[Marxism] Illinois Democrat considers missile strikes against Iran; sending more troops to Iraq!

[Duane Roberts <duaneroberts92804@xxxxxxxxx>]

Now if Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld or
Vice-President Dick "Go Halliburton" Cheney publicly
made the following comments, they would've been
derided by the "left" as being dangerous lunatics and
warmongers who must be stopped at all costs!

But since these words come out of the mouth of Barack
Obama, the great liberal hope from Illinois who was
keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention
in Boston earlier this year, everybody stays really
quiet for some strange reason!

Oh, that's right! Unlike his Republican opponent,
Obama is pro-choice! He's the "evil lesser"! It
doesn't matter that he supports sending more U.S.
troops to Iraq (which, according to Obama, will help
withdraw them*) and bombing the crap out of Iran!

Sincerely,

Duane J. Roberts
duaneroberts92804@xxxxxxxxx


* Maybe Obama's plan of sending more U.S. troops to
Iraq will inadvertantly help to withdraw them from
that country as the number of body bags coming back to
our shores containing dead American soldiers killed by
insurgents increases by leaps and bounds! It looks
like the Democrats are mimicking some of the exact
same strategies that the late, great President Lyndon
Baines Johnson pursued with so much vigor and gusto in
Vietnam!


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0409250111sep25,1,7098310.story?coll=chi-news-hed

The Chicago Tribune

CAMPAIGN 2004: US SENATE RACE

Obama would consider missile strikes on Iran

By David Mendell
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 25, 2004

U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama suggested Friday
that the United States one day might have to launch
surgical missile strikes into Iran and Pakistan to
keep extremists from getting control of nuclear bombs.

Obama, a Democratic state senator from the Hyde Park
neighborhood, made the remarks during a meeting Friday
with the Tribune editorial board. Obama's Republican
opponent, Alan Keyes, was invited to attend the same
session but declined.

Iran announced on Tuesday that it has begun converting
tons of uranium into gas, a crucial step in making
fuel for a nuclear reactor or a nuclear bomb. The
International Atomic Energy Agency has called for Iran
to suspend all such activities.

Obama said the United States must first address Iran's
attempt to gain nuclear capabilities by going before
the United Nations Security Council and lobbying the
international community to apply more pressure on Iran
to cease nuclear activities. That pressure should come
in the form of economic sanctions, he said.

But if those measures fall short, the United States
should not rule out military strikes to destroy
nuclear production sites in Iran, Obama said.

"The big question is going to be, if Iran is resistant
to these pressures, including economic sanctions,
which I hope will be imposed if they do not cooperate,
at what point are we going to, if any, are we going to
take military action?" Obama asked.

Given the continuing war in Iraq, the United States is
not in a position to invade Iran, but missile strikes
might be a viable option, he said. Obama conceded that
such strikes might further strain relations between
the U.S. and the Arab world.

"In light of the fact that we're now in Iraq, with all
the problems in terms of perceptions about America
that have been created, us launching some missile
strikes into Iran is not the optimal position for us
to be in," he said.

"On the other hand, having a radical Muslim theocracy
in possession of nuclear weapons is worse. So I guess
my instinct would be to err on not having those
weapons in the possession of the ruling clerics of
Iran. ... And I hope it doesn't get to that point. But
realistically, as I watch how this thing has evolved,
I'd be surprised if Iran blinked at this point."

As for Pakistan, Obama said that if President Pervez
Musharraf were to lose power in a coup, the United
States similarly might have to consider military
action in that country to destroy nuclear weapons it
already possesses. Musharraf's troops are battling
hundreds of well-armed foreign militants and Pakistani
tribesmen in increasingly violent confrontations.

Obama said that violent Islamic extremists are a
vastly different brand of foe than was the Soviet
Union during the Cold War, and they must be treated
differently.

