Poll: Obama Most Likely to Get U.S. Out of Iraq

From Reuters via Yahoo News:
Democrats Barack Obama and John Edwards are the 2008 White House contenders most likely to lead the country out of Iraq according to an online straw poll of members of the liberal activist group MoveOn.org.

Obama Zeros in on McCain (sortof)

From the Los Angeles Times/AP

"The idea that the situation in Iraq is improving because it takes a security detail of 100 soldiers, three Black Hawk helicopters and a couple of Apache gunships to walk through a market in the middle of Baghdad is simply not credible and not reflective of the facts on the ground," Obama said in a taped interview broadcast as part of the forum sponsored by MoveOn.org.

While not mentioning McCain by name, Obama criticized comments made by the Arizona senator last week after touring Baghdad's Bab al-Shariq market. He and other members of a congressional delegation traveled in armored military vehicles and wore body armor during the hourlong excursion."

Bloggers Boo Obama

From Real Clear Politics

"In an interview with the AP yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama said that he expects Congress will provide funding for the Iraq war without attaching a timetable for withdrawal should President Bush veto the current bill, because no lawmaker "wants to play chicken with our troops."

"My expectation is that we will continue to try to ratchet up the pressure on the president to change course," the Democratic presidential candidate said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I don't think that we will see a majority of the Senate vote to cut off funding at this stage."

The leftwing site Daily Kos, head of the Democrats' antiwar base, is outraged:

What a ridiculous thing to say. Not only is it bad policy, not only is it bad politics, it's also a terrible negotiating approach.

Instead of threatening Bush with even more restrictions and daring him to veto funding for the troops out of pique, Barack just surrendered to him.

Let me repeat that -- Obama just surrendered to Bush."

A Call for Action from Team Obama

...the campaign marks fourth anniversary of Iraq war by taking the opportunity to remind voters again that Senator BO was against military action from the get go.
Read release here.

Obama Zero's-In on Cheney

Obama Riciducles Cheney's Iraq Comments (San Francisco Chronicle/AP)

Obama, speaking at a massive outdoor rally in Austin, Texas, said British Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision this week to withdraw 1,600 troops is a recognition that Iraq's problems can't be solved militarily.

"Now if Tony Blair can understand that, then why can't George Bush and Dick Cheney understand that?" Obama asked thousands of supporters who gathered in the rain to hear him. "In fact, Dick Cheney said this is all part of the plan (and) it was a good thing that Tony Blair was withdrawing, even as the administration is preparing to put 20,000 more of our young men and women in.

"Now, keep in mind, this is the same guy that said we'd be greeted as liberators, the same guy that said that we're in the last throes. I'm sure he forecast sun today," Obama said to laughter from supporters holding campaign signs over their heads to keep dry. "When Dick Cheney says it's a good thing, you know that you've probably got some big problems."

Obama Apologizes for Saying U.S. Troops' Lives Wasted in Iraq.

From abcnews.com
"Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., entered the race for the White House over the weekend and is immediately feeling the hot spotlight of scrutiny that accompanies a presidential campaign.

Obama has twice apologized since implying that U.S. troops had died in vain, telling a rally crowd in Ames, Iowa, on Sunday, "We ended up launching a war that should have never been authorized, and should never been waged, and on which we have now spent $400 billion, and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted."

Obama Aims, Fires at Hillary

From London's Telegraph newspaper












and from Politico.com

Obama's Rapid Response to Aussie PM's Attack

Yes.
Team Obama has learned a lesson from the Madrassa Mess. Instead of letting negative comments from Australian Prime Minister John Howard marinate and generate more bad headlines than necessary - the Senator came out swinging immediately.
Sunday morning, Bush buddy Howard was bashing Barack's plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. But by early afternoon the Senator's staff had issued a very well crafted response. Then, by mid-afternoon...networks like CNN were airing comments from Obama himself, as he fired back from Iowa.

