At least there's a timetable now. Even if its not exactly what was promised.

This is some pretty dishonest reporting from you guys. Obama ALWAYS said he would leave a training and response contingent behind of ~50,000 troops. The goal was to pull out the combat troops, which he is doing. Saying he's only hitting half of the original goal is just plain wrong. I know you guys want to frame everthing Obama does in the most combative way possible, but you should at least get your facts straight.

142/50=2.84
I don't know if journalists' BA degrees dive into the subtleties of rounding, but that is "nearly a third", not "more than half".

Rabid reaction from armchair chicken-hawks in 3...2....1

A senior military official said that it was up to the president to weigh the risks in withdrawal and "the shorter the timetable the greater the risk" to U.S. forces and Iraqi security.

The officials also point out that the 19-month timetable is also contingent on the "conditions at the ground."

According to a senior military official, "We're looking into a crystal ball here. The 19-month withdrawal is based on assumptions -- (on improved security) -- and if those assumptions don’t hold up, all bets are off, and we'd have to adjust."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Doesn't this explain why President Obama is the right person for the job. He listens, weighs options, and does nearly almost what he promises; unlike his predecessor. I hope the conditions are right. The President is honest.
There should be no more pilfering in blood and dollars for an illegal war. That money can improve the economic crisis.

Arf! I know that the President feel some of you puppies around his ankles already. Any troop withdrawal in a responsible manner is better than sending more troops to stationed there for a hundred years is better than nothing.

Even I have the common sense to know that if he yanks all of our troops out at once we run a risk of endangering their lives. Hell it's call war in a country that didn't ask our asses to be there in the first place and the murder of innocents at the hands of Blackwater neo cons. Next!

DJIA when Bush took office:

10535

DJIA when Obama took office:

7937

DJIA right now:

7359


So.... which President had more downward effect on the market?  The dude who said that it goes down 300 points every time Obama talks.... must mean he's only talked twice in 5 weeks.

Dumbass.

Peewee, Pittsburgh, PA

Obviously we all now know since you spoke up and showed your knowledge level, Why Your Name Is Pee Wee. Too funny to try and explain but coming out of Pittsburgh, I think we all expect and understand what's going on. The sign out was hilarious though after the 2nd grade post.

Get your rear to bed early tonight after the speech so you can be alert and absorbent in class tomorrow.

You go U genius! PeeWee's Big Top LOL

Sometimes it isn't possible to do exactly as desired when human interaction is involved. As the military official said it is close. Now let's go after those who actually did threaten our country and stop fooling around where we had no business being in the first place.

Maybe it is just a different style of communicating, but it disturbs me.

It makes me feel like many conservatives do not care about the real people paying the price when their economic theories don't turn out the way that they planned.

I don't feel that their intent was bad, but often time the indifference expressed by conservative leaders/commenters to the negative outcomes some of their policies result in really bother me.

Nashville_fan

I think understanding the picture of who you see conservatives as is important.

Most true conservatives want is an opportunity to work hard, use their God given talents or motivation and reap the rewards for the effort they put forward to achieve a level of success. Basically, everyone is at the starting line, the gun sounds and the race is on. The rift often comes from knowing people personally who abuse the government system and find ways around the legalities put into place to beat the system. This applies to ALL who do this. Taking advantage of the system, no matter which side or end of the scale you are on is wrong and not approved of by conservatives. Most who succeed the right way as a conservative appreciate the opportunity to arrive at that success out of their own efforts, talents and skills, whether technical, verbal or educational.

The appearance of the reciept of tax payer dollars, which is where the government revenue is derived, with no contribution to turning the Hamster Wheel that is this country's engine, is where the resentment begins normally.

The only way there is free money, is if someone who is a tax payer, provides that money for the government to give, unless, we borrow from other countries to fund that expense, which comes back to the fact the loan must be paid.

Again, seeing people personally that figure out ways to beat the system and get the freebees is what creates the divide. That's rich or poor, weak or strong, old or young.

Remember, conservatives were not pleased with Bush when he started handing out money and very few were in favor of McCain as the presidential candidate representing them.

I think the majority of American's are conservative when it comes to spending their money. Bush and McCain did not represent well as conservatives.

We didn't hold Bush to Rumsfeld's promise of 6 days, 6 weeks, and certainly not more than 6 months.  It would be the height of hypocrisy to hold Obama to the estimate HE made.  I'm sure that Bush would agree that timing ALWAYS has to correspond to the conditions on the ground and troops withdrawn when it's safe to do so.

All that matters now is that the direction is out, not deeper.  

I would have anticipated virtually an identical situation had a Republican administration been elected.

Hope it works out on schedule.  It seems pragmatic and thoughtful, with adequate wiggle room.

Wilson:

From 142,000 to 50,000 is a reduction of 92,000 or 64.8%.  Almost two thirds, which is indeed more than half.

Journalists wouldn't be so hard to understand, Ned, if you read what they wrote accurately.

Give it another try.

Once the US withdraws troops from Iraq the insurgents will be back with a vengeance and you can stake your life on that. No one country can mingle all the different "peoples" over there and hope to bring about peace and cooperation. They have been geographically separated and at odds with each other for thousands of years. Here in America we have the worlds greatest infracstructure and we haven't even mingled with ourselves for over 200 years. When's the last time we saw Blacks, Browns, Whites and all of our different "peoples" mingle together other than for political reasons?? The Democrats and Republicans can't even mingle ideas together to help save the country and they're supposed to be the "smart" ones.

OMG! THE TERRORIST WIN! THE TERRORISTS WIN!

C'mon, you morons - don't let me down.

the  war  should  come  to  an  end soon,  its  been  too  long. obviously  we  the  people  want  terroists  to  know  we  won't  let uncalled  for  killing  to happen  ,  and  won't  put  up  with  terroist  acts. I  believe the  stim  package  will  hurt jobs  not  help, i'm  already seeing states    cutting  hundreds  of  jobs because  the  gov.  has  cut millions of  dollars  out  of  the funds  to  the  states  to  help  their  budgets.losing jobs  to  fund stim  checks  is  a  unfair  trade  for  alot of family's. i  have  read , this  stim  package  will  cost  more  than  bush  spent  in  the  war....im  hoping  that  obama isn't  making  a  grave  mistake ,  putting  us  in  more  debt  doesn't  seem  very  smart  ..its  like  credit  cards  we've all  been  there  one  time  or  another  have  to  pay  back  with  interest,  seems  like  it  never  stops,  those  payments..gov  should  be  sliced  and  diced   but  not  the  indians  ,  it  should  be  the  chiefs,   to  many free hand  outs  to  people able  to  work and  last  i  would  like  to  say  something  i  feel  is  VERY  important  we  need  to  look  at  the  free  trade  more  closly  its  killing  this  country  ,  i  believe  we  should  change  free  trade  to  equal  trade,its  hurting  our  factorys  whats  left  of  them  ....    

This is a clear example of our President being pragmatic. Yes, his campagain promise was to get us out in 16 months, but clearly after review with his military advisors he has altered his plan to be responsible. It may only be half...but that's 50% better than we were doing. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, he is still working toward his goal at getting us out, it just won't happen as fast as he, or we were hoping.

The bottom line is very simple. Get our military out of Iraq as soon as possible. President Obama has again thought this out very well, and he obviously has a plan. Time to move forward America!

Take off your "Party Hats" and get to work.

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