Obama on Iraq, Then and Now
Obama then: I ended this war. Obama now: As I have always said, I didn’t end this war.
Obama then: I ended the war in Iraq, and stupid Romney wanted to leave troops there. Stupid Romney! Here’s from the third presidential debate with Romney:
We ended the war in Iraq, refocused our attention on those who actually killed us on 9/11. . . . [To Reomney:] I know you haven’t been in a position to actually execute foreign policy — but every time you’ve offered an opinion, you’ve been wrong. . . . You said that we should still have troops in Iraq to this day. . . . You just gave a speech a few weeks ago in which you said we should still have troops in Iraq. That is not a recipe for making sure that we are taking advantage of the opportunities and meeting the challenges of the Middle East.
Obama now: Hey, I always wanted to keep troops in Iraq!
REPORTER: Do you wish you had left a residual force in Iraq? Any regrets about that decision?
OBAMA: Keep in mind, that wasn’t a decision made by me. That was a decision made by the Iraqi government.
Thanks to Ed Morrissey.
Bah! Wouldn’t make much difference if Romney was president, Patterico.
And the band played on…
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/20/2014 @ 8:06 amObama… never before in an executive position, has repeatedly demonstrated that he lacks common sense and good judgement (like most academics), or that he can be trusted with the well-being, security of or anything associated with the American people. He has been a cancerous growth on the body politic and the Western world, in general.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/20/2014 @ 8:26 amRIP Gerry Goffin… dead at age 75.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/20/2014 @ 8:30 amThunder-stealer!
Icy (53b59e) — 6/20/2014 @ 8:33 amDude, the 2012 presidential debates were a long time ago!
Icy (53b59e) — 6/20/2014 @ 8:36 amJust remember, your potential hypocrisy on this subject will invalidate Obama’s known hypocrisy.
DejectedHead (a094a6) — 6/20/2014 @ 8:59 am∅’s foreign policy and foreign policy team is under the delusion that you can pick up a turd by the clean end. Until he is dispelled of this notion, it’s unlikely to get better.
Hadoop (f7d5ba) — 6/20/2014 @ 9:26 amthis is the situation the First Islamist wanted all along…
US power & prestige damaged/negated, our economy gutted, the world in an uproar, and his jihad buddies ascendant.
plus he gets to golf a lot.
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 6/20/2014 @ 9:34 amIcy got stung! FYI, IceMan… I subscribed to a service where I have a ticker tape ala Walter Winchell where I get the latest on celebrity comings and – in Goffin’s case – goings, so I’m throwing down on yer franchise!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/20/2014 @ 10:41 amKeep in mind, that wasn’t a decision made by me. That was a decision made by the Iraqi government.
I think this is pretty much how that bit of the conversation went:
OBAMA: We would like to keep a small residual force in Iraq, pursuant to the arrangement you negotiated with the Bush Administration.
MALIKI: No.
OBAMA: Ok, thanks. For the record, I asked.
JVW (feb406) — 6/20/2014 @ 1:33 pmwhether or not to build the keystone pipeline is another decision what food stamp never made
happyfeet (8ce051) — 6/20/2014 @ 2:02 pmNore from the 3rd Presidetial debate in 2012 (Oct 22, 2012)
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/10/22/transcript-president-obama-mitt-romney-in-final-presidential-debate-at-lynn-university/
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 6/20/2014 @ 2:32 pmPerhaps Bob Schieffer will highlight Obama’s fecklessness on his next Face teh Nation!
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/20/2014 @ 3:06 pmObama was making a big point of it that he didn’t want troops in Iraq to “tie us down” although his actual proposal eventually had been 3,000 to 5,000 (but not the earlier mentioned 10,000. )
And he quite possibly deliberately let the negotiations with Iraq over a status of forces agreement fail, although it could have been the influence of Iran that led to that. He was quite content to let it fail.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/22/world/middleeast/united-states-and-iraq-had-not-expected-troops-would-have-to-leave.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Aw
It is thought the low number really discouraged Iraqi interest. In the article, there is
mention of the possibility of troops being sent to Iraq in 2012, under a totally new agreement, but Obama wasn’t interested.
There are now several thousand Americans there attached to the Iraq Army, but they are all contract employees (except the up to 300 Green Berets Obama is sending now, and whoever is protecting the embassy)
Sammy Finkelman (966b43) — 6/20/2014 @ 3:23 pm13. Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/20/2014 @ 3:06 pm
Perhaps Bob Schieffer will highlight Obama’s fecklessness on his next Face teh Nation!
There’s a [re-recorded interview with President Barack Obama this Sunday on Face the NAtion (by a female reporter)
A bit was excerpted on the CBS Eveninbg News.
Obama explaininbg why he didn’t send arms to the opposition in Syria, approximately like this:
They were farmers and dentists – they couldn’t do anything against a dictator like Assad, or fight trained jihadists – what difference would a little bit of arms have done? So he chose to send nothing.
Sammy Finkelman (966b43) — 6/20/2014 @ 4:32 pmI was being facetious, Sammy.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 6/20/2014 @ 4:46 pmLet us be honest; we had every right to put OBL’s head on a stick. The rest of it, the nation building,the foolish ROE, the kowtowing to Islamic insanity and worrying about their tender insane 7th century idiocy was a terrible waste. The one justifiable reason to vote for The One was to get out of all of it. Sending even the 300 is the mistake.
To hell with all of them;let them kill each other. Keep them out of here. Snes the ones who have settled here with visions of Sharia America back to the 3rd world toilets, If any GOP candidate wants to get more involved as Romeny and Ryan did, they deserve to lose.
Bugg (f0dbc7) — 6/20/2014 @ 6:19 pmAs to whether it was or was not his decision, Maliki wanted US troops subject ot Iraqi courts, That is something no US president, even one as awful as Obama, can ever agree to. It’s amenaingless distinction. Like mst of you I hate this fraud. But sadly the GOP is no better. And McCain and Romney as per their statements were worse. THERE IS NO POLITICAL SUPPORT AT ALL FOR MORE MIDDLE EAST WAR ANYWHERE IN AMERICA.
Bugg (f0dbc7) — 6/20/2014 @ 6:23 pm14. SF: “There are now several thousand Americans there attached to the Iraq Army, but they are all contract employees (except the up to 300 Green Berets Obama is sending now, and whoever is protecting the embassy)”
There are 275 protecting the embassy and there will be 300 Green Berets. There is a ship with Osprey vertical takeoff and landing steaming closer.
Sammy Finkelman (107dde) — 6/21/2014 @ 7:27 pm