U.S. Iraq war casualties reach new milestone

[Phanatic]

So either way we'd still have troops in Iraq. Whether that was to patrol the no fly zones to keep Saddam from ethnically cleansing the Shiites and Kurds or as UN troops on the ground.

Also if this was done the right way from the start it wouldn't be as painful and we wouldn't be talking about it.

[ice grillin you]

im not against having troops around the world...im against arbitrarily and unilaterally invading destroying and occupying whole nations and doing so primarily with our troops and on our dime

[Diomedes]

and really, there's simply no need for so many goddamned foreign bases...more than 700 of them, give me a break.  You want to talk about big government..farg.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

US and Iraq close to deal to withdraw troops

Hey, good news is news too.

[Cerevant]

So, would the end of the Iraq war help Obama ("see, I was right!") or hurt him by taking away a key point of distinction from McCain?

[phillymic2000]

IMO, hurt, bush gets most the credit for that by saying we went in kicked some a$$. I spoke to america with a bunch of teletubbies behind me on an aircraft carrier, announcing that the war was over, and then years later we signed a deal to get our boys home all while I was in office. Now that would sound a lot better if Frank Caliende (sp) was saying it then bush.

[ATV]

I spoke to america with a bunch of teletubbies behind me on an aircraft carrier

I love telletubbies.

Regarding Bush's apparent reversal over a timeline (but don't call it that - anything but that), I'm sure it's completely coincidental that he's finally coming around to Obama's position now that election season is upon us. This isn't the sort of President who mixes politics with things like national security, right?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

So, would the end of the Iraq war help Obama ("see, I was right!") or hurt him by taking away a key point of distinction from McCain?

Good question.  I think it will hurt him a bit, but he has plenty of other issues to get to.

What Obama could do to put himself over the edge easily would be to better tout himself as a bi-partisan leader, willing to make tough compromises to balance the budget and improve the economy long-term.  McCain is currently holding his own in the economy debate somehow, and I think if Obama shows that McCain's plan will either keep the country irresponsibly running a deficit or cut numerous popular entitlements to the bone, he'll win.

But what do I know.  I care about fiscal policy more than the average American.


Back to Iraq - I think that in all likelihood, this just makes Iraq less of a talking point for the campaign in general.  However, McCain will continue to try to mention that the surge, which he invented around the time Algore invented the internets, worked.

[Phanatic]

The Economy and high gas prices will be the talking points going forward. Getting this deal takes it off the table and takes away an argument point for Obama. I think it does hurt him a bit in the realm of politics. Doesn't matter though. It's a good thing and it's what we all wanted anyway.

[ATV]

By the way, nobody here actually believes the Bush administration when they say that maybe we can have our troops out in a year and a half (or however). For the past six years they've been doing or saying anything to anyone just so long as they can keep them in there. If McCain is elected we'll be hearing the same crap four years from now. Is there anyone here that actually believes this shtein?

[General_Failure]

I believe that regardless of any actual plans they had, their political plan was to leave soldiers out long enough for McCain to pick up preemptive credit for bringing them home.

[Diomedes]

4,147

[Phanatic]

Oh I think they want and need the troops out of Iraq. Mainly because they need them in Georgia and Afghanistan now. Russia did whatever it wanted to Georgia knowing full well America was stretched to thin to do anything about it and NATO was to french.

[phillymic2000]

Interesting article on a "agreed" pull out time table:

http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-GCA-iraq/idUSLP67913620080826?pageNumber=3&virtualBrandChannel=10112

[Seabiscuit36]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/09/iraq.secret/index.html

Terminators are real