Are You Sick of Me Talking about Obama Yet?

Wow. I think part of me didn't really expect him to win. Or at least not to survive assassination.

When I published the first draft of my last post, I'd just voted and nobody knew the results yet. Now we do, and I'm gonna have to put up with four years of my friends and family bellyaching about how awful my presidential pick is.

Yesterday I got my first real misgiving about voting for Hussein Osama. A Navy vet friend of mine was telling me how he heard Obama was going to reduce funding for troops in Iraq, essentially leaving them unsupported in doing their job. My friend said in effect (and this is NOT a direct quote), "They should either take the troops out of Iraq or else give them what they need to do the job."

I agree. I felt terrible that I voted for a man who would half-assedly leave American servicepeople to fight a war they didn't have the funds or wherewithal to fight properly. I didn't even have the guts to tell my friend I voted for Obama. Then I went back to the U.S. News and World Report "Ultimate Voter's Guide" to remind myself of what I'd read Obama's stance had actually been on Iraq. I have to admit to using the info in btoh U.S. News and Newsweek to make my decision last Tuesday--damn liberal media.

Anyway, here are some quotes from U.S. News and World Report about Obama's stand on Iraq, to clear up any possible misconceptions:

Afghanistan, Obama says, should be America's top priority. He says Iraq "never was" the central front in the war on terrorism and has called for withdrawing U.S. combat forces within 16 months of taking office, leaving behind up to 60,000 troops for support missions. The shift would free up more troops for Afghanistan and cut down on Iraq war expenditures--now some $10 billion a month.
Bottom line. Iraq is less violent but remains deeply unsettled. Obama will have trouble pulling out combat forces as quickly as he wants, while McCain will quickly run into the limitations of a strained U.S. military. Because U.S. troops cannot be two places at once, Americans may have to decide where the greatest threat now lies: in Iraq or in Afghanistan.

--Mulrine, Anna. "Iraq" subheading in "Where McCain and Obama Stand." U.S. News and World Report, Oct. 27, 2008. Page 50.

From the same issue:

THE FLIP: In January 2007, Obama introduced a bill that would have removed all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by the end of March 2008. During the campaign, he has pledged to remove combat forces within 16 months of taking office. THE FLOP: Over time, he has said he might "refine" that pledge based on advice from commanders and the situation on the ground. THE BOTTOM LINE: His original proposal allowed for some flexibility on the timetable, and his aides say that Obama would keep up to 60,000 support troops in Iraq past the deadline. Either way, new qualifiers keep emerging.

--Reske, Henry J. "Measuring the Candidates' Flip-Flops." U.S. News and World Report, Oct. 27, 2008. Page 53.

There is the possibility that tjose 60,000 support troops could be the type of under-supported Vietnam-type troops that military-boosting opponents of Obama fear. I can't prove that it isn't

It should be noted, however, that even McCain, in saying he could keep troops in Iraq a hundred years, qualified his remarks by saying that would only be "as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed" --U.S. News said he was "comparing it to Japan or Korea."

[see U.S. News, Oct. 27, 2008, page 54, author unknown--I have to admit this is from an article on both candidates' spins, including Obama's.]

So all in all, I think Obama isn't going to pull a Vietnam on us, at least so far as he's able. Maybe it's the wrong decision tactically or strategically or whatever, and I really, really, really hope that such a tactical miscalculation won't result in more American body bags, but based on the info I have now, I think it's as good a decision as we have the option of.

Ideally, I don't want any of our boys and girls (especially not my one other friend still in the Army National Guard) to die in Afghanistan either. However, considering that the war on terror is probably not being staged in a Hollywood studio the way the moon landing was, we might have to stay there, and if we're going to stay in Afghanistan, that's all the more reason for us to ease out of Iraq if we can. And remember: Obama said he'll listen to his generals as far as Iraq goes, and if he does, they won't let him repeat Vietnam.

And if I'm wrong, I apologize for the blood on my hands.

By the way, I just saw this: http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/13056.htm I don't know if it's real, and if it is, I don't know if it was some kind of mistake, and if it's not--well, I dunno.