Have Hillary and Obama Forgotten Iraq?

I hate to spoil everyone's fun this week -- the relentless focus on Hillary's tears (were they a shameless ploy for sympathy or genuine?) and their role in her surprising New Hampshire victory. Or Bill's snarky comments likening Obama's uplifting vision to a "fairy tale." But isn't this a presidential race, not some high-school popularity contest? Isn't this about who can best mop up the eight-year mess left by frat boy Bush?

On primary night you could see the impatience on Tom Brokaw's face. The veteran NBC anchor was providing commentary on MSNBC and he looked like he wanted to deck Chris Matthews, who was babbling so much he barely let his erudite guest speak. At one point Matthews got all flustered when the results came in and Hillary was proclaimed the winner. Oh, no! Suddenly there was all that airtime to fill. What are we going to talk about now? asked a panicky Matthews. How about the issues, deadpanned Brokaw.

In their fight for the nomination, Hillary and Obama haven't done this nearly enough. But the media hasn't exactly prodded them to, either, with its endless coverage of the squabbling and sniping between the two candidates. Or who's going on the defensive next! Sometimes the campaign feels more like a running episode of Survivor or Project Runway than a critical contest to elect a president.

Of course, any voter can go on the candidates' websites and check out their policy positions and five-point plans to fix health care. But, really, most voters don't. And probably won't. They're too busy working, picking up their kids from school, getting dinner on the table, and now worrying about their mortgages.

And what about Iraq? Which continues to drain the economy, cripple our military, inflict untold suffering on American soldiers and their families, and our moral position in the world. According to icasualties.org, at least 3,921 U.S. troops have been killed since we were tricked into invading Iraq. Have Clinton and Obama completely forgotten about the war? Five years into this quagmire, do either of them have a plan for getting us out? A post-war strategy? The surge was supposed to buy the Iraqis time to fashion a political solution. But so far it's a bust.

While Obama and Hillary have continually trumpeted how they're all about change, let's not forget: when the time came to take a stand, they both voted to give Bush another $70 billion for Afghanistan and Iraq. This is progress? Giving corrupt private contractors more bucks?

Maybe you missed it, but a day after New Hampshire something else newsworthy happened. During a sweep to round up insurgents, six American soldiers were killed and four others injured when they entered a house in Diyala province. They'd been told the house was an Al Queda hideout. It was rigged with explosives.

As they battle for votes, maybe Hillary and Obama might want to talk about that.

Comments

[bacaangel]

I think they voted to Fund the Troops and they would have been negligent if they had not.

What people should think about -- in an Age of Indetity Theft, no one questions the fact that Diebold computers can be hacked into and their totals changed. Exit Polls were not wrong. God Bless This Country!

[cobraxus]

The Surge:Mission Accomplished II

[mjjcpa]

Because we are currently experiencing miraculous results in Iraq due to the surge, it is not presently politically opportunistic to espouse defeat and retreat. If the enemy effectively counterattacks or we experience a setback elsewhere, their politically expedient cowardice (or courage from your point of view) will re-emerge.

[Heyman]

Sure both have put Iraq on the "back burner". Barack and his wife belonged to the CFR at one time. As did Bill and Hillary. Who founded the CFR? David Rocafeller. Also founder of Trilateral Commission and member of the Bilderberg Group.
Both are chosen puppets.
I'll vote Kucinich this primary.

[poopdeck]

Answer to the question: no, the American people, which are the most fickle and politically unreliable, have forgotten. Clinton and Obama are classic weathervanes.

[leftLibertarian]

It's the elephant in the room for the Democrats.

Candidates Hedge Bets on Iraq Withdrawal

By JEFF ZELENY and PATRICK HEALY
Published: September 26, 2007

HANOVER, N.H., Sept. 26 " The three leading Democratic presidential candidates refused on Wednesday night to promise that they would withdraw all American troops from Iraq by the end of their first term, saying in a televised debate here that they could not predict the future challenges in Iraq.

[Nutcase]

They are far too busy talking change. They aren't proposing change, mind you, just talking.

[JayWilliams]

Sigh. The war is still the elephant in the room, serenely munching on grass, and shitting on the vainglorious, grinning bystanders.

I, for one, seek an explanation on how Al Queda got into Iraq. A facile look of the situation is as follows: Al Queda caused 9-11 (This is an indisputable fact, no?); Al Queda is our enemy; and we are battling Al Queda in Iraq ("bigtime" as Dickie Cheney would say). Logic directs the following conclusion: Iraq is exactly the right place for us to be, and we need to ramp it up and blast them into the stone age.
I am an anti-war progressive. I despise Bush for our invasion into Iraq. Yet, what is wrong with my facile premise and conclusion, above?

