Obama's Speech Opposing The Iraq War

Many talk about it, Senator Clinton ridicules it, but few have actually read it, so I post here the text of Barack Obama's speech in 2002 opposing the Iraq war.

I would simply note that his speech proved a sophisticated understanding of world affairs, a deep knowledge about military consequences of going to war, a cool ability to make the right commender in chief decision in times of great pressure and a flawless, item by item, forecast of what would go wrong if the war was initiated.

Here is the speech. Judge for yourself:.

"Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances.

"The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don't oppose all wars.

"My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton's army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.

"I don't oppose all wars.

"After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this Administration's pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

"I don't oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

"What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income - to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.

"That's what I'm opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

"Now let me be clear - I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.

"He's a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him. But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.

"I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.

"I am not opposed to all wars. I'm opposed to dumb wars.

"So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let's finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.

"You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.

"You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.

"You want a fight, President Bush? Let's fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn't simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.

"Those are the battles that we need to fight.

"Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance. Corruption and greed. Poverty and despair.

"The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not - we will not - travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain."

Comments

[athy]

Sen Obama does not tell the truth.
If Sen Obama opposed the war in iraq so strongly, why did he fly to CT to attend a fundraising dinner to support Sen Joe Lieberman"s campaign?
Sen Lieberman was being opposed in the Senate race by Ned Lamont- a VERY popular candidate who ran on strong Iraq War opposition platform...
For me-actions speak louder than words.
Your words mean nothing to me.
wordshttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/nyregion/02lieberman.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Also, there is much controversy regarding the injection of racial comments and unethical campaigning in this election. HE STARTED IT AS CAMPAIGN TACTIC TO WIN ELECTION.DIVIDE PEOPLE SO HE CAN GET SYMPETHETIC WHITE VOTES & ANGRY BLACK VOTES.
I questioned why Sen Obama hired Mr Axelrod's firm (known for working on black candidate campaigns) & what advice was Mr Axelrod giving the Obama campaign. I think I have found my answers in the daily press reports.
Here are 2 articles that explain & describe what makes the Obama campaign message tick...
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070219/hayes "Obama"s Media Maven" by Chrisptoher Hayes. 2/19/08 issue
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=aa0cd21b-0ff2-4329-88a1-69c6c268b304
The New Republic, "Race Man" by Sean Wilentz
Ms. Ferraro is 100% correct in standing up to Sen Obama. His campaign stratgey is dividing our country-It is being done intentionally so he can win the elction. Imagine if he becomes president? Anyone daring to criticize his administration will be called a rascist???
Sen Obama is dangerous for our country.
Read the following; you decide:
http://www.infowars.com/?p=370
"Meet Obama"s Foreign Policy Brain: Zbigniew Brzezinski" By Aidan Monaghan 911 Blogger 2/20/08
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a1097chessboard#a1097chessboard
Reason why conservatives & republicans LOVE HIM is because he VOTES on major issues like they do-against the middle class. see vote analysis.
Sen. Obama"s past voting record:
http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/The_Obama_Craze_Count_Me_Out_5413.html
The Obama Craze: Count Me out " by Matt Gonzalez 2/27/08
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080211/fraser
"Subprime Obama" by Max Fraser 1/24/08 Post 2/11/08 issue
http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2008/03/i-am-barack-obama.html
" I am Barack Obama" by Mark Winston Griffith 3/17/08
I no longer trust Sen Obama or his message.
Also, please search internet:what is going on here?
google the following two terms together:

obama, tillman

[TahoeEditor]

Posting this speech without mentioning that Barack voted in lockstep to fund Bush's war 100% the moment he arrived in the Senate, said he didn't know how he would vote if he'd actually had a decision to make, and gave props for Bush on his handling of Iraq is like giving us the taste of a delicious frosting that masks a foul & moldy cake.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Every single Democratic Senator has voted to fund the war at least once. Harry Reid took halting funds for the war as an option off the table. Since the troops are there, because of Bush's decision and all the other sycophantic cowards who voted for the war, we need to make sure they are given body armor and life saving equipment. If the Senate and the house was somehow able to find enough votes to stop the funds (which is a statistical impossibility) then Bush would simply appropriate the funds from elsewhere and keep the war going, denying troops what they need and blaming the Democrats. When casualties rose - due to lack of funds - then McCain could debate any Democratic candidate on the premise that they don't care about the welfare and safety of the troops. This has been the catch cry of the Republicans, and until we have a Democratic President who stops the war, simply not funding the war is not an answer to bringing our soldiers home. Since HRC has more campaign contributions from defense contractors than any candidate including McCain, then it seems to me she is the least likely to end the war. She has voted to fund the war too. Is she wrong to fund the war she voted to authorize? Is Obama wrong to fund a war that he didn't authorize but had the foresight to see was a clearly tragic decision? Neither of them are wrong for funding the war. However one of them did give Bush more authority to take military action against Iran and that was HRC. One of them did vote AGAINST banning cluster bombs in civilian areas, and that was HRC.

