Anyone else find issue with these statements from todays speech?

[OwnedByFerrets]

"And so I want to be very clear: We sent our troops to Iraq to do away with Saddam Hussein's regime - and you got the job done. We kept our troops in Iraq to help establish a sovereign government - and you got the job done. And we will leave the Iraqi people with a hard-earned opportunity to live a better life - that is your achievement; that is the prospect that you have made possible."

I say this somewhat tongue in cheek, but is President Obama now a part of B*sh's legacy project? That is NOT why we went into Iraq. In the beginning or even after the 4th or 5th reincarnation of the made up reasons/excuses.

And I know this was a "pep" talk, but "leaving the people of Iraq with an opportunity to live a better life"? Not for the 1 million plus who have died in this illegal war and occupation, and its debatable that its not for the ones left alive.

Not trying to stir up anything. Just wondering if anyone else noticed this and whatcha think. And yes, before its even said, I am a huge supporter of our President.:P If this board isn't for honest "discussion" then why even exist.

[Kittycat]

1. Have you been watching Rachel Maddow, tonight?

LOL...

Look, not being snarky - but there is so much shit going on in this country right now, it's seriously starting to stress me out. I'm at the point that as long as we get our troops the fuck out of there, I don't give a shit if Obama says we went there because Mickey Mouse flipped us off. I'd love nothing more than to see the Bush criminals brought to justice, but I will settle for a truth commission, and some meager prosecutions if we get gaurantees that those shitbags can never serve in a governmental role ever again, and are shamed. Rummie & Yoo do need to be hung by their toenails, though.

But seriously - we really cannot afford too much negative blood right now, we're just tipping the balance, and have a chance of making real progress in this country on taking care of the middle class, healthcare, etc. I just can't get hung up on that right now.

Now flame away...

[jenmito]

7. She made me so angry (again). She knows VERY well that Obama knows the reason

the troops he was speaking to were sent into Iraq for a lie and that he couldn't say that to them. Even THEY know that he knows.

[firedupdem]

12. That's why I don't tune in. The president said what he was

supposed to. Everybody knows exactly how he feels about the war. It's always something isn't it?

[jenmito]

13. Yeah...

it's kind of sad that we finally get someone on OUR side on MSNBC (besides Keith and SOMETIMES Chris) and she always seems to make things negative ala "Debbie Downer." She did the same thing during the primaries. She INSISTED that Hillary was going to go all the way to the Convention.

[firedupdem]

15. And mccain would pull it out as well. I don't care for her show. n/t

[Cha]

24. Precisely and he also

made it clear that he was against the War on Iraq from the beginning.

[liberalsince1968]

17. Bush started the war based on lies. I think it diminishes Obama to perpetuate them.

[butterfly77]

27. You have that right..

I am sick of her every night I tune in for a minute to see what problem she will have each night for Obama. It seems that with every decision he makes she seems to want to find a problem with it. We will not always agree with everything Obama does but, Rachel seems to have a problem with everything he says or does,there is always a but...

In this situation I don't see what the problem is because he said all along he would take sixteen months and he would consult with the generals and we know whose generals they are at the moment. The main point I want to say is that some people are sounding really ridiculous,what in the hell do they expect! Do they really think that the troops will start marching out of Iraq tommorrow.

They will have to move all of the machinery and staff and many other things they will have to consider some people seem to be jumping up and down and complaining like hell after one month. There will be plenty of time to complain but, some of the complaints are ridiculous...

[Festusss]

2. I'm not so sure the alternative...

Would have went over too well;

'This was a dumb idea from the start and you shouldn't even be going over there...'

While it's true, it would've killed their moral. I can't speak for them, but they must have some basis for rationalizing their mission over there. I'd hope that the CIC would encourage them, while reminding all of us that he feels that it's in everyone's best interest, especially our troops, to get the fug outta there.

[Thickasabrick]

3. He could have said you were sent to Iraq for a mission and you

performed admirably. At least it wouldn't have entered a fabrication into the record. That bothers me and I'm a huge supporter too.

[vaberella]

4. Please, please try to be realistic...

We have a huge military in a war that we have lost by any definition. WE know Obama has been against this war from the beginning. But you don't go in front of hundreds of military and tell them the 4300+ that died, died for no reason. They're already morally defeated since some of them don't want to go back, some of them have been forced to go back and just want to be home. At least let them know in this little way the whole process was not nothing. They need a bit of something.

I'm not going to take issue with it since Obama has said for the last 2 years he was against this bullshit and he never said otherwise. Further more he said he's going to get them out completely in Iraq. I'm taking it and thankful.

[Clio the Leo]

9. Yep, what Vaberella said.....

.... in front of a room full military folks is not where he needed to be denouncing (or failing to support if you want to look at it that way) the troops' mission.

