Barack Obama Says Bush Should Admit Iraq Mistakes

Speaking today to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) criticized the Bush Administration's condemnation of Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), a 37-year Marine veteran and decorated Vietnam-era officer, when he stated that the US should commence immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Said the senator "We watched the shameful attempt to paint John Murtha — a Marine Corp recipient of two purple hearts and a Bronze Star — into a coward of questionable patriotism," Obama said to AP.

The senator continued "The President could take the politics out of Iraq once and for all if he would simply go on television and say to the American people 'Yes, we made mistakes. Yes, there are things I would have done differently. But now that we're here, I am willing to work with both Republicans and Democrats to find the most responsible way out. "

Breaking his public silence on Iraq policy, Senator Obama stated his beliefs, "The strategic goals should be to allow for a limited drawdown of U.S. troops, coupled with shift to a more effective counter-insurgency strategy that puts the Iraqi security forces in the lead and intensifies our efforts to train Iraqi forces."

AP reported, " 'Notice that I say reduce and not fully withdraw,'" Obama said....'I believe that U.S. forces are still a part of the solution in Iraq.' "

Here is a link, via the Chicago Tribune newspaper, to the text of Senator Obama's stirring speech. It's quite worthwhile to take the time to read it.
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In other Iraq news, the US armed forces death toll in the Iraq War reached 2,100 today.

Laments blogger Daniel Cody at Left on the Lake, "Another grim milestone for Americans today as the the death toll reached two thousand one hundred U.S. soldiers dead since the Iraq war began.

Not even one month has passed since we hit the 2,000 mark. That's over one hundred American soldiers killed in under 30 days, and the rate at which our soldiers are dying is increasing with each passing month. Has anything been acomplished in the last month that justifies those soldiers deaths?

Will anything be acomplished in the next six months that will justify the loss of another 600-800 men and women to their families, friends and loved ones?"

No, Daniel. Sadly, nothing will justify such continued loss of life in Iraq.
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Related Articles
-- Profile of US Senator Barack Obama of Illinois
-- Iraq War Results and Statistics as of October 2005
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