Full Text: President Barack Obama Speech Camp Lejeune – Ending the War in Iraq

(Source: White House Press Office)

Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
Responsibly Ending the War in Iraq
Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
Friday, February 27, 2009

Good morning Marines. Good morning Camp Lejeune. Good morning Jacksonville. Thank you for that outstanding welcome. I want to thank Lieutenant General Hejlik for hosting me here today.

I also want to acknowledge all of our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. That includes the Camp Lejeune Marines now serving with – or soon joining – the Second Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq; those with Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force in Afghanistan; and those among the 8,000 Marines who are preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. We have you in our prayers. We pay tribute to your service. We thank you and your families for all that you do for America. And I want all of you to know that there is no higher honor or greater responsibility than serving as your Commander-in-Chief.

Read more

Obama may be set to announce combat troop withdrawal from Iraq over next 19 months

During the campaign, President Barack Obama talked about an end to combat operations in Iraq within a sixteen month timeframe of his taking office.  Reports tonight from the media, including this one from the Washington Post, are saying the U.S. troop withdrawal may end up on a 19 month timetable.

I was a little surprised to hear a little disappointment from Rachel Maddow tonight on MSNBC over taking an additional three months to extricate our war fighters from Iraq.  She said there could be some outcry from anti-war liberals.  Why?

Three additional months is not much time when measured against a war that is now nearly six years old.  You can’t expect Obama to be bound by a candidate’s promise when this is ultimately a decision which can be made only by a president – with presidential information.  Three additional months is hardly an about face on a promise.

There are lots of us who believe the Iraqi war was folly, but believe it would be doubly so to leave the innocent people in Iraq – for whom we’ve created a climate of danger and instability – left completely in a lawless vacuum created by a hasty withdrawal.

From the Post:

President Obama is expected to announce as early as Friday that he will remove all U.S. combat troops from Iraq by August 2010, three months later than promised during his campaign, U.S. officials said.

Obama has not made a final decision on the matter, but it could come during a trip to give a speech in North Carolina on Friday, the officials said. …

… There are about 142,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, including 14 combat brigades of about 4,000 troops each and tens of thousands of support forces. The Obama withdrawal plan would leave a residual force of as many as 50,000 support troops that would advise Iraqi forces and perform other security missions, the officials said.

U.S. Leaflets Promised Iraqis Enjoyment, Stability

If you’ve never been to the Memory Hole, go check it out and prepare to lose an hour or two.  I check in there about once every three or four months and there is usually plenty of new material.  The site’s founder and editor, Russ Kick, says the following in the site’s statement of purpose: “The Memory Hole exists to preserve and spread material that is in danger of being lost, is hard to find, or is not widely known.”  This includes tons of government and corporate documents – the kind of stuff the powerwigs would rather you not know.  Below is a copy of one of the flyers dropped over Iraq during the U.S. invasion in 2003.  It was part of a Freedom of Information Act response by the Defense Department.

What Crisis? Dow Posts Third Biggest Gain Ever – Most Americans Don’t See the Sky Falling

Look, I know the stock market isn’t “the economy.”  But days like this will make it all the more difficult for Washington’s politicians to convince voters that $700 billion should be staked to bailout Wall Street’s financiers.

I was in a meeting today previewing a presentation I developed to communicate with a group of people over a thorny issue.  At one point, a colleague said to me, “Pelikan, you’re gonna like this.”

“Are we trying to educate or notify? This first part is good – you’re educating, but then you move to notifying.”

My colleague knew I’d like that feedback because she said she heard a political pundit using the same language to describe how the Bush Administration failed to get public support for the bailout.

I don’t know where she heard that analysis, but it’s good.  I still have yet to discuss this whole “crisis” with more than a couple of people who are four-square behind it. 

I think that pundit was right.  Henry Paulson said just in the last couple of months that the issues in the credit and banking system were “manageable.”  Then all of a sudden there’s a plan to make him king of the financial mountain.

There’s another reason why regular folks are skeptical.  It’s the rush.  The Bush Administration has a very poor record when it comes to public policy decisions hastily rammed down their collective throat:

1. WMD & Al-Qaeda running rampant in Iraq – There were no WMD and Al-Qaeda didn’t exist in Iraq until we destabilized the country.
2. Patriot Act – Constitution shredded
3. U.S. Official Torture Policy – Thanks to Dick Cheney, David Addington and John Yoo, Constitution shredded, treaties pissed on, FBI and Dept of Defense ignored, innocent people tortured along with bad guys who were tortured and gave erroneous information, Amerian moral authority erroded.

Now, 30 days before a presidential election, with less than a week to consider the problem, the Bush Administration wants to fork over $700 billion to investment bankers?

This can’t be good.