OBAMA: We cannot impose a military solution on what has effectively become a civil war.
OBAMA: “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse.”
OBAMA: My assessment is that the surge has not worked and we will not see a different report eight weeks from now.
OBAMA: Finally, in 2006-2007, we started to see that, even after an election, George Bush continued to want to pursue a course that didn’t withdraw troops from Iraq but actually doubled them and initiated a surge and at that stage I said very clearly, not only have we not seen improvements, but we’re actually worsening, potentially, a situation there.
OBAMA: “Here’s what we know. The surge has not worked.
OBAMA: “After putting an additional 30,000 troops in, far longer & more troops than the president had initially said, we have gone from a horrendous situation of violence in Iraq to the same intolerable levels of violence that we had back in June of 2006. So, essentially, after all this we’re back where we were 15 months ago… So, I think it is fair to say that the president has simply tried to gain another six months to continue on the same course that he’s been on for several years now. It is a course that will not succeed. It is a course that is exacting an enormous toll on the American people & our troops.
OBAMA: “Tonight Pres. Bush said that the surge in Iraq is working, when we know that’s just not true.
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OBAMA NOW: I had no doubt, and I said when I opposed the surge, that given how wonderfully our troops perform, if we place 30,000 more troops in there, then we would see an improvement in the security situation and we would see a reduction in the violence.
Let’s pray to GOD that we don’t get attacked again during Obama’s administration because I don’t think he has a clue how warfare works, or what progress looks like.
Yes, THIS is the CHANGE we were all hoping for… revisionism masquerading as principled pragmatism.