On barackobama.com, Obama is quoted regarding the Iraq war:
"I don't oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today,
there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed
to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war."
-Barack Obama Anti-War Rally, Chicago 2002
"Before the war in Iraq ever started, Senator Obama said that it was
wrong in its conception. In 2002, then Illinois State Senator Obama
said Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat to the United States and
that invasion would lead to an occupation of undetermined length, at
undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. Since then, Senator
Obama has laid out a plan on the way forward in Iraq that has largely
been affirmed by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group led by James Baker and
Lee Hamilton.
At the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations in November 2005,
Senator Obama called for: (1) a reduction in the number of U.S. troops;
(2) a time frame for a phased withdrawal; (3) the Iraqi government to
make progress on forming a political solution; (4) improved
reconstruction efforts to restore basic services in Iraq; and (5)
engaging the international community, particularly key neighboring
states and Arab nations, to become more involved in Iraq. In January
2006 he traveled to Iraq and met with senior U.S. military commanders,
Iraqi officials and U.S. troops in Baghdad and Fallujah.
Senator Obama introduced legislation in January 2007 to offer a
responsible alternative to President Bush's failed escalation policy.
The legislation commences redeployment of U.S. forces no later than May
1, 2007 with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by
March 31, 2008 -- a date consistent with the bipartisan Iraq Study
Group's expectations. The plan allows for a limited number of U.S.
troops to remain in Iraq as basic force protection, to engage in
counter-terrorism and to continue the training of Iraqi security
forces. If the Iraqis are successful in meeting the 13 benchmarks for
progress laid out by the Bush Administration, this plan also allows for
the temporary suspension of the redeployment, provided Congress agrees
that the benchmarks have been met."
VOTE OBAMA '08!
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