Obama considers Iraq visit amid Republican criticism of foreign policy experience

Friday 30th May, 06:23 AM JST

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Sarge at 07:50 AM JST - 2nd June

We got a Republican candidate who is not a true conservative and 71 years old, the economic slowdown, and a messiah-like smooth talking Democrat candidate...
super delegate at 11:04 AM JST - 2nd June

Rasmussen polls - and we know how much madverts and the Lefties here love polls - have McCain ahead of Obama where it counts:

"McCain Trusted More Than Obama on Economy, Iraq, National Security" Friday, May 30, 2008

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publiccontent/politics/issues2/articles/mccaintrustedmorethanobamaoneconomyiraqnationalsecurity
super delegate at 12:33 PM JST - 2nd June

Even foreign media, from the Left no less, are saying Obama is looking weak:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/01/barackobama.uselections2008
SezWho2 at 08:25 PM JST - 2nd June

super_delegate,

Maybe you'd better go back and watch Obama's treasonous treatment of Petraeus. Obama says that the surge has improved the situation in Iraq.
super delegate at 09:06 PM JST - 2nd June

McCain has his number.

*ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico: Republican presidential hopeful John McCain has criticised Democratic rival Barack Obama for not having been to Iraq since 2006, and says they should visit the war zone together.

"Look at what happened in the last two years since Senator Obama visited and declared the war lost," the Republican nominee-in-waiting said yesterday, noting the Illinois senator's last trip to Iraq was before the US military surge that is credited with curbing the violence.

"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq, and he has wanted to surrender for a long time," the Arizona senator said.*

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23768876-5013948,00.html
usaexpat at 11:52 PM JST - 2nd June

USAFdude, I'm not sure if your putting one over on Sarge or being serious. You really expect Obama is going to be the guy who focuses America on taking down OBL? Obama is a nightmare candidate for national security, as weak as weak can be. This is the ghost of Jimmy Carter's presidency. I can't wait to see what we will get with CinC Obama but I'll wager it's going to make the Iran hostage situation pale in comparison.
usaexpat at 12:17 AM JST - 3rd June

Damax why don't you offer the proof. The junior senator from Illinois has no foreign policy experience. Prove me wrong, point me in the direction of anything that Obama stands for other than "change" whatever the hell that means. I am as pleased as anyone to have Bush and his band of liars out of office but not in exchange for a guy who has no more credentials than Bush did. As an independent who has voted for Republicans, Democrats and independents, I want more details before I give up my vote. Apparently you know more than I do or you're in love with the Obama machine.
Damax6 at 12:34 AM JST - 3rd June

NOT!!!, in love with the man..just a man who i believe wont foolinto a war that we need not get into.. since ur independant..LIKE me, try the documentary Zeigiest, i hope i spelled it correctly..that changed the way i think about most things these days...proof you say..well...were there WMDs, where is OBL, where is the oil money going???, the govt has no proof for us , so how in the hell i have proof for you, you spoke about Obama like you knew him, i am going with obama for this simple reason, in order to for a young whippersnapper to get experience , he needs the OJT, and guts, drive,determination, and honesty, The ole dogs know how to you with all experience crap. I blame GW, because after 8yrs, we have NO positive result ANYWAY,Foreign and DOmestic...but.....where does the oil money go???? where is OBL. well he pops in now and again on Al jezeera, to get us amercians blood flowing again...hmmmm who controls this.....FOCUS !!!!
USAFdude at 01:48 AM JST - 3rd June

I'm not sure if your putting one over on Sarge or being serious.

Hello, usaexpat. Pleasure to meet you; seriously, I do hope we can engage in meaningful debate.

I am quite serious in my support of Obama. Frankly, I don't share your view regarding his effectiveness as CinC. If I saw him as "weak", he wouldn't get my vote. And believe me, as a US troop, strength in a CinC is a paramount concern of mine, one to which I give very careful consideration.
Wolfpack at 07:04 AM JST - 3rd June

Obama should go with McCain to Iraq so the war veteran can school the naive one about the ways of the world. McCain was right about the surge as even the Washington Post has now admitted in their editorial today http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/31/AR2008053101927.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

No war is easy or predictable but the outcome is predictable if we have the will to prevail. President Bush had the will while the Democrats were surrendering en mass. As American's begin to focus on the election later this summer and into the fall, there will be the realizaton that Obama is ill-prepared for such an important job as president of the United States.

I would say that the chances are more likely that Obama will meet with Ahmadinejad before he meets with American troops. I get the impression that he feels more comfortable with others that share his anti-American views then with those crazy patriotic people in the military.
Betzee at 11:52 AM JST - 3rd June

"Look at what happened in the last two years since Senator Obama visited and declared the war lost,"

Yeah, capitalism has taken route (though I wouldn't exactly describe it as "just like Indiana in the summer" as one of McCain's prevoius travelling companions described their visit to a market made with Tomahawk helicopter protection):

In Iraq, the Americans are not the only ones who pay to win hearts and minds. And until now, the exchange of money and goods for tranquility and peace seems to be working, at least in some areas. But the question remains: What will happen when the payment stops?

A few days later, an Iraqi diplomat working for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad tells me: "First al-Qaida came in and said, 'We will give you $200 to place an IED.' Then the Americans came in and said, 'We will give you $200 not to place an IED.' You get some amount of money and you don't have to do anything for it.

"Of course that works," the diplomat continues. "Behind the insurgency there isn't so much ideology. What's behind it is a whole lot of economy."

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/06/03/iraq_dispatch/index1.html
Betzee at 10:32 PM JST - 3rd June

No war is easy or predictable but the outcome is predictable if we have the will to prevail.

The Sunnis now on our payroll want government jobs. But Maliki, despite US prodding, won't move on it because he doesn't want to bring Sunnis into the state security forces. So the US is stuck paying each Sunni USD 10 a day not to harm our troops in places where casualties were high in the past.

Then there's the matter of the two million displaced, again mainly Sunnis who lived in mixed neighborhoods in Baghdad. They will not be able to return to their homes (which are now occupied by Shia) as Patreaus himself acknowledged. There's simply no security to protect them. This reflects the lack of a social compact which is necessary for sustainable peace to emerge in this war-torn country.
usaexpat at 11:14 PM JST - 3rd June

USAFdude pleased to meet you as well. I have to say what makes me nervous about Obama is his hesitation when asked unscripted questions on national security. It's those little stammers that make me wonder if he's really got the fortitude or if he is more a scholar than a commander. Don't get me wrong GWB certainly could have used quite a bit more reflection rather than his "yee ha" approach. What is it in particular that makes you more confident in Obama than McCain?
Zaphod at 03:58 PM JST - 4th June

Wolfpack:

" Obama should go with McCain to Iraq so the war veteran can school the naive one about the ways of the world. "

I do hope that was sarcasm...

" would say that the chances are more likely that Obama will meet with Ahmadinejad before he meets with American troops. "

Alas, on that one you are right.
USAFdude at 05:31 AM JST - 5th June

USAexpat - Sorry it took me so long to respond! I'm not always near a computer, unfortunately.

To answer your question, I'm confident in Obama precisely because he is the candidate whose approach is farthest from Bush's "yee ha" approach. Having been a part of Bush's military, I have no confidence in his approach or anything close to it.