[Thrill]

5. He was just trying to make the troops feel good

What is he going to say? "You went and bleed looking for fake WMDs, All your fighting was in vain and for nothing"

[jenmito]

6. Obama OBVIOUSLY knows we went to Iraq because Bush claimed Saddam had WMD...

"We can't wait for a smoking gun which could come in the form of a mushroom cloud," but I think he told those troops what they ended up DOING over there SUCCESSFULLY. He couldn't very well say to them that they were sent there by their last CIC for a LIE. But he made it clear that HE would ONLY send troops into war as a last resort, that he'll make sure they're taken care of, etc.

[bertman]

8. I agree 100% with OwnedByFerrets. That was uncalled for. You can label it rah-rah make

the troops feel good or whatever you want, BUT HE DID NOT HAVE TO SAY IT THAT WAY.

He already praised them for doing a great job in an awful situation. That's all that was needed.

That LIE was a big fat unnecessary one. And what it tells the military guys is that THEY WILL STILL BE SENT WHEREVER THE FUCK THE EMPIRE WANTS THEM TO GO REGARDLESS OF THE "RIGHTNESS" OF THE FIGHT AND THEIR GOVERNMENT WILL LIE AGAIN TO COVER IT UP.

Big Bummer.

[Mojorabbit]

18. It wasn't a lie

we did go there to get rid of Saddam and I think to establish a permanent presence there because of oil. The wmds and so on were just excuses.

[bertman]

25. If that's the case, he should have said that. ALL OF IT. Or left it at "Great Job!"

[FrenchieCat]

He said what he decided to say.

If you want to be mad and hate him for it, so be fucking it.
He ain't perfect.....and you should know, as you like to remind us as often as possible.

[MasonJar]

10. Praise Obama for the good things, but do not consistently excuse

his mistakes. For some unfathomable reason Obama is doing W's water carrying now. It is unnecessary to equivocate when praising our troops; they have served with honor and distinction. I thought we were through with prevarication. I agree with Rachel.

[MarjorieG]

11. Obama was on Lehrer being blunt about biggest strategic blunder, etc. This was deference and....

respect to the troops who have been and many going again. He talked about hanks and caring when they return.

[Colobo]

14. It was pep talk. Obama knows better.

[liberalsince1968]

16. I had the exact same issue with them that you did.

[appleannie1]

19. Does anyone else think Bush F'd the country up so bad that we had to eat shit

and avoid prosecutions over the war in order to focus on straitening the country out? Two years ago I said it was methodical, almost a systematic destruction of our country. Now fixing that takes precedent over everything else, even the damn illegal war.

[Clio the Leo]

20. Did you see his interview on News Hour?

Question: Should the mission in Iraq be seen as "successful"?

POTUS: What we can say unequivocally is that our MILITARY succeeded in every mission that was given to them. They consistently performed above and beyond expectations under extraordinarily difficult circumstances. I don't think that we can rightly say that the strategy cooked up by our civilian leadership with respect to either going in in the first place or how the war was managed was a success.... And, if we get it right over the next few years we can live Iraq as a stable member in the region.

Question: Was it worth the lives lost and the men and women injured? (paraphrased)

POTUS: I don't want to look backwards. As you know I opposed this war, I did not think it was the right decision but I don't want to diminish the enormous sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform. I think the fact that Saddam Hussein is gone is a good thing. I think the fact that Iraq has carried out a series of elections with diminished violence each time, I think that's a good thing...

(transcription my own)

It is ABUNDANTLY clear the point he was trying to make.

[vaberella]

21. Thank you CtL, this is exactly what I expected from our President and figured he was thinking.

I get the feeling people just want to criticize because they have the platform too but don't think before posting.

[OwnedByFerrets]

22. Just want to thank everyone (except the one) for a thoughful

discussion of this issue. Its DU at its best.:grouphug:

[Honeycombe8]

23. The reason we went to war w/Iraq was to get rid of Hussein because we have "intelligence" that he

The reason we went to war w/Iraq was to get rid of Hussein because we had supposed "intelligence" that he had WMDs and he wasn't cooperating with the inspectors looking for them.

Isn't that correct? It wasn't JUST to find and get rid of the WMDs. Wasn't getting rid of Hussein understood to be part of the reason? Because getting rid of the WMDs without getting rid of the one who was intent on making them in order to "send mushroom clouds" to America wouldn't make sense.

Of course I and millions of others didn't trust or believe Bush or his administration on the WMDs. I'm restating what the "stated" reasons were for the war. That's what I remember, anyway.

We know now that the MAIN reason was regime change and to form a democracy that they hoped would spread throughout the M.E., and also so we could get their friendly oil. But that was the real, secret reason.

[butterfly77]

26. No.