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“Against Going to War with Iraq” by Barack Obama

On October 2, 2002, the then Illinois State Senator Barack Obama gave the following speech opposing the Iraq War. The speech was given at noon at an anti-war rally organized by the Chicagoans Against War in Iraq, located at Federal Plaza in Chicago, Illinois.

In that speech, Obama called the war “dumb” and “vain,” themes that he repeated all the while US soldiers fought. His criticism waned as the US troops under Bush began to make victory obvious to all.  Now he, along with his vice president are attempting to take credit for the war. We must not forget their words. 

The full text of that speech follows below:

Good afternoon. Let me begin by saying that although this has been billed as an anti-war rally, I stand before you as someone who is not opposed to war in all circumstances.

The Civil War was one of the bloodiest in history, and yet it was only through the crucible of the sword, the sacrifice of multitudes, that we could begin to perfect this union, and drive the scourge of slavery from our soil. I don’t oppose all wars.

My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton’s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain.

I don’t oppose all wars.

After September 11th, after witnessing the carnage and destruction, the dust and the tears, I supported this Administration’s pledge to hunt down and root out those who would slaughter innocents in the name of intolerance, and I would willingly take up arms myself to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.

I don’t oppose all wars. And I know that in this crowd today, there is no shortage of patriots, or of patriotism. What I am opposed to is a dumb war. What I am opposed to is a rash war. What I am opposed to is the cynical attempt by Richard Perle and Paul Wolfowitz and other arm-chair, weekend warriors in this Administration to shove their own ideological agendas down our throats, irrespective of the costs in lives lost and in hardships borne.

What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks like Karl Rove to distract us from a rise in the uninsured, a rise in the poverty rate, a drop in the median income — to distract us from corporate scandals and a stock market that has just gone through the worst month since the Great Depression.

That’s what I’m opposed to. A dumb war. A rash war. A war based not on reason but on passion, not on principle but on politics.

Now let me be clear — I suffer no illusions about Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has repeatedly defied UN resolutions, thwarted UN inspection teams, developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity.

He’s a bad guy. The world, and the Iraqi people, would be better off without him.

But I also know that Saddam poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history.

I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that an invasion of Iraq without a clear rationale and without strong international support will only fan the flames of the Middle East, and encourage the worst, rather than best, impulses of the Arab world, and strengthen the recruitment arm of al-Qaeda.

I am not opposed to all wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.

So for those of us who seek a more just and secure world for our children, let us send a clear message to the president today. You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s finish the fight with Bin Laden and al-Qaeda, through effective, coordinated intelligence, and a shutting down of the financial networks that support terrorism, and a homeland security program that involves more than color-coded warnings.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure that the UN inspectors can do their work, and that we vigorously enforce a non-proliferation treaty, and that former enemies and current allies like Russia safeguard and ultimately eliminate their stores of nuclear material, and that nations like Pakistan and India never use the terrible weapons already in their possession, and that the arms merchants in our own country stop feeding the countless wars that rage across the globe.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to make sure our so-called allies in the Middle East, the Saudis and the Egyptians, stop oppressing their own people, and suppressing dissent, and tolerating corruption and inequality, and mismanaging their economies so that their youth grow up without education, without prospects, without hope, the ready recruits of terrorist cells.

You want a fight, President Bush? Let’s fight to wean ourselves off Middle East oil, through an energy policy that doesn’t simply serve the interests of Exxon and Mobil.

Those are the battles that we need to fight. Those are the battles that we willingly join. The battles against ignorance and intolerance, corruption and greed, poverty and despair.

The consequences of war are dire, the sacrifices immeasurable. We may have occasion in our lifetime to once again rise up in defense of our freedom, and pay the wages of war. But we ought not — we will not — travel down that hellish path blindly. Nor should we allow those who would march off and pay the ultimate sacrifice, who would prove the full measure of devotion with their blood, to make such an awful sacrifice in vain.

August 30, 2010 at 7:08 am Comment (1)

Obama Thanks Troops for “Dumb War”

As the war in Iraq winds down and the Iraqi people see the fruits of the successful troop surge implemented by President George W. Bush and General David Petraeus, Barack Obama thanks the troops in a shameless effort to take credit for the successful policies that he opposed.

In 2002, Obama gave a speech describing Iraq as “a dumb war,” a distraction, and a “sacrifice in vain.” The text of that speech opposing the war can be found here.

August 30, 2010 at 6:31 am Comments (0)

Arab Killer Guilty of Being White, Finds Washington Post

As a recent string of serial killings found its way from Michigan to Virginia, “The Washington Post” was determined to pin the killings on some white, racist guy. To that effect, two writers for the Post penned an article entitled “Michigan serial killer suspected in three Leesburg, Va., attacks”. The article begins “A white man who stabbed or attacked three dark-skinned men . . .”. What follows is a two-page story filled with suppositions, which could be effectively summarized as “white racist male kills black men.”

With few facts to go on, the writers impugn an unnamed racist, white male, using the opinions of the Chief of Police in Leesburg, a psychiatrist, and the writers themselves. All of this opinion goes against the facts some of the victims were white and the police said the perpetrator could be white or Middle Eastern. Given the option, of course, the liberals always choose the white guy.

That story was written on August 10, 2010. Two days later, the killer was caught and found to be an Arab named Elias Abuelazam, and the speculations of racism are suddenly disappear. This follow-up article in the post entitled “Serial stabbing suspect revealed instances of violence and paranoia, friends say” not only neglects to mentions that he’s an Arab and not white, it has a testimony from a black friend vouching that he isn’t racist.

Here’s another follow-up from the Post: Man suspected as ‘Flint serial killer’ tried to settle in Northern Virginia. Notice the frequent use of the word Israel and the prominent use of the word “Christian.” What’s missing in that first sentence? The word “Arab,” of course. Notice, too, how kindly the writer speaks of  the serial killer (family, friends, etc). What a nice Arab serial killer he is! I kind of feel like he’s my next-door neighbor. Still no mention of him not being white.

August 26, 2010 at 11:28 pm Comments (0)

More conservative music – The Young Cons’ “Anthem”

The Young Cons’ “Anthem” was their first and most popular rap.  This one garnered them the attention of Fox News, which featured them.  Check out their website here for more. If you want to drive a liberal crazy (more crazy than they already are), this is the way to do it.

August 14, 2010 at 5:36 pm Comments (0)