Forty years later, Obama is likewise running on a platform to end the war in Iraq. As a candidate for the United States Senate in 2004, Obama put his political career on the line to oppose going to war in Iraq, and warned of “an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences.” Obama has been a consistent, principled and vocal opponent of the war in Iraq.
"The best way to press Iraq's leaders to take responsibility for their future," Obama says, "is for the U.S. to make it clear that we are leaving. As we remove our troops, I will engage representatives from all levels of Iraqi society -- in and out of government -- to seek a new accord on Iraq's Constitution and governance."
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain insists that to withdraw from Iraq would constitute "surrender to the terrorists." Rubbish! This is the same Joe McCarthy-like rhetoric that kept us mired in Vietnam for 10 years and I don't buy it for a second.
On the contrary, the longer we stay in Iraq, the more we overtax our resources, making it harder and harder to fight terrorists elsewhere -- and even here at home. The longer we stay in Iraq, the more our enemies become emboldened to strike. And the longer we stay in Iraq, the more our credibility with the international community deteriorates. Why else do you think NATO members are refusing U.S. requests to send more troops to Afghanistan?
Get real, Senator McCain! Iraq has become a second Vietnam that is sucking the life and capital out of this country and is stretching our military to the breaking point -- and it's high time for us to get the hell out of there.
Just like the Vietnam war, we went to war in Iraq based on a pack of lies. Just as President Lyndon Johnson lied to us about a non-existent attack on U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, President George W. Bush lied to us about a non-existent Iraqi stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.
All you offer, Senator McCain, is more of the same in Iraq. I say -- loud and clear -- hell, no! Enough is enough!
Obviously, John McCain won't bring us out of Iraq. But Barack Obama will.
John McCain has refused to pledge to bring our anti-terrorism methods at home in compliance with the Constitution. But Barack Obama has.
John McCain doesn't have a clue about what to do about our worsening economy. But Barack Obama does.
John McCain hasn't even begun to address our deepening health-care crisis. But Barack Obama has.
John McCain has failed to impress many in his own party -- and indeed, many hard-line GOP conservatives still oppose him. But Barack Obama has inspired and is drawing support from across the political spectrum -- Democrats, independents and even Republicans. And he's drawing support that transcends racial, ethnic, gender and generational lines.
We haven't had a presidential candidate with that kind of appeal in 40 years, not since since RFK. And Obama's campaign for the White House comes at a time when Americans are fed up with the slash-and-burn politics of personal destruction that have dominated Washington for more than a decade.
With all due respect to Obama's chief Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, it has to be said that a second Clinton presidency will only continue that poisoned atmosphere -- a re-run of the attack politics that engulfed the nation's capital during her husband Bill's presidency.
A second Clinton presidency would also continue the Bush-Clinton "dynasty" in the White House -- a dynasty that will have turned 20 years old next January. It's hard to believe that it's been nearly two full decades since George H.W. Bush was elected in 1988. It was not the intention of our country's Founding Fathers, having thrown off the rule of the British monarch, King George III, for this nation to be governed by a dynasty of its own.
The time has come for an end to the bitter hyperpartisanship that has poisoned the nation's capital and threatens to poison the entire country. The time has come for a president who's not afraid to reach out across the aisle to work with members of the other party, as well as his own, to address the serious challenges that our nation will face in the coming years.
"The best way to press Iraq's leaders to take responsibility for their future," Obama says, "is for the U.S. to make it clear that we are leaving. As we remove our troops, I will engage representatives from all levels of Iraqi society -- in and out of government -- to seek a new accord on Iraq's Constitution and governance."
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain insists that to withdraw from Iraq would constitute "surrender to the terrorists." Rubbish! This is the same Joe McCarthy-like rhetoric that kept us mired in Vietnam for 10 years and I don't buy it for a second.
On the contrary, the longer we stay in Iraq, the more we overtax our resources, making it harder and harder to fight terrorists elsewhere -- and even here at home. The longer we stay in Iraq, the more our enemies become emboldened to strike. And the longer we stay in Iraq, the more our credibility with the international community deteriorates. Why else do you think NATO members are refusing U.S. requests to send more troops to Afghanistan?
Just like the Vietnam war, we went to war in Iraq based on a pack of lies. Just as President Lyndon Johnson lied to us about a non-existent attack on U.S. ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, President George W. Bush lied to us about a non-existent Iraqi stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.
All you offer, Senator McCain, is more of the same in Iraq. I say -- loud and clear -- hell, no! Enough is enough!
Obviously, John McCain won't bring us out of Iraq. But Barack Obama will.
John McCain has refused to pledge to bring our anti-terrorism methods at home in compliance with the Constitution. But Barack Obama has.
John McCain doesn't have a clue about what to do about our worsening economy. But Barack Obama does.
John McCain hasn't even begun to address our deepening health-care crisis. But Barack Obama has.
John McCain has failed to impress many in his own party -- and indeed, many hard-line GOP conservatives still oppose him. But Barack Obama has inspired and is drawing support from across the political spectrum -- Democrats, independents and even Republicans. And he's drawing support that transcends racial, ethnic, gender and generational lines.
We haven't had a presidential candidate with that kind of appeal in 40 years, not since since RFK. And Obama's campaign for the White House comes at a time when Americans are fed up with the slash-and-burn politics of personal destruction that have dominated Washington for more than a decade.
With all due respect to Obama's chief Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, it has to be said that a second Clinton presidency will only continue that poisoned atmosphere -- a re-run of the attack politics that engulfed the nation's capital during her husband Bill's presidency.
A second Clinton presidency would also continue the Bush-Clinton "dynasty" in the White House -- a dynasty that will have turned 20 years old next January. It's hard to believe that it's been nearly two full decades since George H.W. Bush was elected in 1988. It was not the intention of our country's Founding Fathers, having thrown off the rule of the British monarch, King George III, for this nation to be governed by a dynasty of its own.
The time has come for an end to the bitter hyperpartisanship that has poisoned the nation's capital and threatens to poison the entire country. The time has come for a president who's not afraid to reach out across the aisle to work with members of the other party, as well as his own, to address the serious challenges that our nation will face in the coming years.
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