Posted on 08/16/2006 7:52:40 AM PDT by slowhand520
Sen. Obama: Iraq is a dumb war By Eric Fodor Staff Writer Published: Tuesday, August 15, 2006 4:53 PM CDT E-mail this story | Print this page
JUNCTION - Sen. Barack Obama combined sharp criticism of the Bush administration and Congress with thoughts about his own priorities at a town hall-type appearance at Gallatin County schools Monday.
During a question-and-answer session, Obama pointed to many problems he perceives with the conduct of the war in Iraq.
Sometimes war is a necessary option, he said. But Iraq is, "A dumb war. We haven't thought it through," Obama said.
Enemies in Iran and North Korea, along with terrorist groups bent on doing the United States harm, are getting stronger while the U.S. is bogged down in Iraq, he said.
He was particularly critical of using civilian contractors in Iraq who make significantly more money than front-line soldiers. The practice of using private contractors is depleting our armed forces of noncommissioned officers -- more and more noncommissioned officers are seeing the opportunity to make money by doing essentially the same job for a private contractor, Obama said.
"Unfortunately, the administration believes in private contracts for everything, especially Halliburton," Obama said.
Obama also criticized Democrats who are always opposed to war, even when force is necessary. In cases like World War II and, more recently, removing the Taliban government of Afghanistan, war can be the only option.
"There are real enemies out there and we have to face them," Obama said.
It is also important to train military personnel for the situations they are most likely to face. Too much time is spent on Cold War-era tactics and weaponry and not enough on body armor, adequate helmets, making sure rotations into Iraq aren't too long and anti-terrorist warfare, he said.
When an audience member asked about impeaching President George W. Bush, however, Obama drew the line. Bush should be held accountable for mistakes in Iraq by the Congress and the American people, he said, but his actions fall short of impeachment. The country and Washington cannot continue in a highly partisan atmosphere where no work can get done, he said.
Estate tax
Obama wants to make sure family farms and small businesses can be preserved for the next generation, but he expressed opposition of eliminating the tax on estates altogether.
Congress has passed legislation that will raise the tax deduction on estates from $3.5 million and $5 million to $7 million in 2009, which Obama believes is a sufficient deduction.
"After $7 million, the family farm is going to be OK. That's my sense," Obama said.
Getting rid of the estate tax altogether, as has been proposed by conservative groups, would wipe out $1 trillion dollars in tax money, Obama said. If that happens, the government can borrow more money from foreign nations like China and Mexico, drastically cut programs like farm subsidies, schools or locks and dams, or tax the 99.7 percent of people who will never pay an estate tax.
"I'm assuming everyone in this room will pay more taxes under that scenario," Obama said.
Obama warned audience members to watch out for politicians who peddle the idea of cutting taxes without pain. Anyone who promises to cut taxes and improve services is lying, he said. A good amount of the budget is wasted, but the vast majority goes to support valuable things like Social Security, Medicare and national defense, he said.
Education and the minimum wage
Supporting education is an important priority, Obama said.
The single most important factor in job creation is education, Obama said. A well-trained work force is one key to attracting and keeping business. And with other nations catching and passing the United States in terms of education, it is more important than ever to support education beyond high school, he said.
"A high school education doesn't cut it anymore," Obama said.
The congressional vote to cut low-interest college loans this year is counterproductive, he said.
"It doesn't make sense. This is one of the areas where we have to spend money," Obama said.
The push for excellence in the classroom should go along with a push for a higher minimum wage, Obama said.
People who work full time should be able to support a family, Obama said, and not struggle in vain to make ends meet.
The minimum wage has not been raised in 10 years and currently has less purchasing power than in 1955, he said.
Arguments that increasing the minimum wage will depress job growth don't hold water when the proposed wage increase is fairly modest. A small increase in the minimum wage won't slow the economy or create unemployment, Obama said.
This was Obama's third trip to Gallatin County and his 51st town hall-type meeting, he said.
"The first time I came I went to the Scates farm. Since it was harvest time, I volunteered. They didn't really trust me, so I didn't really do any work," Obama said.
Obama seems to enjoy the relatively free-wheeling style of town hall meetings.
"It's important to get out because after a while you start representing Washington to your constituents rather than representing your constituents to Washington," Obama said.
This token "spine" is going to get Obama in trouble. It won't sit well with the MoveOn.org crowd...they will want to Liebermanize Obama next.
Arm-chair RAT generals such as Senator Obama, failing to understand the necessity of the continuing nuclear capability (which he labels "Cold War Thinking")... will get us nuked with their squeamishness.
Don't forget the fact that he's articulate!
;-)
He'll have a lot of Arab support which makes me uncomfortable as well.
Funny how the Rats in Congress thought the Iraqi Liberation Act which Clinton signed in '97 and called for Saddam to be deposed was a good thing.
Wait is this from the guy who lectured people at a town meeting on the evils of "gas guzzlers" only to step into a huge SUV immediately outside the auditorium??
Alex, can I have dumb for $100.
Isn't he arab in the Rashid Wallace kind of arab way? Northern African?
Mr. Obama can join with other brillant folks like Cynthia McKinney. John Conyers, Maxine Waters, Barbara Lee William Jefferson, Ray Nagin, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Harry Belafonte, Julian Bond, etc. and give us a country just like Detroit and New Orleans. Third world and socialism, here we come. American Blacks should be ashamed of themselves supporting these creatures of vermin and hate.
Looks like the Scates family had him pegged pretty well.
So the fact that his father is a muslim makes him one too, right? Is it true that Osama Obama is indeed a muslim?
They got a lot stronger before the Iraq War. What's Osama Obama's plan?
The war on terror -- of which the Iraq campaign in but one theater -- was brought upon America by a viscous enemyof everything we hold dear.
"Dumb" to fight back senator?
Guess he would have us surrender.
His words will come back to haunt him. The next 2 or 3 election cycles will hinder on which side of the WOT both parties stand.
Yes, just the other day in Metropolis, IL, he gave a speech that included talk on fuel-efficient vehicles and then left in a GMC Envoy. When someone pointed out the inconsistancy of Obama's words and his actions, his spokesperson came up with the story that the SUV was a flex-fuel vehicle. It turned out that it wasn't.
You have it right.
When having this tiresome discussion with my liberal family and friends, I always say the same thing; "if the terrorists would simply lay down there arms, it all would be over."
They never have a response to that.
The RATS allowed Iraq to fester. Bush is cleaning up that mess. Bombing Baghdad for 4 days was pointless and only served to get people's minds off of Monicagate.
Note to Sen. Obama Nama Jama........you ain't nuthin to write home about, neither : )
And if anyone is basically honest, THAT is his claim to fame and why the MSM heaps praise on the guy. He is articulate and thus is the great white hope for Democrats/MSM.
Talk can be cheap. . .and where 'integrity of thought' is missing. . .it always is.
Meantime, despite the nonsensical offerings of Dems; Repubs need 'talking points' to fire off against every public verbal assault round from Dems.
I know this LTC will like these sentiments. Here is how he feels:
https://www.infantry.army.mil/videos/video22/index.htm
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