[Idytme]

"Or Bill's snarky comments likening Obama's uplifting vision to a "fairy tale." "

Shame on you for perpetuating this false story. I saw the tape of what Clinton said in full, he was not referring at all to Obamas "uplifting vision". It was the last sentence of a long paragraph talking about Obama's view of the war. He complained that after he was elected to the senate he removed his anti-war speech from his website, he then stated many times that if he had been in the Senate that he does not know how he would have voted, and then he voted the same way as Hillary did about the war the entire time in the Senate.
President Clinton was complaining that the press has *never* pressed Obama on this in all of the debates and it was that he was the anti war candidate that was the "fairytale"
You may or may not agree with that point of view, but to perpetuate the myth that this was about his "uplifting vision" is irresponsible at best.
Go watch the entire clip on youtube and don't do what the republicans do, which is take one sentence completely out of context because you can then put another story around it that fits your agenda.
As to the Iraq war, I feel I have a good idea about what they are going to do. I have no idea how they are going to deal with a bad economy, weak dollar, high unemployment, etc.

[Nonamnesiac]

Both Obama and Clinton believe (and probably accurately) they don't have to talk about the war -- that supposedly anti-war voters are willing to have the blood on their hands required in order to vote for either warmongerer Hillary or warmongerer Obama (both of whom will have an indefinite number of troops remaining in Iraq for an undefined period of time) as a "lesser of the evils" option -- even though they are actually the equal of the evils.

The only chance to end the war is for truly anti-war voters to commit to refusing to vote for any candidate of either party who refuses to commit to full withdrawal of all US troops and contractors within a few months of his -- or her -- election.

Democratic Party trolls will Nader-bait anyone who takes that position -- but who really cares whether our families are killed or maimed -- or kill or maim -- for a President whose label is an "R" or a President whose label is a "D" and continues this act of national cowardice called Iraq?

If Obama and Clinton truly believe they will lose the anti-war vote to either a no-vote or a third party vote by huge numbers of true anti-war voters who refuse to have the blood on their hands required by voting for anyone who doesn't commit to immediate, safe withdrawal -- no excuses --, they will commit to immediately, safely withdrawing all troops and contractors -- as a majority of the American people want out also.

[EricJMalnar]

Iraqi Parliament approved de-Baathification law today. Is this the lack of political success you folks were waiting for? Folks, the American political battle over the Iraq war is over. The case to be made to pull out was before the surge. Like it or not the surge at the least has made perceived success. Pulling out of Iraq, as a political issue does not have the traction that it did a year ago. Just admit it. I know many of you were hoping this was going to be your generation's Vietnam but it is time to move on.

[Kungfublood]

excuse me but screw Iraq we have massive VOTE FRAUD AND IF YOU WANT THE WAR TO END YOU MUST NOT LET THEM DO IT TO YOU AGAIN!

[Mack20]

Your liberal professors in their ivory towers and hallowed halls have helped to produce our current crop of nitwit journalists. NBC along with MSNBC may as well openly endorse Obama. If the Times can endorse a candidate publicly, why can't they?

Now to Iraq. When are you people going to understand and accept the real world and stop trying to make it in your own image? We may have a presence in Iraq for the next 100 years! It doesn't mean there will be 100 years of conflict to go with it. We have been in Japan and Germany since 1945. It's been pretty peaceful in their neighborhoods, has it not? They run their own countries don"t they? We have also been in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam and Cuba since about 1898 after the Spanish-American War.

Those lousy journalists I spoke of earlier have been so hell bent on shaping the public opinion (like you are Ms. Gable) and influencing our foreign policy, any 10 positive news stories out of Iraq will be canned for that one negative piece about a bomb planted in a house killing US soldiers. Whose side are you on anyway?

I"ll be shocked if this one passes inspection:

[scooperss]

NO, they haven't fporgotten. They have no plans and so they are ignoring Iraq in the hopes YOU and I will forget. Unfortunately, it seems to be working for a majority of people.
I used to laugh when people said *look, there's a bright shiny object*. Not anymore.

[ArchAngel]

Teenage Boy "I will withdraw responsibly."

Hillary Clinton "I will withdraw responsibly."

Richard Nixon "I have a secret plan."

What do all of these exact actual quotes have in common?

a) Lie
b) Prevarication
c) Falsehood
d) All of the above