February 29, 2008 :: News
A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense.
The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows:
Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington.
First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it.[i.e. not win it]
Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.
I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.
I will not weaponize space.
I will slow our development of future combat systems.
And I will institute an independent "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.
Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.
You know where I stand. I've fought for open, ethical and accountable government my entire public life. I don't switch positions or make promises that can't be kept. I don't posture on defense policy and I don't take money from federal lobbyists for powerful defense contractors. As president, my sole priority for defense spending will be protecting the American people. Thanks so much.
Article: Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs:
http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp
**This is the ORIGINAL youtube video of Senator Obama discussing his plans to cripple the US militarily! It comes from the Obama camp itself. The other "In 52 seconds why Obama can never win the general election" is a poor quality, therefore suspicious to some, COPY someone made from this one. The original is titled "Obama-Caucus4Priorities":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o84PE871BE
You can also find the original, and many other authentic releases, at this site through a search for "Obama-Caucus4Priorities" (use the lower search feature):
http://www.youtube.com/user/BarackObamadotcom
ping for later
The missile defense system does in fact work, and work quite well. It has been proven to work via a number of tests - many completely successful, some not. You learn from all tests, even the ones that don't go as planned. One hell of a lot of hard work has gone into making the system work. Could it be better? Certainly. Will it get better, yes, if not sacrificed on the altar of politics.
He had better think long and hard about a blanket statement regarding space based weapons. In spite of all the best wishes and idealistic BS, I guarantee you it will happen sooner or later. The only question is will it be to our advantage or our peril.
Slowing the development of combat systems will not in fact benefit the military nor the country. Reducing the technological and training edge our military enjoys will only result in increased casualties in future combat. Manning up the military, turning it into a socialists wet-dream jobs program, is not the proper path.
Finally, climb down off your liberal, idealistic high horse. The only way we'll ever have a world free of nuclear weapons is when something else comes along that is even more powerful and destructive, and assuming we have defensive systems such as the missile defense system and true border security to defeat warhead delivery systems.
To summarize Mr. Obama - positions such as you've outlined here only serve to show how truly inexperienced and naive you really are. It is in fact a mean, dangerous world out there, and ensuring the safety of our population and way of life is an expensive undertaking. However, the alternatives are non-starters since they will eventually lead to the destruction of our way of life.