Obama Gaffes on Iraq and Afghanistan

ABC News ^ | 5/13/08 | David Wright

[Dawnsblood]

As for the point about Arabic translators needed for Afghanistan, the Obama campaign points to the well-documented presence of foreign fighters there, many of whom do speak Arabic. However, these folks are mostly shooting at NATO troops, not talking to them.

No doubt there are a handful of Arabic speakers employed at Bagram and Kandahar and other detention centers to interrogate foreign fighters captured on the battlefield. But I have not seen any reports that there is a shortage of such personnel, or that the need for such translators in Iraq has hamstrung the interrogators in Afghanistan.

Foreign fighters captured in BOTH Iraq and Afghanistan have also been sent to detention centers such as the one in Guantanamo. Is there a shortage of Arabic translators there or at other U.S. detention facilities overseas? That would be an interesting news story. Again, I haven't seen any proof of it.

To reiterate: Obama's main point may well be fair: that Iraq has made Afghanistan tougher to win by stretching our resources too thin. But are these really the best examples for him to cite of why this may be the case?

[Parmenio]

Obama: Not ready for prime time, much less that 3 am phone call.

[elhombrelibre]

Obama’s “lost bearings” ping.

[silverleaf]

It may be accurate to say that we could “pacify” Afghanistan if we were not present in Iraq. Because except for some hit and run teams, al Qaeda and hard corp taliban would have fled Afghanistan and found new headquarters in Iraq (with the discreet arguable and unverifiable support of Saddam and Iraqi intelligence) and would have recruited and rebuilt to fight in Afghanistan after we left.

People who argue this line of strategic reasoning about fighting world wide terrorism must expect us to believe that when you try to stomp on a cockroach it just stands there and doesn't run to find another dark hole. And just where do they think the al Qaeda cockroaches would have fled to?

[Piquaboy]

Just another gaff to prove how stupid he is.

[kromike]

But he's black, so that's qualification enough.

/sarc

[Vaduz]

FAIL

[Joann37]

The big story here is that the MSM dared to reveal a weakness in their Messiah. This is HUGH and SERIES!

[CharlesWayneCT]

Especially since the democrats are always pointing out that Al Qaeda is in Pakistan and we should invade THAT country to stop them.

So they DO understand the concept of the terrorists running into neighboring countries. They simply ignore it when it isn’t politically useful to them.

[Marine_Uncle]

The problem as I see it is a vast number of people that will vote for this clown simply do not understand what a farce he really is. The young intellectually challenged students of voting age come to mind. They think they are so well informed on world affairs and how things work etc..
Then we got the other end of the spectrum, blue collar workers that are democratic by birth, and the vast numbers of even well to do engineers, chemist, teachers, professionals from all walks of life that simply are not aware of the liberal left wing agendas and often feel lets say that it is nice we shield government owned lands from any oil/gas exploration so that the little rabbits and birds can live at peace.
McLame does not help the conservative movement in the slightest. The only reason I would vote for him is based on his views regarding a strong military and the need to continue current policies to a large degree in Iraq.
We gotta a little problem on our hands this time around.

[Miss Didi]

Thanks for posting. Rush has been playing the sound bites...bumbling Barry sounds like a complete idiot.

[SoldierDad]

I’ll go out on a limb and say that this will not be reported by the lame stream media - I hope that limb is thick enough to support my weight.

[Red6]

It doesn’t need to make any sense. It just has to sound and feel good.

[VeniVidiVici]

Next thing you know the Chimp will be saying they speak Sanskrit in China.

[Ooh-Ah]

Isn’t one of Obama’s foreign affairs credentials his visit to Pakistan, next to Afghanistan—another country not speaking Arabic?

[SoldierDad]

Um, let me guess. Iraq?

[GOP_Party_Animal]

"But if we are sending [Ag advisors] to Baghdad, they're not in Afghanistan," Obama said.

I wonder how he feels about us sending experts in the oil industry, such as Haliburton. Is Haliburton okay, Barry?

[LZ_Bayonet]

Actually, instead of being in Iraq, those translators might prove valuable in seven of our “57 states”.

[Rummyfan]

Nah, just a TWP*.

*Typical White Person!

[gathersnomoss]

I see a new window sticker in my wife’s future, for her familt van, TWP.