Former advisor to Senator Barack Obama, Samantha Power, who recently resigned due to (correctly) running her yap about Senator Clinton, probably would have been given the boot thanks to the BBC interview below. Power unhesitantly admits that Senator Obama (peace be upon him) has no plan for removal of troops in Iraq mainly because he has no access to info on the subject. When would he get such info? If and when he becomes President!
The transcript from the video was compiled by The American Mind:
STEPHEN SACKUR: Let me stop you just for a moment. You said that he’ll revisit it when he goes to the White House. So what the American public thinks is a commitment to get combat forces out within sixteen months, isn’t a commitment isn’t it?
POWER: You can’t make a commitment in whatever month we’re in now, in March of 2008 about what circumstances are gonna be like in Jan. 2009. We can’t even tell what Bush is up to in terms of troop pauses and so forth. He will of course not rely upon some plan that he’s crafted as a presidential candidate or as a US senator.
He will rely upon a plan, an operational plan that he pulls together, in consultation with people who are on the ground, to whom he doesn’t have daily access now as a result of not being the president.
So to think, I mean it would be the height of ideology, you know, to sort of say, well I said it therefore I’m going to impose it on whatever reality entreats me –
SACKUR: Ok, so the 16 months is negotiable?
POWER: It’s the best case scenario
It’s the best case scenario
POWER: It is –
SACKUR: And of course in Iraq we’ve never seen best case scenario
POWER: We have never seen best case scenario
SACKUR: So we needn’t necessarily take it seriously at all.
POWER: What we can take seriously is that he will try to get US forces out as quickly and as responsibly as possible. And that’s the best case, estimate of what it would take.
The American Mind notes:
“Those words won’t please the anti-war voters backing Obama.
Power’s words are a far cry from the promise on Obama’s website [again emphasis mine]:”
Bringing Our Troops Home
Obama will immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq. He will remove one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months. Obama will make it clear that we will not build any permanent bases in Iraq. He will keep some troops in Iraq to protect our embassy and diplomats; if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.
Thank you, Ms. Power. Your service has been much appreciated.
This moron actually went to Harvard and Yale and won a Pulitzer.
As time goes on, the myth of Obama keeps shrinking.
Filed under: Barack Obama / The Messiah , Barack Obama / The Messiah, BBC, Iraq, Samatha Power, US Military
Obama said that we need to be more careful getting out of iraq than we werer getting in.
Do you have some problem with that?
Those who approved of the Iraq invasion created the problem, not Obama
Power’s comments contradicted Obama’s assertion that he would “immediately begin to remove our troops from Iraq.” Power makes clear that Obama does not have access to the information needed to decide when the military should be brought home. Thus, his promise to “immediately begin to remove our troops” is not only wrong-headed, but it’s actually false.
As for “those who approved of the Iraq invasion created the problem,” this comment ignores the fact that (1) Democrats also voted in favor of the invasion, and (2) it ignores the progress made in the last few months since the troop surge.
A. Obama clearly opposed the Iraq invasion and he certainly did not vote for it.
B. If indeed the “surge continue to work” So What? Even the military says that there is no military solution -only a political one and we are no closer to that.
gasdoc,
Your thinking on this is all over the map. Try to focus on *the content of the post,* which was simply that Obama’s promise to remove the military “immediately” is not possible (if Samantha Power is correct and if she’s to be believed).
Also, those who criticize our invasion of Iraq would do well to atleast acknowledge when things are going right or when something positive has occurred. It’s pretty dishonest to shout about everything negative at every opportunity and then respond with a casual “so what” when the situation improves.
OK I will try again.
1. Obama thought the Iraq war was a dumb idea in 2002 and he still thinks that it is a dumb idea now.
2. Based on that, it is reasonable to conclude that Obama will try to get us out of Iraq as soon as possible.
3. I repeat that Obama has said that we need to get out more carefully than we went in.
4. Even General Petreus says that it is a political solution that is needed, a military solution is not sufficient. (I will concede that “the surge” may well be working and I will further concede that it may well continue to work)
5. I apologize for saying “so what” about the surge.
I will say that the surge working for the moment does not equal mission accomplished.