"With the Soviet Union, you did get the sense that
they were operating on a model that we could
comprehend in terms of, they don't want to be blown
up, we don't want to be blown up, so you do game
theory and calculate ways to contain," Obama said. "I
think there are certain elements within the Islamic
world right now that don't make those same
calculations.

"... I think there are elements within Pakistan right
now--if Musharraf is overthrown and they took over, I
think we would have to consider going in and taking
those bombs out, because I don't think we can make the
same assumptions about how they calculate risks."

A last resort

Obama's willingness to consider additional military
action in the Middle East comes despite his early and
vocal opposition to the Iraq war. Obama, however, also
has stressed that he is not averse to using military
action as a last resort, although he believes that
President Bush did not make that case for the Iraq
invasion.

[Extra text deleted]


http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/9706965.htm

Posted on Sun, Sep. 19, 2004

Obama willing to support more troops in Iraq; Keyes
questions war critics

CHRISTOPHER WILLS

Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Democratic Senate candidate Barack
Obama said Saturday he would be willing to send more
soldiers to Iraq if it is part of a strategy that the
president and military leaders believe will stabilize
the country and eventually allow America to withdraw.

"If that strategy made sense and would lead ultimately
to the pullout of U.S. troops but in the short term
required additional troop strength to protect those
who are already on the ground, then that's something I
would support," said Obama.

His Republican opponent, Alan Keyes, suggested
Saturday that critics of the Iraq war are endangering
American lives.

Keyes said some people, including Democratic
presidential candidate John Kerry, are calling the war
a mistake because, in hindsight, there were no weapons
of mass destruction.

"But, you know, the wisdom of hindsight is going to
leave a lot of Americans dead," Keyes said.

Both candidates spoke Saturday to an Illinois News
Broadcasters Association meeting in Springfield.

Obama, who opposed invading Iraq, said President Bush
has bungled his handling of the war. It has cost
thousands of lives, reduced American security abroad
and distracted from the hunt for Osama bin Laden and
other al-Qaida terrorists, he said, but pulling out
now would make things worse.

A quick withdrawal would add to the chaos there and
make it "an extraordinary hotbed of terrorist
activity," he said. It would also damage America's
international prestige and amount to "a slap in the
face" to the troops fighting there, he said.

Kerry has accused Bush of hiding a plan to mobilize
more National Guard and Reserve troops after the
election. Kerry says if elected, he would withdraw
American troops from Iraq within four years - a
timetable that Obama said he can accept.

"Given the situation on the ground, I think if we had
our troops out in four years, that would be an
extraordinary accomplishment," Obama said.

Keyes defended Bush's decision to invade, saying the
president had information that Saddam Hussein was
trying to develop weapons of mass destruction to share
with terrorists.

"I know John Kerry and others have been running around
and with the wisdom of hindsight they've been
second-guessing," Keyes said. "But you know, the
wisdom of hindsight is going to leave a lot of
Americans dead, and that's why I don't think he's fit
for the presidency."

The Bush administration argued before the war that
Hussein was stockpiling weapons. The U.S. weapons
inspector has now concluded they did not exist,
although Hussein may have hoped to re-start his
weapons program some day.

A commission investigating the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks also concluded there was no evidence Iraq and
al-Qaida had a collaborative relationship. The
commission said Iraq had ignored bin Laden's request
to establish training camps in Iraq and for help in
obtaining weapons.

Keyes canceled his appearance at the broadcasters
convention and instead spoke to the group by
telephone, saying he was attending a political rally
for Vice President Dick Cheney. He did not answer a
question about whether he had been invited to the
event.

At the recent Republican National Convention, Keyes
called gay people "selfish hedonists" - a label that
he said "of course" applies to Cheney's lesbian
daughter. The remark angered many Republican leaders,
although Keyes argues he never attacked Cheney's
daughter personally.

"No such comment occurred," he said Saturday. "The
only folks who brought up her name were the people in
the media. I think that is well understood by folks in
the Republican Party, the vice president and everybody
else."





        
                
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