Coonsey’s World

Senator Barack Obama gave a speech today telling Americans what his foreign policy will look like if he should become our next President of U.S..

On his first day in office he will give our military leaders a new mission;  Withdraw from Iraq by the summer of 2010!  “Now, Prime Minister Maliki’s call for a timetable for the removal of U.S. forces presents a real opportunity. It comes at a time when the American general in charge of training Iraq’s Security Forces has testified that Iraq’s Army and Police will be ready to assume responsibility for Iraq’s security in 2009. Now is the time for a responsible redeployment of our combat troops that pushes Iraq’s leaders toward a political solution, rebuilds our military, and refocuses on Afghanistan and our broader security interests.He will send 2-3 more brigades to Afghanistan.   He will also send more money to help find new jobs for those currently getting the income from opium farming

George Bush and John McCain don’t have a strategy for success in Iraq – they have a strategy for staying in Iraq. They said we couldn’t leave when violence was up, they say we can’t leave when violence is down. They refuse to press the Iraqis to make tough choices, and they label any timetable to redeploy our troops “surrender,” even though we would be turning Iraq over to a sovereign Iraqi government – not to a terrorist enemy. Theirs is an endless focus on tactics inside Iraq, with no consideration of our strategy to face threats beyond Iraq’s borders.

At some point, a judgment must be made. Iraq is not going to be a perfect place, and we don’t have unlimited resources to try to make it one. We are not going to kill every al Qaeda sympathizer, eliminate every trace of Iranian influence, or stand up a flawless democracy before we leave – General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker acknowledged this to me when they testified last April. That is why the accusation of surrender is false rhetoric used to justify a failed policy. In fact, true success in Iraq – victory in Iraq – will not take place in a surrender ceremony where an enemy lays down their arms. True success will take place when we leave Iraq to a government that is taking responsibility for its future – a government that prevents sectarian conflict, and ensures that the al Qaeda threat which has been beaten back by our troops does not reemerge. That is an achievable goal if we pursue a comprehensive plan to press the Iraqis stand up.

If a high value target such as Osama Bin Laden is found to be in Pakistan and Pakistan does not act, ‘we will’ destroy or capture that target ourselves.

Obama wants to get the respect back that we lost from our allies over the past 7 years, but leading and creating new coalitions.  He will “forge a new coalition to support Iraq’s future – one that includes all of Iraq’s neighbors, and also the United Nations, the World Bank, and the European Union – because we all have a stake in stability. And we will make it clear that the United States seeks no permanent bases in Iraq.”

The billions of dollars we’ve spent in Iraq could have been used “instead on alternative sources of energy to grow our economy, save our planet, and end the tyranny of oil.  We could have rebuilt our roads and bridges, laid down new rail and broadband and electricity systems, and made college affordable for every American to strengthen our ability to compete.”

Here is a video of some of the more important statements:

My opinion of the Iraq and Afghanistan war — we’ll probably be there till somebody finally yanks us out, the nations throw us out or forever.

The difference between President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama is — Obama WANTS to eventually leave, the other two don’t.  They want to claim the Middle East and make them Democracys.  In other words, “They have a Dream…”.

I support a person that ‘wants’ to leave over any person that doesn’t care whether we do or not.