On Tuesday, Obama arrived to Iraq in an unexpected visit. This is the first time he has visited Iraq since he became president.
Addressing hundreds of troops gathered at a military base here, Mr. Obama said that it was time for Iraqis to “take responsibility for their country and for their sovereignty,” winning enthusiastic applause.
President Obama told the troops that he believed it was time for the Iraqis to take charge of their country, and that it was all due to the help of the American troops.
He met with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, asking him to take steps to unite political factions, such as the Sunnis, in Iraq.
Under Mr. Obama’s new Iraqi War strategy, the roughly 140,000 American troops now in Iraq will be drawn down to between 35,000 and 50,000 by the end of August 2010.
There have been speculations, that he would move them to Afghanistan, but the White House has not admitted or denied that it was part of the plan.
“I have a responsibility to make sure that as we bring troops out, that we do so in a careful enough way that we don’t see a complete collapse into violence,” Mr. Obama said. “So some people might say, wait, I thought you were opposed to the war, why don’t you just get them all out right away? Well, just because I was opposed at the outset, it doesn’t’ mean that I don’t have now responsibilities to make sure that we do things in a responsible fashion.”
Addressing hundreds of troops gathered at a military base here, Mr. Obama said that it was time for Iraqis to “take responsibility for their country and for their sovereignty,” winning enthusiastic applause.
President Obama told the troops that he believed it was time for the Iraqis to take charge of their country, and that it was all due to the help of the American troops.
He met with the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, asking him to take steps to unite political factions, such as the Sunnis, in Iraq.
Under Mr. Obama’s new Iraqi War strategy, the roughly 140,000 American troops now in Iraq will be drawn down to between 35,000 and 50,000 by the end of August 2010.
There have been speculations, that he would move them to Afghanistan, but the White House has not admitted or denied that it was part of the plan.
“I have a responsibility to make sure that as we bring troops out, that we do so in a careful enough way that we don’t see a complete collapse into violence,” Mr. Obama said. “So some people might say, wait, I thought you were opposed to the war, why don’t you just get them all out right away? Well, just because I was opposed at the outset, it doesn’t’ mean that I don’t have now responsibilities to make sure that we do things in a responsible fashion.”
2 comments:
I'm really happy that Obama is finally making good on his promise to get us out of Iraq. This is by far not the end of our stay in the middle east. Iread the article, and there may be a combat group of about 50000 left in Iraq on counterterrorism duty at the end of the withdrawal, according to Obama. Also, Obama has just committed more troops to Afganistan, so we'll see how that develops. Definitely recommend reading this article.
Although Obama seems to be saying that he will get American troops out of Iraq, all of his comments seem a bit vague to me. Like the fact that Obama talked to the Iraqi Prime Minister and "asked him to take steps to unite political factions." You can't just unite people who (a) don't want to be united and (b) haven't been united for a very long time. I kind of feel that Obama is just dumping the problem on the prime minister to appease his constituents back home. Also, the second quote just sends off sirens in my head. "Just because I was opposed at the onset, it doesn't mean that I don't have new responsibilities...to do things in a responsible fashion." Obama has changed A LOT since his running for president. He has become more moderate in his approach towards the war, and his wording seems rather soft. It makes me wonder, is he REALLY getting our troops out of Iraq? And what does "responsible fashion" mean anyways? Does it mean that we keep our troops in Iraq for five years instead of ten? Personally, I would feel a lot better if he gave us a distinct timeline.
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