[mmahamngttia]

He should be hailed as a great and prescient leader. He made this speech when the grand majority of Americans, as well as his fellow Democratic politicians, marched swooning in lockstep behind Bush, Cheyney and the neo-cons. We needed more leaders like him back then, and need him even more so now.

[blueraven]

Hilary's dismissal of this speech had me wondering what the meat of it was. Now I know it was a fine prime rib while Clinton wants us to believe her verbal tofu is a Thanksgiving feast.

[gloryoski]

I object to your analogy on behalf of Tofurkeys everywhere.

[b2008]

Those of you who still don't get the picture are blind evidently. This man spoke exactly what happened like he could foresee it. His justification for NOT going to war was dead on point. It's a shame that you can't see that and still claim he's just words. I'll tell you one thing, I would rather listen to his words any day than some of the stupid words you can read here from ignorant unknowledgeable people. Learn what you don't know before giving ignorant perceptions. It could help us all come together when we speak out of knowledge of the facts.

[2LaneIA]

Thanks for posting this. I had never read it or seen anything but the dumb wars quote. This is an amazingly prescient and eloquent speech.

Speaking of dumb wars, if Bush drops the dime on Iran, he can point to Clinton's vote for the Kyl-Lieberman amendment as support for his action.

[SamanthaJaneSalem]

Barack Obama also introduced a bill which would have had all our combat forces out of Iraq by the end of this month:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq_War_De-Escalation_Act

In 2004, Obama was trying not to show up Kerry and Edwards who had both voted for the war. So Senator Clinton's line about Obama saying he didn't know how he would have voted is really just an exploitation of Obama's tendency to empathize ("I wouldn't know what I would do if I were in his shoes") and be diplomatic. The rest of his quote on "Meet the Press" is often ignored: "What I know is that from my vantage point the case was not made" for authorizing the war:

http://mediamatters.org/items/200711110004

Obama and other Democratic senators have not been "missing in action" on Iraq. They have consistently tried to tie funding to "timetables" (McCain's favorite word) for withdrawal as well as body armor for the troops and better benefits. Senator Clinton shouldn't cut off her own nose just to spite her face, as she does when she criticizes Obama's senate record on the Iraq war-- which is almost identical to hers (post-2004).

All the "red phone" ads in the world can't change the fact that Obama was not only right about opposing the war, but-- as his stunning 2002 speech reveals every time you read it-- amazingly prescient about the consequences of going into Iraq.

[ChaucerDaisy]

Brilliant. Every word, brilliant. Every concept, brilliant. Obama's patriotism, his family history, his plain-speak ("dumb wars"), his logic, his specific call-outs to Bush, Rove, Wolfowitz, Exxon, Mobil, Saddam, Bin Laden ~ it's all there. Obama doesn't expose a problem with this "war" (it's officially a military invasion and occupation, no "War" has ever been declared) without offering a solution that is spot-on.

In agreement with RickO, I encourage Obama's staff to please share this speech in its entirety in an ad or a brochure, a mailing or an email posting that will illuminate once and for all the great Senator's brilliance and courage as a visionary.

Thank you for posting this speech. It's one for the ages.

[D2D2]

This speech really needs to be publicized to a greater extent. It demonstrates Senator Obama's intelligence, wisdom, and judgment so effectively. And the sad part is that most journalists, who happen to spend entirely too much time on superficial topics (see Dan Abrams on MSNBC any given night) rather than substantive discussions of the isssues, continue to promote the notion that Senator Obama had no substance to him despite their knowledge of this very speech (given during his campaign for the Senate) and the existence of lengthy policy positions posted on his website. But I digress...

[b2008]

That's because they are so hypnotize with Hillary that they can't see the forest for the lies coming from her mouth. Dan Abrams is a classic "idiot" and does not tell the people the honest truth.

[frustratedinohio]

". . . . a sophisticated understanding of world affairs, a deep knowledge about military consequences of going to war, a cool ability to make the right commender in chief decision in times of great pressure and a flawless, item by item, forecast of what would go wrong if the war was initiated."

Those are exactly the views that I had in 2002 and still have. Me and probably 50% of America at that time. So I guess the above description applies to a lot of people.

He's said in the past that he doesn't know how he would have voted initially and he has voted to extend the war. That statement of doubt and that vote doesn't bother any of his supporters. What am I not getting???

[earlyearlyearly]

Thank you for posting this.
Just words, indeed.
Please Hillary, stop.

[b2008]

Hillary only wishes she had such words.

[Colin22]

Thank you for posting this...

[RickO]

If I were Obama's media guy, or a 527 with some cash, I'd buy an informercial-length slot and air this repeatedly, along with some of his other "just" words.

Just:

1. Implying justice dictated by reason, conscience, and a natural sense of what is fair to all.
2. Free from favoritism or self-interest or bias or deception
3. Of moral excellence
4. Indicating exactness or preciseness

[desmirl]

I was already in Obama's camp--but after reading that speech, my admiration for this good American has increased a hundred-fold. Wisdom and Honesty... What a combination!

[meese]

The last paragraph really hits me hard - it reminds me of how this president and those who voted for his war have failed our brave soldiers, who are willing to die for their country but have been given the most pointless of missions.

Obama says it right: "But we ought not - we will not - travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain."