newyorker.com — With the general election four months away, Obama?s rhetoric on the topic now seems outdated and out of touch, and the nominee-apparent may have a political problem concerning the very issue that did so much to bring him this far.
Jun 30, 2008 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountJul 1, 2008
the liberals are turnin on their own trying to get the Obamaites to plug the leaking ship.
adamwestiiiJul 9, 2008
I believe if the Iraqi Government wants the US to withdraw its troops, then so be it! We should leave! Over 70% of the Iraqis want the US out of their country and many people in this country voted based on the fact those running for election to either House promised they would force a withdrawal of US troops out of Iraq. Now, we know they were lying or else have "Spines" as weak as water. What business is it of our government to tell the leaders of a sovereign nation how they must run their government? It definitely is an indication that politicians in Washington are not concerned about the desires of the majority of Americans, but they are looking only at their own agenda. I initially supported Obama, and currently I'm sitting on the edge of the fence as to whether to vote for him or not at all! He's doing so much flip-flopping that he's damn neared as bad as McCain! Unfortunately Kucinich was left out of the circle because I had more faith in him, than any of his opponents running for the Presidency of this country.
opiniastrousJul 10, 2008
The Iraqi PM has said that he wants to establish a timeline for the withdrawal of US forces. Effectively, he is conveying that he does not want US forces to be in Iraq forever. However, I guarantee you he does not want US forces out of Iraq today - that would only lead to chaos.As much as I think the Bush administration and previous military leaders have handled the war poorly, I think that Gates and Petraeus are doing a very good job to reverse previous mistakes, and make new gains. I also think that whilst it was wrong to invade Iraq, it would also be wrong to leave the Iraqi people in the position they are currently in. It could be argued that from a consequentialist, deontological and Aristotelean perspective, it would be MORE UNETHICAL to withdraw all US troops now than it was to invade Iraq in the first place.Hence, I think that Obama should take note of the current situation in Iraq and realise that despite the fact he thought the US should withdraw from Iraq, there are strong military and ethical arguments against that course of action. Also, from a purely military perspective, I think Bush was right to say that the withdrawal of US troops should be events-based, rather than chronologically-based (though he never used those words, I'm sure).
opiniastrousJul 10, 2008
Man I hate the American political system!In the realm of logic and reason, being 'right' is not based on being a 'liberal', 'progressive', 'conservative' or 'neo-con'. It's about truth, and creating the right answers to the right questions. Often this is only possible however, through intelligent debate and most importantly, a willingness to recognise that you may be wrong (therefore allowing you to accept that correcting previous beliefs or acts is OK).Not everything (in fact, hardly anything) needs to be an adversarial power-struggle between two opposing groups! Stop tagging superficial names to everyone you disagree with and start engaging in some real discussion about what the world is actually like, what should matter in that world, and how you can come up with the most effective ways of reaching those ideals. You never know, you might learn something!