Does Obama plan to cut the defense budget ?

ahh “reasonable” advice… but reasonable to who? see ? those are the conditional ambiguities that I’m afraid of with obama…what sounds like unreasonable advice could lead to quicker resolutions of military involvement…did obama think the surge was unreasonable?

All I know is that Obama is not going to do this country any good and im sorry if you think differently but McCain is the way to go he may be old but that makes no difference he is ready to lead and has lots of experience which will help him in the campaign so please vote for McCain and spread the word and dont go around cursing me off if you dont feel the same way that is how I feel and im proud of it.

“ahh “reasonable” advice… but reasonable to who? see ? those are the conditional ambiguities that I’m afraid of with obama…what sounds like unreasonable advice could lead to quicker resolutions of military involvement…did obama think the surge was unreasonable?”

irrismith, it is reasonable to the person ultimately responsible for making the decision. Of course there are ambiguities. We are not talking about specifics. I see nothing in Obama that gives me pause to think he would not do what is best for this country. I didn’t think that with Bush, and I was right. He did not do what was best for the country, he did what was best for his buddies in the oil industry. And no, Obama didn’t think the surge was reasonable. I know you guys all think the surge was such a wonderful thing, but it achieved very little, and actually impeded the main goal of the surge, which was to create an environment more conducive to political reconciliation. And the reduction of violence had much more to do with the Sunni awakening that had already started before the surge.

We are not fighting terrorists, or at least very few. And those insurgents are native Iraqis who want us to leave. How would you feel if a foriegn country invaded the US and tried to setup their own government? Wouldn’t you become an “insurgent” to protect our homeland? The issues over there are much more complicated than “insurgents and terrorists who want to bring down the democratic government of Iraq and fight and kill Americans.” You really should educate yourself.

That is one of your starry eyed, I hate Republicans statement that could be made. We are not fighting terrorists? And can you tell me why so many Iraqis are still being killed if the insurgents are fighting us to remove us? Get more widely read Jimahl.

Yes you did reffer to this in your post. And by doing so, revealed yourself to be another conservative lemming, mindless repeating the lies you hear on talk radio

Lies? Jimahl, typical left wingnut. Don’t confuse me with the facts, right.? These type of statements you make just show the defenseless position you take. And again you resort to attacking when you can’t defend your position. Definitely shows the weakness. I think you will find cogent arguments more effective.

The rest of your post is nothing but talking points, and I have wasted enough time educating you for one day. And thank you so much. But no thank you. I will gather my education from legitimate, credible sources.

“We have seen how little judgment Senator Obama has made in his choices of associates.”

seao2florida, stop with the baseless “guilt by association” crap. Obama has no more questionable associates than does McCain. How about Hagee and Parsley?

“He is very intelligent, but certainly seems seriously lacking in the area of common sense.”

Yes he is very intelligent. Which should be a requirement of any president. Bush is a complete moron. McCain is not much smarter. They were both “C” students at best. McCain finished 895th out of 899 from the naval academy. He is no great thinker. I will take a harvard magna cum laude any day. And Obama showed far more common sense with regards to Iraq. If it were up to him, hundreds of thousands of people would not have died needlessly. How exactly has Obama not shown common sense?

“And Obama has no military experience whatever.”

And? There have been many presidents with no military experience. Both world war presidents, FDR and Wilson, had none. Bush did have some (albiet very little) military experience, and look how badly he screwed things up.

“And as to history. Those who do not study history are bound to repeat it.”

Exactly, and that is why we must not forget how badly the republicans have screwed up this country.

“But that is not how you use it in your posts. It is Bush bashing. Get over it Bush won, the Democrats lost. And in this election it is about the lesser of two evils. And I am sick of the liberals who so want a Democrat in office they will put anything there to achieve that goal. And if Obama were a Republican, I’d be voting Dem -“

This is pretty funny. So please tell me where I crossed the line from legitimate criticism to bush-bashing? First off, Bush never “won” any presidential election, but that is another debate. Sencond, I will never get over, nor let anyone forget what damage Bush and Cheney have done to this country. And I give very little creedance to critics of Obama that whole-heartedly supported Bush. There lack of common sense and judgement is quite evident. I am sure you voted for him both times, so of course you don’t want to talk about what a disaster he has been.

“The only thing that will be a saving grace if Obama wins is if he picks people who are competent and then at least most of the time makes the right decision based on their wisdom and advice. Obama is not the right choice in this election, and probably isn’t the right candidate for the job ever. “

So you managed in a rather legthy post to completely condemn Obama without offering one single fact as to why he would not make a good president. Just meaningless rhetoric.

Obama will be a good president, and possibly a great one. One thing is for sure, the man you supported for the past eight years will go down as one of the worst.

“And yes to the posted question, he does intend to cut the defense budget. “

Care to give us a quote or link to when and where he said he would do this?

“And to the harps on the war in Iraq. That war ended 5 years ago. Since that period we have been fighting insurgents who want to fight America, and end democracy in Iraq. Whomever the next President, will not pull out of Iraq immediately. If they do Iraq will become a suburb of Iran, and the terrorists can spend more time and energy planning acts against western nations whose way of life and people they detest. “

You show the complete and utter lack of understanding the situation in Iraq just like McCain. I agree the war ended 5 years ago, and we should have left 5 years ago. Our continued occupation has acheived nothing. In fact it made things worse. The Iraqis want us to leave. We have no right occupying a sovereign nation that doesn’t want us there. Iran is not going to take over Iraq. They will become closer allies, but they already are, and there is nothing we can do about it. It is Bush’s war that has led to that.

