Obama Outlines Troop Pullout Plan: "Not in six months or one year -- now."

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/AP: Obama Outlines His Troop Pullout Plan
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: September 12, 2007

CLINTON, Iowa (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is calling for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. combat brigades from Iraq, with the pullout being completed by the end of next year. ''Let me be clear: There is no military solution in Iraq and there never was,'' Obama was expected to say in a speech Wednesday at Ashford University. ''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,'' the Illinois senator was to say.

Obama's ardent opposition to the war has been a central theme of his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, and he has used it to distinguish himself from leading rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y. She voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq; Obama was not yet a senator. Obama was trying to further sharpen that distinction Wednesday, spelling out his views on what the U.S. should do next. He introduced legislation last January calling for withdrawal to start on May 1 and for all combat brigades to be pulled out by March 31, 2008....

***

''We must get out strategically and carefully, removing troops from secure areas first and keeping troops in more volatile areas until later,'' Obama said in prepared remarks. Key excerpts were obtained by The Associated Press. Although he stopped short of calling for an immediate pullout of all troops, Obama said there should be a clear and certain timetable. ''But our drawdown should proceed at a steady pace of one or two brigades each month,'' he said. ''If we start now, all of our combat brigades should be out of Iraq by the end of next year.''

By arguing that only combat brigades should be withdrawn -- there are 20 in Iraq, including five President Bush sent January -- Obama appeared to suggest that other U.S. troops could remain.

Underscoring the importance he was putting on the speech, Obama was being introduced by Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was national security adviser to President Carter from 1977 to 1981. Brzezinski has endorsed Obama's bid, and Wednesday's appearance would be his first on the candidate's behalf....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Obama-Iraq.html

[groovedaddy]

1. Amen! He's saying the right things

Where is Hillary's plan?
I hear her say that she'll get us out of Iraq and then I hear her say we may have to be there for years.

[harun]

2. Awesome, take that Hillary (continue the occupation) Clinton (n/t)

[obnoxiousdrunk]

5. I'm so glad

he was not Senator during the IWR vote.

[Benhurst]

3. Good. Now's the time for our other candidates who haven't done

so to step up to the plate. It's time to end this immoral and illegal travesty. It's time to end the occupation NOW!

[Colobo]

4. Gobama and Brzezinski!