Obama was speaking about blackwater in Feb. Yes, there should be no private contractors. But what do we do in the meantime to protect the dipolmats? We shouldn't be in Iraqi either, but what do we do as a stop gag measure. Pass the legislation to make blackwater more accountable which Obama has already put forth. You rabid democrats, need to recognize the steps it takes to govern. For instance the Walter Reed is run by private contractors and it is a mess. So what are we do to while we transition Walter Reed from private to public? We put forth laws governing how the hospital is to be run until we are able to finalize the hospitals take over. People need some common sense. Yes, its fine to think idealistically but idealism has to be implemented in a pratical way.

Don't Look Now Mr. Obama, But Your Hypocrisy On Iraq Is Showing

"Obama reminded the crowd of United Auto Workers members in Illinois and the crowd in Aiken that he opposed invading Iraq at a time when most other politicians -- including chief rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards -- supported it. Obama expressed his opposition in the fall of 2002 when he was a state senator and considering a run for the U.S. Senate."

- Newsday.com/AP News Wire ( Obama Criticizes Private Iraq Guards, Oct 7, 2007)

Yet, Obama votes "Yes" along side Hillary Clinton to label the Iranian State Military, 'a terrorist organization' without Obama offering one shred of proof in foreign intelligence 'evidence' to the American people. Everyone 'in their right mind' knows that this vote is meant to build support for the neocons to attack Iran. Don't look now Sen. Obama, but your hypocrisy is showing. You can't 'claim' to be against the Iraq war from the beginning, yet vote for a resolution that the Bush Administration will see as a blank-check for preemptively attacking Iran; it smacks of TOTAL hypocrisy.

The more Obama criticizes Hillary, the more he mirrors Hillary in every: way, shape, and form.

America Deserves Better

John Edwards has my vote!

Focus on the Family= Dr. Dobson =evengelical American

Blackwater USA = Mr. Prince

Dr.Dobson+ Mr. Prince= old buddies

Evengelical Americans+­Blackwater USA = lots of money+death

Give those people their country back ASAP, no if's, and's, or but's about it. Obama's just
in line for HIS turn to operate the Perpetual
Government Doughnut Dispenser.­..


http://www.impeachbush.org

... there are signs that the Sunnis of Saudi Arabia and their allies - including Jordan - have been equipping and training Sunni extremists in Iraq for some time now. ...Some of them - including lethal roadside bombs - have been aimed at US forces.

"The growth of the official and unofficial Saudi and Jordanian support for the militants is one of the most worrying developments," a senior British officer has told me privately after a visit to Iraq.

See: http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=1&subID=1147

Obama & Blackwater: Would Be Flip-Flopper In Chief

Correct me 'if' I am wrong, but it seems as though Obama is flip-flopping on this Blackwater issue.

"Barack Obama got an amendment attached to the Senate Defense bill which requires oversight and accountability of military and security contractors like Blackwater­."

-Daily Kos, (Update 3: Obama Takes Action on Blackwater, Oct 3, 2007)

So, in essence, logically, Obama originally stated that Blackwater services are 'o.k.', as long as Blackwater is under under proper jurisdiction of 'accountability and oversight.­'

Now, to be honest, I could not read the whole article, for the Huff Post link does not work to let me read the whole article; coincidence?
Having expressed this, the Obama rhetoric that was highlighted by Huffington Post seems to be in contradiction to what Obama has previously proposed.

'If' Obama was so against Blackwater, why didn't he stand up and fight to end Blackwater contracting, instead of giving his thumbs-up stamp of approval of Blackwater (as long as they are under the jurasdiction of accountability & oversight)?

Folks, in the 'real world', we call THAT a clever, flip-flop.­; clever semantics from Obama do not a legitimate argument make.

Let me be perfectly clear here. There is NO excuse for Blackwater to be in business under ANY circumstance; they are nothing more than a: right wing Christian leaning group of weekend paint-ballers with prejudice towards non-Christians, who have, itchy trigger fingers.

At best, Obama's current 'sound-judgment' -- at this juncture in time -- enables him to run for, 'Vice-President'; nothing more.

Obama is a good man, but is not ready to be president yet. The U.S. is on the verge of an international crisis and we need someone with experience to deal with it.

for political commentary, visit:
http://www.politidose.com/

I think it would have been far more audacious (since he likes that word so much) to have been speaking out on those issues when Jeremy Scahill was writing about them, rather than waiting for the media to decide this was front-page news.

This is just one more symptom of the sick dream of these neo-conservative Republicans: privitization of all public services. These proponents of Authoritarian Free Enterprise won't be happy until government is completely gutted and corporations control everything­---healthc­are, schools, prisons, border security, all ancillary support systems for the miltiary, including mercenary protection for all civilain employees and government personel.

Why did Bush veto the expansion of the SCHIP program? Fear that a few possible customers for private health insurance might escape their greedy squeezing grasp.

Obama's comments make an important point about safety and morale of our armed forces. It seems only cannon fodder, those young men and women who out of patriotic loyalty to their country and/or those captured by the economic incentives and the offer of education are worthy of poor pay, substandard equipment, extended tours of duty, and long waits and redtape to obtain less than excellent healthcare and support when they are no long of any use the the US Imperial War Machine.

Barack's grandstanding for the troops.

Even the HINT of a pay raise will get him the vote of every GI and every member of their extended family.

Ain't gonna happen. If we've got equal #'s of contractors and GI's, increasing the GI's paycheck by a factor of 9 (to match what contractors make) would increase the cost of the war by a factor of what, 4.5?

Ain't gonna happen.

They are NOT contractors.

Let's call them what they really are; enemy combatants.

And, according to the Bush admin's definition; the Iraqis were within their rights to string them up on a bridge.

After all, enemy combatants is just another term for terrorists.

Mercenaries have no place in America. No place in our way of life and no dam good porpoise. Paid murderers who lack the discipline to follow orders in the United States Armed Forces.

Corporations like Blackwater are the gate to hell for the world.

Un-American more like a third world african nation.

REPUBLICAN SCUM

Barack, this makes zero sense.

Sounds like it's the private contractors
who have to worry.

And you can't make the large green
until you make the small green
while getting trained
courtesy of the American tax-payer.

And who would you rather have guarding
you Barack?
Some high-school drop out
with a felony record
who was flipping burgers before Iraq
or some trigger-happy special forces vet
who can shoot the ass out of a flea??