Barack Obama has NOT changed his position on Iraq withdrawal

[beachmom]

Gotta love the media, trying to make something news that isn't. Here is the exact quote:

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/obama_suggests_he_may_refine_i.php

"I've always said that the pace of withdrawal would be dictated by the safety and security of our troops and the need to maintain stability. That assessment has not changed," he said. "And when I go to Iraq and have a chance to talk to some of the commanders on the ground, I'm sure I'll have more information and will continue to refine my policies."

But an astute commenter on TPM found this from his website:

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/obama_suggests_he_may_refine_i.php#comment-2946549

"All Combat Troops Redeployed by 2009: Barack Obama would immediately begin redeploying American troops from Iraq. The withdrawal would be strategic and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government. Troops would be removed from secure areas first, with troops remaining longer in more volatile areas. The drawdown would begin immediately with one to two combat brigades redeploying each month and all troops engaged in combat operations out by the end of next year."

So he was already going to be consulting with the military on the ground, and I can imagine the Iraqi government would want some semblance of stability as those troops withdraw.

Most timetables that I am familiar with do indeed have flexibility in them. To act like being flexible means that is throwing the timetable out the window is preposterous! The withdrawal plan always had fine print in it (much to the chagrin of many lib bloggers here and elsewhere), because no one can predict the future. However, this does not change the fact that Obama wants troops out of Iraq as soon as possible and will present the Iraqis with deadlines for this withdrawal, nor does he have any design for a permanent occupation of Iraq. His views are a 180 degrees from John McCain. What he said today changes none of that.

[redqueen]

1. We need more people to stop reacting without thinking.

The thread in LBN is ... something to see.

[uponit7771]

3. That would be unAmerican ! :-)

[depakid]

9. Buying into the framing

rather than looking at the actual policy.

People have a tendency to do that on the net (by reading a misleading headline, and failing to read the entire MSM article) even though they may well recognize that TV "news" manipulates them in the same or similar ways.

[uponit7771]

2. Yeap, I myself have a DEEP DEEP distrust of the MsM so whatever they say I trust the opposite first

[Maeve]

4. The media wants, no, NEEDS a hard fought race

so they will tear down whoever they think is ahead...until the tilt goes the other way and then...and they have to fill so many inches of space (minutes of airspace, lines of blog space, whatever) every day and that's HARD WORK! So this is what you get...

[slinkerwink]

5. I'm kicking this for the truth

[bunnies]

6. Yet DU heads are exploding everywhere.

What. The. Fuck.

How can people on this site be falling for this shit?! It absolutely blows my mind.

[politicasista]

11. Yep. Complain and moan about it yet buy into everything they fabricate n/t

[bunnies]

13. This is the same MSM that sold us the Iraq war to begin with!

People here refuse to march "lockstep" with Obama... but many have no problem being sheep to the MSM. How IS that?! :banghead:

[politicasista]

17. Yep. Know what you mean

:banghead:

[jenmito]

7. Well, MSNBC just a "Campaign Alert" saying Obama said he reserves the right to refine his

position on Iraq, adding "Well have much more on this after the break." :eyes:

[Coexist]

8. Man, they are desperate for news - here's a thought - MCCAIN DOESN'T PAY HIS TAXES.

[jenmito]

10. Obama is speaking right now and said his plan to withdraw 1-2 brigades a month hasn't changed...

and, as he always has said, he'll be careful getting them out... NOTHING changed.

[slinkerwink]

12. I really hate the media. They don't do nuance very well.

[ProSense]

14. When are they going to nail McCain on his flip flops instead of trying to spin Obama? n/t

[Ichingcarpenter]

15. The usual suspects are harping this on DU

TPM has the real facts. thanks.

[me b zola]

16. The media is trying to create wedge between Obama & his base

They need to be called on their shit.

[beachmom]

18. The Jed Report has a great diary on this:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/4/01755/83281/816/546324

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

19. kicking for the uninformed here at DU

I am holding out that there are some that actually want the facts before they fly off the handle.

[GoldieAZ49]

20. we will be out of Iraq in 16 months at the most. There should be no confusion about that

Bringing Our Troops Home
Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/iraq/

Regarding consulting with the military on the ground, he clearly states that it is tactical ONLY, not regarding the MISSION OF WITHDRAWAL:
Note the section I put in BOLD

GIBSON: And, Senator Obama, your campaign manager, David Plouffe, said, "When he is" -- this is talking about you -- "When he is elected president, we will be out of Iraq in 16 months at the most. There should be no confusion about that."

So you'd give the same rock-hard pledge, that no matter what the military commanders said, you would give the order to bring them home?

OBAMA: Because the commander-in-chief sets the mission, Charlie.

That's not the role of the generals.

And one of the things that's been interesting about the president's approach lately has been to say, "Well, I'm just taking cues from General Petraeus."

Well, the president sets the mission. The general and our troops carry out that mission. And, unfortunately, we have had a bad mission set by our civilian leadership, which our military has performed brilliantly. But it is time for us to set a strategy that is going to make the American people safer.

Now, I will always listen to our commanders on the ground with respect to tactics, once I've given them a new mission, that we are going to proceed deliberately, in an orderly fashion, out of Iraq, and we are going to have our combat troops out. We will not have permanent bases there.

Once I have provided that mission, if they come to me and want to adjust tactics, then I will certainly take their recommendations into consideration. But, ultimately, the buck stops with me as the commander-in-chief.

And what I have to look at is not just the situation in Iraq, but the fact that we continue to see Al Qaida getting stronger in Afghanistan and in Pakistan. We continue to see anti-American sentiment fanned all across the Middle East.

We are overstretched in a way -- we do not have a strategic reserve at this point. If there was another crisis that was taking place, we would not have a brigade that we could send to deal with that crisis that isn't already scheduled to be deployed in Iraq.

That is not sustainable; that's not smart. National security policy is going to change when I'm president.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/DemocraticDebate/Story?id=4670271&page=3

Clearly he said as POTUS he would set the mission to be out in 16 months. He would listen to the generals regarding tactics to achieve the mission he gave them.


Go ahead, spin away.