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.
Proposed Strategy for Fighting Pirates: USMC
Dana Perino: Not a pirate, but sometimes wears eye patch to briefings.
It’s Day 3 of one man’s plea for the country that he loves to go out and fight pirates. They’re out there just waiting to be run through or made to walk a plank and we sit idly by.
Yesterday the British announced they would be putting together a European armada - an armada for God’s sake – to defeat the pirates in the Gulf of Aden. When was the last time you heard the word ‘armada’ used? Reading some 18th or 19th century history? Watching Master and Commander on DVD? This is some cool stuff and we’re on the sidelines : (
Q: Another issue. What is the U.S. going to do about the Somali pirates? And has the President been briefed about the situation? Is unilateral or a concerted effort planned?
MS. PERINO: The President has been briefed about it, and ensuring the safety and well being of the crew is of paramount importance in preventing or dealing with issues of piracy. We’re working with other members of the Security Council right now to see if there are actions that we can do to more effectively fight against piracy and prevent it.
It’s a very complicated issue. There’s a lot of international laws that factor into these efforts. One of the things that’s clear is that piracy is something that is affecting a lot more — many more waters than any of us would have known about. I mean, if you look at some of the charts that have come out, that piracy is not something that just happened back in the 1500s. This has been going on for a while. The problem is now that it’s much more dangerous and they have a lot more weapons that they’re using. And the goal would be to try to help get this ship to safety, secure the crew, and then work with our international partners to try to alleviate the piracy problem full stop.
“There’s a lot of international laws that factor into these efforts,” said Perino. Are you crazy? There’s one supreme law on the high seas: No Freaking Pirates! Unbelieveable.
Example of Marine Before He Kills a Pirate
I saw a commercial for the U.S. Marine Corps the other day, and guess what? They’ve got swords. And, guess what a pirate’s weapon of choice is? The sword. Need I say more? I’m calling on W to immediately gather as many leathernecks and swords as possible and ship them to the pirates’ lair. One thing that would be extra cool and send a strong statement to the rest of the world – and potential would-be pirates – is if we actually parachuted them in. It’s a known fact that most pirates prefer to enter battle by swinging from ropes from one ship to another. Can you imagine if about 500 enraged, sword-wielding U.S. Marines started dropping from the sky – without ropes – onto one of the remaining pirate motherships? I guarantee they would shit down their wooden legs.
Indian Navy Destroys Pirate Ship – Is This How Far U.S. Has Slipped?
Filed under: Barack Obama, Bush Foreign Policy, George W. Bush, Pirates
- INS Tavar of the Indian Navy seen rescuing a cargo ship from … Pirates!
Here’s a headline any red-blooded American (U.S.) shouldn’t want to see: India Leads Fight Against Somali Pirates.
As suggested yesterday in this space, pirates are bad and they’re back. Ninety-one hijackings off the Somali coast in just this year.
If there were ever an opportunity for the U.S. of A. to regain its standing in the world – or for a courageous U.S. politician to go ninja and kick some pirate ass – it’s here brothers and sisters. Opportunity is staring us right in the face – and we’re being outflanked by the Indian Navy? Come on!
You know what headline Drudge is running this story under on his website which gets a jazillion looks a day? How about this: Indian Navy sinks mothership …
There’s something wrong with a “mothership” being sunk that’s not being sunk by our own boys and girls of the U.S. Navy. Our own U.S. Marine Corps Hymn draws its “to the shores of Tripoli …” from pirate butt-kicking in the early days of our republic. Thomas Jefferson would be befuddled to learn that with all of our high technology and long-windedness about freedom and justice we are allowing pirates to sail the seven seas.
This is Day Two of my plea for the U.S. to defeat pirates. For you presidents and presidents-elect out there; can you think of one cooler thing to have on your resume than pirate fighter? President Bush, this one is being delivered slow and right over the plate. Please tell America that any further motherships to be destroyed will be destroyed by our own American ordinance. I’ll bet you it’s worth 20 points overnight in your favorable ratings.
Mr. Obama, is there any better way to establish your national security bona fides than to go out and defeat pirates? If Shrub doesn’t sink every last mothership, you’d be crazy not to in your first 30 days in office.
