[Peace-discuss] Obama continues to support the war

[C. G. Estabrook]

  Chicago Tribune - December 6, 2005
  Obama: Iraq war splits Democrats
  By Jeff Zeleny and Rick Pearson
  Tribune staff reporters

Sen. Barack Obama said Monday that the Democratic Party was
unlikely 
to reconcile its differences and reach a unified strategy for
Iraq, 
conceding: "The politics and the policy of this may not match 
perfectly."

As Democrats work to win control of Congress in the 2006
elections, 
Obama (D-Ill.) said a cacophony of views over the Iraq war
threatens 
to divide the party once again.

"It is arguable that the best politics going into '06 would be a 
clear succinct message: `Let's bring our troops home,' " Obama
said. 
"It's certainly easier to communicate and I think would
probably have 
some pretty strong resonance with the American people right
now, but 
whether that's the best policy right now, I don't feel
comfortable 
saying it is."

In an interview with the Tribune's editorial board, Obama
renewed his 
opposition to immediately pulling troops from Iraq. A growing
number 
of Democrats and liberal groups have called for a troop
withdrawal, 
while party leaders such as Sens. Joseph Lieberman of
Connecticut and 
Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York have dismissed such efforts as 
dangerously misguided.

"It's a little too early to tell how coherent the Democratic
message 
is," Obama said. If quick progress isn't made in Iraq, he added, 
"you're probably going to see strong differences within the party 
leadership about how to proceed."

The senator also said the U.S. must accept the outcome of next
week's 
Iraqi parliamentary elections, even if the results are not
precisely 
what President Bush may hope for in the administration's quest to 
bring peace and democracy to the Middle East.

"Not only would it be disastrous from a public relations point of 
view," Obama said, "but I think it would be morally
objectionable for 
us to backtrack on the notion that the Iraqi people should make 
decisions about their own lives."

In a wide-ranging discussion as his first year in office draws
to a 
close, Obama said, "there could have been more honesty" as the 
president argued his case for war. But he stopped short of saying 
that Bush lied to the American people.

"At one town meeting someone said: `Shouldn't the president be 
impeached for lying?' " Obama recalled. "And I said, `Well,
FDR, JFK, 
LBJ -- we have a pretty long list of presidents who maybe were
not 
entirely forthcoming with intelligence information before they
went 
to war, so I'd be cautious against making legal cases against the 
administration.' "

Obama said his decision to oppose the confirmation of Chief
Justice 
John Roberts Jr. was "the most difficult vote" of the year. He
said 
he has not decided whether to support the nomination of Judge
Samuel 
Alito but added he is "disturbed with the pattern of his case
law, 
primarily because it never surprises."

Gov. Rod Blagojevich sent a letter Monday to Obama and Sen. Dick 
Durbin (D-Ill.), urging them to consider memos Alito wrote two 
decades ago that Blagojevich said "threatened" abortion rights.

Obama said he is more troubled by Alito's record as a federal
appellate judge.

"I'm very cautious about attributing a lot of weight to
statements 
that were made 20 or 30 years ago," Obama said.

"There's an amazing consistency in which he is ruling for the
more 
powerful against the less powerful, across the board," Obama
added. 
"And, that concerns me. That makes me suspicious."
___________________________________