Is Obama Irresponsible?
I suppose that would depend on whom you ask. But Senator Claire McCaskill, a Democrat from Mo seemed to inadvertently say so. She is an Obama supporter, but U.S.A. Today has her quoted as saying that the 16 month timetable was a “goal” and that “it would be irresponsible to set in stone a date”. But what has Obama said on the matter? On June 6th of this year, he said the following.
“I have to look at this issue from a broader strategic perspective. And in terms of long-term strategy, I am absolutely convinced that the best thing we can do is to set a clear timetable, tell the Iraqis we are going to start pulling out and do it in a careful fashion.
A clear timetable. And what is that timetable? His own website answers that question.
“Barack Obama believes we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. Immediately upon taking office, Obama will give his Secretary of Defense and military commanders a new mission in Iraq: ending the war. The removal of our troops will be responsible and phased, directed by military commanders on the ground and done in consultation with the Iraqi government. Military experts believe we can safely redeploy combat brigades from Iraq at a pace of 1 to 2 brigades a month that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 – more than 7 years after the war began.”
You can also view a screenshot of Obama’s site still carrying the 16 month quote by clicking the thumbnail below. After all, he is the candidate of change, so no telling how long it will stay up now that he changed his mind. Again.
He says we need a clear timetable, and that timetable is 16 months. Perhaps Claire McCaskill thinks she can convince us that Barack didn’t say that, but she’s wrong. What she needs to understand is this: in one of the tightest primary races in history, Barack had to go extreme left to the Socialist, Stalinist wing of the Democrat party. As he moves back to the middle to try to appeal to the more centered Hillary supporters, his supporters can’t just act like the primary didn’t happen. Obama said those things. If he “no longer feels that way” he has either changed his stance, lied, or sold out his ideals for political gain. My advice, Claire, is to remember Barack’s motto… “Change you can believe in“. Barack believes in change, and nowhere is that more evident than in the way he changes his stance to cater to the demographic he is currently aiming at. The question is, how will that sit with Hillary supporters who have seen this same man question her integrity for changing her stance on the war?