Obama, Snow...'Something Doesn't Add Up'

From AP via WREX-TV

"Critics charge the military is obscuring the actual number of troops wounded in both Iraq and Afghanistan by leaving out soldiers and Marines who suffer non-combat injuries. The most frequently circulated number of those who've been wounded is about 23,000. But when troops hurt in other ways, including accidents, is added in, the number more than doubles to about 53,000. Senators Barack Obama and Olympia Snowe are introducing legislation to require what they call "honest numbers" about the wars' toll. Presidential hopeful Obama says the effects on soldiers and their families is the same whether the soldier is hit by enemy fire, injured in a crash or made sick by service in a war zone."

Now if they could also get pictures to the public of all those flag-draped coffins that are coming back...

Iraq the Central Theme for Obama, Others at DNC

Here's CNN's Queen of the campaign trail Candy Crowley on the winter meeting of the Democratic National Convention.


They all talked Iraq - but there was one noticeable difference. The theme music. From AP via (FOX News):

"_John Edwards: "This Is Our Country" by John Mellencamp.

_Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut: "Get Ready (Cause Here I Come)" by the Temptations and "Reach Out," also by the Temptations.

_Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York: "Right Here, Right Now," by Jesus Jones and "Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

_Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio: "America the Beautiful"

Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois decided against using any music in keeping with the somber tone he sought to convey. Wesley Clark, who hasn't indicated whether he will run, entered to Johnny Cash's "I Won't Back Down."

The Nation: Obama's Strong Iraq Stance...

positions him as major anti-war candidate instead of John Edwards.

From (The Nation) :

"Obama's move could be devastating to John Edwards. Edwards has enjoyed greater netroots and (arguably) overall grassroots left support than Obama due to his economic populism and call for 40,000 to 50,000 troops to come home. But now Obama has become the first top-tier candidate to set a definite timeline for the withdrawal of the troops. And let's not forget this not-so-small fact-- he's also the only major candidate who opposed the war from the get-go.

Kos is impressed:

This isn't a wussy "stop the escalation" measure, nor some half-measure like "withdraw some troops but not all" (which appears to be the Edwards position).

Even Sirota is pleased, and that's saying something:

The fact that he's doing this is a big deal, and he should be congratulated.

Some pundits will call Obama's move a "gamble," but it seems like common sense to me. After all, American voters made it clear in 2006 that they wanted a real change in Iraq, not Stay-the-Course Lite and certainly not Stay-the-Course On Steroids."

McCain Yes, Obama No on Troop Surge

WATCH the two senators square off over Iraq on CBS' Face the Nation.

• Bush plan for Iraq swells '08 intrigue (New York Times)
• Obama, McCain: 2 War Views (Chicago Tribune)

Barack: I was first on Iraq!

The junior senator from Illinois takes the opportunity do a little delineating between himself and the competition. Obama sent out a little e-reminder that he NEVER wanted war in Iraq....unlike a certain other potential presidential candidate- who also happens to be a former first lady.

From: barackobama.com

"As the New Year approaches, we are told that the President is considering the deployment of tens of thousands of additional troops to Iraq in the desperate hope of subduing the burgeoning civil war there.

This is a chilling prospect that threatens to compound the tragic mistakes he has already made over the last four years."

"In 2002, I strongly opposed the invasion of Iraq (Unlike unsaid senator who voted to send troops into Iraq) because I felt it was an ill-conceived venture which I warned would "require a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undermined cost, with undetermined consequences." I said then that an invasion without strong international support could drain our military, distract us from the war with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and further destabilize the Middle East."

And there's more...

"As I said more than a month ago, while some have proposed escalating this war by adding thousands of more troops, there is little reason to believe that this will achieve these results either. It's not clear that these troop levels are sustainable for a significant period of time, and according to our commanders on the ground, adding American forces will only relieve the Iraqis from doing more on their own. Moreover, without a coherent strategy or better cooperation from the Iraqis, we would only be putting more of our soldiers in the crossfire of a civil war."

This missive also comes after former North Carolina senator John Edwards - who has just officially announced he's running for president- staked his position on the Iraq issue.

Getting more interesting.