[Peace-discuss] Obama favours U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan

Fri Oct 24 23:11:23 CDT 2008

Obama's position on 'this' has been clear for some time.  But it's been 
expressed in such a way that he and the Democrats have been able to eviscerate 
the anti-war movement, owing to the false notion that he was an anti-war candidate.

Remember that the largest anti-war demonstrations in human history occurred 
before the Bush administration's descent upon Iraq, with more than a million 
dead?  Where did that sentiment go?  In fact, it never went away -- 
three-quarters of he American populace still disapprove of the war. But the 
American parody of democracy has made that fact irrelevant.

It testifies to a form of control -- of media, of propaganda, of politics, and 
of what is generally thought -- that any 20th-century totalitarianism would 
envy, that the Democrats and Obama have been so successful in co-opting and 
neutralizing the anti-war movement.

The only answer we have is to begin to build a serious movement in opposition to 
the Obama administration and its war policy, in the first place by exposing its 
lies -- such as his lie that we are deterring terrorists by killing children in 
AfPak.  --CGE

Tom Abram wrote:
> And if he says he understands your concern, but this is the right move for
> America, nod your head, pull the lever for him, and continue to enable him
> and his hawkish policies.  Where's the accountability in the process?  At
> what point does disatisfaction with his stances turn into an active
> disapproval?
> 
> Tom
> 
> On 10/24/08, Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Tell Obama how you feel about this!   http://obama.senate.gov/contact/ 
>> --Jenifer
>> 
>> 
>> --- On Fri, 10/24/08, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag> wrote:
>> 
>> From: E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag> Subject: [Peace-discuss] Obama favours
>> U.S. troop surge in Afghanistan To: "Peace-discuss List"
>> <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>, republican-637 at meetup.com Date: Friday,
>> October 24, 2008, 4:44 PM
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081022.wcampaign_speech23/BNStory/Afghanistan/
>> 
>> 
>> WASHINGTON — Sounding presidential, Senator Barack Obama said Wednesday he 
>> would order a surge of U.S. troops – perhaps 15,000 or more – to
>> Afghanistan as soon as he reached the White House. "We're confronting an
>> urgent crisis in Afghanistan," Mr. Obama, the Democratic contender and now
>> clear front-runner to replace George W. Bush, said Wednesday. "It's time to
>> heed the call … for more troops. That's why I'd send at least two or three
>> additional brigades to Afghanistan," he said in his most hawkish promise to
>> date. A U.S. army brigade includes about 5,000 soldiers along with tanks,
>> armoured personnel carriers and helicopter gunships. Seeking to deflect
>> attacks that he is dangerously inexperienced in foreign policy, Mr. Obama
>> huddled with a high-profile panel of experts before a news conference aimed
>> at showcasing his command of global affairs. "The terrorists who attacked
>> us on 9/11 are still at large and plotting," he said, echoing Mr. Bush's
>> oft-repeated refrain. But he was quick to blame Mr. Bush for miring the
>> United States in a pointless war and wrecking its reputation abroad. "We
>> must be vigilant in preventing future attacks, he said. "We're fighting two
>> wars abroad [and] we're facing a range of 21st-century threats from 
>> terrorism to nuclear proliferation to our dependence on foreign oil, which 
>> have grown more daunting because of the failed policies of the last eight 
>> years." Mr. Obama, speaking in Virginia, a once-solidly Republican state
>> that now could swing Democratic, warned that his rival, John McCain, a
>> decorated former naval officer and combat pilot who endured years of
>> torture as a prisoner of war, would lead America into more danger if he
>> becomes president. "Senator McCain has supported the key decisions and core
>> approaches of President Bush. As president, he would continue the policies
>> that have put our economy into crisis and, I believe, endangered our
>> national security." As the deepening economic crisis has all but eclipsed
>> other issues in the final few weeks of the campaign, Mr. McCain has
>> repeatedly tried to shift the debate and portray Mr. Obama as unready to
>> cope with foreign challenges. Earlier this week Joe Biden, the Democrat
>> vice-presidential candidate, predicted that unspecified foreign adversaries
>> would attempt to challenge an inexperienced young president, just as the
>> Cuban Missile Crisis tested president John F. Kennedy in 1962, but claimed
>> Mr. Obama would rise to the occasion. That assurance prompted a new jibe
>> from Mr. McCain: "I know how close we came to a nuclear war and I will not
>> be a president that needs to be tested.. I have been tested, Senator Obama
>> has not." Mr. Obama, at 47, is nearly a quarter-century younger than Mr.
>> McCain and was a toddler in Hawaii during the Cuban Missile Crisis. While
>> Republicans paint Mr. Obama as dangerously naive, the first-term senator
>> from Illinois has shot back by saying Mr. McCain is just wrong-headed "We
>> can't afford another president who ignores the fundamentals of our economy
>> while running up record deficits to fight a war without end in Iraq," Mr.
>> Obama said Wednesday. _______________________________________________ 
>> Peace-discuss mailing list Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net 
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>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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