I am sitting here watching Obama’s acceptance speech and two things have stood out so far. Number one, Obama has just challenged McCain to a debate on foreign policy, which I believe to be nothing more than rhetoric, as Obama has opposed every challenge by McCain to a town hall debate. More importantly, Obama has continued his theme that his calls for troop withdrawal is right, because the Iraqi government is now saying, it is safe to do so.

Barack Obama tonight proudly announced that President Bush has agreed to a time line to withdraw American soldiers from Iraq is evidence that his assessment of the conflict was correct. This reminds me of the old saying, even a broken clock is right twice a day. What that saying means is that a clock which is stuck at 12:00, if given enough time, will eventually be correct. Elaborating further, it also means that a broken clock in January of 2007 will tell the same time as a broken clock in January of 2009, as if nothing has changed. This is the essence of Barack Obama’s Iraq policy.

In January of 2007 Barack Obama introduce legislation into the Senate which would have begun a phased redeployment of troops, with a goal to have all combat brigades out of Iraq by March 31, 2008.

U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today introduced binding and comprehensive legislation that not only reverses the President’s dangerous and ill-conceived escalation of the Iraq war, but also sets a new course for U.S. policy that can bring a responsible end to the war and bring our troops home.

The Obama plan offers a responsible yet effective alternative to the President’s failed policy of escalation. Realizing there can be no military solution in Iraq, it focuses instead on reaching a political solution in Iraq, protecting our interests in the region, and bringing this war to a responsible end. The legislation commences redeployment of U.S. forces no later than May 1, 2007 with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31, 2008, a date that is consistent with the expectation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.

Tonight Obama has the audacity to claim that his initial assessment was correct and the 16 month timetable should have been implemented. What he fails to realize, or at the very least hopes his constituency fails to realize, is that his 16 month plan would have ended 5 months ago. The Iraqi government currently has security control over 10 of their 18 provinces, with Anbar expected to be handed over on Monday. This is the same province that the U.S. Military reported as being lost, only 3 months before Obama called for an immediate withdrawal.

The chief of intelligence for the Marine Corps in Iraq recently filed an unusual secret report concluding that the prospects for securing that country’s western Anbar province are dim and that there is almost nothing the U.S. military can do to improve the political and social situation there, said several military officers and intelligence officials familiar with its contents.

Congratulations is owed to President Bush for providing our men and women in uniform the resources necessary to accomplish a goal which even the American military thought looked bleak. Had Congress listened to Barack Obama when he introduced this legislation to withdraw troops 18 months ago, the progress Iraq has shown over the last 6 months would not have been possible. Perhaps this is why Obama himself has admitted has said ” I am a believer in knowing what you are doing when applying for a job, and I think that if I were to seriously consider running on a National ticket, I would essentially have to start now, before having served a day in the Senate, now there might be some people comfortable doing that, but I’m not one of those people.”

Thank you Senator Obama for reminding us as to why even your own Vice Presidential pick has claimed you are not ready to be commander in chief. “I think he can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to on-the-job training.” - Joe Biden

Even a broken clock is right twice a day Senator, but the American people deserve better than a broken clock to lead their armed forces.

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Barack Obama, Election 2008, Features, Iraq, John McCain, Video