nowhere.

You dont get anywhere ignoring facts and common sense.

I am the widow of a war veteran who died from war injuries.  It seems like everybody is forgetting how Iraq got in the condition that its in.  Because we didn't go after Ben Laden-Al qaeda, whether in Iraq or else where, is the current Rep. administrations doing.  So we give up over 3,000 soldiers lives, trillions of AMerican dollars, the use of our army for training and you somehow feel we owe Iraq something?

And I can't wait for all the Iraqies to unite for change.  The shi'ites, the Sunnis and the kurds will just give up their 1000 year differences and signg kumbiya (probably along with the US Senate according to BO).  Thing is guys, I don't have an answer but if the US pulls out the way BO is talking there's going to be one hell of a blood letting.  This is from someone who also opposed the war but unlike BO I see that times have changed.  As a note, on his website he actually states that he will (re) deploy troops to protect humantarian enclaves.  I hink he will need to.  The way I see the world will blame us for starting a dumb war and then running away from the mess we created.  

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):