Obama's Iraq policy will have troops out by the end of 2008.

[AtomicKitten]

Many are cackling over the debate question asking the contenders to make a PROMISE that no one in their sane mind can possibly make unless, of course, they have a functional crystal ball. This was another trap set by Media Heathers as fodder to be harvested and used as ammunition by the GOP candidate in the general election.

On edit: Great analysis here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1941289&mesg_id=1941289



On 9/12/07, Barack Obama released his policy position on withdrawal from Iraq:

Obama: Troops out of Iraq, by end of 2008

by John McCormick

CLINTON, Iowa – Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama this afternoon called for an immediate start to the withdrawal of all U.S. combat forces from Iraq -- with a goal of full removal by the end of 2008 -- as he suggested the nation has lost its way because of the war.

"We're not going to be truly united and resolute as Americans until we can stop holding our breath, until we can come together to reclaim our foreign policy and our politics and end this war that has cost us too much," he said.

Obama's plan, outlined before an audience of about 500 at Ashford University, calls for the complete pullout of troops by the end of next year by bringing home one or two brigades each month.

"Let me be clear: There is no military solution in Iraq. There never was," he said. "'The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops. Not in six months or one year – now."

* snip *

"The American people have the right instincts on Iraq," Obama said. "It's time to heed their judgment…I will be a president who listens to the American people, not a president who ignores the American people."

* snip *

Obama called for a new constitutional convention in Iraq to be convened by the United Nations. He also called for increasing U.S. aid to $2 billion this year to help displaced Iraqis, plus more support for social services for refugees in neighboring countries.

*** (( of note here is Obama was singled out on Bill Moyers yesterday as being the ONLY candidate that has spoken about Iraqi refugees )) ***

* snip *

"After all the flawed justifications for his failed policy, recently he invoked Vietnam as a reason to stay in Iraq," Obama said. "Let's put aside the strange reasoning – that all would have been well if we had just stayed the course in Vietnam. Let's put it aside and leave it where it belongs – in the past."

* snip *

"Now is not the time to reargue the Vietnam War – we did that in the 2004 election, and it wasn't very pretty," he said. "I don't want to fight the battles of the 1960s. I want to reclaim the future for America."

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2007/09/obama_delivers_his_iraq_speech.html