Barack Obama opposes Iraq "Surge" Strategy -- Surge to last until 2009 now...

[Dems Will Win]

We heard on Press the Meat this morning that the "Surge" will be UNTIL 2009, not 6 months. This is the Bush New Way Forward: escalation of the war!

Barack Obama has shown decisive leadership and spoken out against the surge theory in his Iraq speech. Start re-deploying over the next 4-6 months, while going on a diplomatic offensive to get the Shia to finally let the Sunnis have some oil revenue to keep Iraq glued together.

I know Kerry and Murtha have said the same thing--but doesn't it sound better coming from Obama somehow? Here is what he said:

There is no reason to believe that more of the same will achieve these objectives in Iraq. And, while some have proposed escalating this war by adding thousands of more troops, there is little reason to believe that this will achieve these results either. It’s not clear that these troop levels are sustainable for a significant period of time, and according to our commanders on the ground, adding American forces will only relieve the Iraqis from doing more on their own. Moreover, without a coherent strategy or better cooperation from the Iraqis, we would only be putting more of our soldiers in the crossfire of a civil war.

Let me underscore this point. The American soldiers I met when I traveled to Iraq this year were performing their duties with bravery, with brilliance, and without question. They are doing so today. They have battled insurgents, secured cities, and maintained some semblance of order in Iraq. But even as they have carried out their responsibilities with excellence and valor, they have also told me that there is no military solution to this war. Our troops can help suppress the violence, but they cannot solve its root causes. And all the troops in the world won’t be able to force Shia, Sunni, and Kurd to sit down at a table, resolve their differences, and forge a lasting peace.

I have long said that the only solution in Iraq is a political one. To reach such a solution, we must communicate clearly and effectively to the factions in Iraq that the days of asking, urging, and waiting for them to take control of their own country are coming to an end. No more coddling, no more equivocation. Our best hope for success is to use the tools we have – military, financial, diplomatic – to pressure the Iraqi leadership to finally come to a political agreement between the warring factions that can create some sense of stability in the country and bring this conflict under control.

The first part of this strategy begins by exerting the greatest leverage we have on the Iraqi government – a phased redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq on a timetable that would begin in four to six months.

http://obama.senate.gov/speech/061120-a_way_forward_in_iraq/index.html

This stance will help lead the Democrats and the other Prez candidates.