Oh boy… Please explain to me how invading a country that posed absolutely no threat to us, or its neighbors was the right thing to do? Please explain to me how if we had not invaded, that hundreds of thousands of people that have died since this war began would have died anyway? And don’t tell me about past Saddam attrocities. While they were horrible, and he deserved being brought to justice. But at the time we invaded, they were no mass killings going on in Iraq, and there was no chance of him to start killing hundreds of thousands of people.

Jihmal, first of all you make mindless assumptions of who I supported and who I didn’t. Bush is not my favorite President either, but to make such alligations as above is blind left wingnut rhetoric. Bush operated and made his decisions on the Iraqi war based on a Democratic appointed Chief of the CIA. The information they provided, most agreed with this war, most Dems as well, including Clinton and Keary. Remember the “I voted for the war, before I voted against it”. And as Colin Powell said, “Once we break it, we have to fix it” referring to restoring the Iraqi government to be self-governing and putting the infrastructure back in place.

And I will remind you the war in Iraq ended 5 years ago. We are now fighting insurgents and terrorists who want to bring down the democratic government of Iraq and fight and kill Americans.

How exactly has Obama not shown common sense?

He is a politician and is very careful to take care of his image as most are. And so much of the problem with Obama is he has no “record” to look at other than the mess that Illinois is in.

And among other things in my posting, what I referred to was his association with Ayers and the Reverend Wright. It wasn’t until CNN challenged him publicly on it that he divested himself of Wright. There are many instances, but I’ll give you one quickly. His statement that he would sit down with any terrorist state and talk with no pre-conditions set. The foreign affairs experts both Democratic and Republican quickly challenged that and he then decided he would need pre-conditions. That is a lacking in good judgment and shows he has no knowledge of Foreign Affairs.

I am sure you voted for him both times, so of course you don’t want to talk about what a disaster he has been.

I can’t stand the radical right or the radical left, but you know I think I will become a radical left wingnut so I too can be psychic. You haven’t the slightest idea who I voted for. As a matter of fact I did not vote for him the first time, because he, JUST LIKE OBAMA, was quickly being swept up by the masses and money thrown at him, with little or no knowledge about him. And I again point out JUST LIKE OBAMA. And you can take it to the bank I voted for him the second time.

Obama - Little is known about his true person, because there’s not much to examine. He is a Harvard Graduate, very intelligent, stable marriage, gets elected to one post and moves on to another, and now hasn’t even finished his first term as a Senator and is moving on to the Presidency. His past associations are downright frightening. However, the left wing crazies like you downplay these things and just slobber all over him. And we are “sweeping” him right into the White House without knowing who the man is.

First off, Bush never “won” any presidential election, but that is another debate. Jesus, you really do only read what you wish. After all the votes were counted, hanging chads and all, Bush won the popular vote.

And I go back to my premise, that folks like you are so bound and determined to get a Dem in office, you’re willing to put anyone in, no matter how little they are qualified. Obama is not at this point qualified or tested enough to take this office. And history can only tell us if he is ever qualified.

Obama will be a good president, and possibly a great one. One thing is for sure, the man you supported for the past eight years will go down as one of the worst.

Here we go again with the psychic abilities. I try to base my decisions on actual facts not my personal desires and wishes of what might be. How the hell do you have any conceptual idea he will be great or good for that matter? You have no track record to base it on. If he would be great, because of his very good abilities at public speaking, and his smoke and mirror tax and health care plans, he’ll be great. I think I might wait until I see how good he is in the event he does make it.

And again with the psychic ability to know who I voted for. Just because someone has something other than you rabid far left wing views of politics, they must be right wing crazies. Christ, man give me a break. And the fact that a radical left winger like you supports him, scares me even worse. But he does fit in with you because I don’t believe there is anyone left of him in the United States Senate.

So you managed in a rather lengthy post to completely condemn Obama without offering one single fact as to why he would not make a good president. Just meaningless rhetoric.

Try going back to the posting and READ it. Are you so closed minded that you can’t read facts that are placed in front of you? And your blind statements that he will make a “good” or even a “great” President with absolutely nothing to support that is unbelievable that you would even make that statement.

Oh boy… Please explain to me how invading a country that posed absolutely no threat to us, or its neighbors was the right thing to do? Please explain to me how if we had not invaded, that hundreds of thousands of people that have died since this war began would have died anyway? And don’t tell me about past Saddam attrocities. While they were horrible, and he deserved being brought to justice. But at the time we invaded, they were no mass killings going on in Iraq, and there was no chance of him to start killing hundreds of thousands of people.

Jihmal, first of all you make mindless assumptions of who I supported and who I didn’t. Bush is not my favorite President either, but to make such alligations as above is blind left wingnut rhetoric. Bush operated and made his decisions on the Iraqi war based on a Democratic appointed Chief of the CIA. The information they provided, most agreed with this war, most Dems as well, including Clinton and Keary. Remember the “I voted for the war, before I voted against it”. And as Colin Powell said, “Once we break it, we have to fix it” referring to restoring the Iraqi government to be self-governing and putting the infrastructure back in place.

And I will remind you the war in Iraq ended 5 years ago. We are now fighting insurgents and terrorists who want to bring down the democratic government of Iraq and fight and kill Americans.

How exactly has Obama not shown common sense?

He is a politician and is very careful to take care of his image as most are. And so much of the problem with Obama is he has no “record” to look at other than the mess that Illinois is in.
And among other things in my posting, what I referred to was his association with Ayers and the Reverend Wright. It wasn’t until CNN challenged him publicly on it that he divested himself of Wright. There are many instances, but I’ll give you one quickly. His statement that he would sit down with any terrorist state and talk with no pre-conditions set. The foreign affairs experts both Democratic and Republican quickly challenged that and he then decided he would need pre-conditions. That is a lacking in good judgment and shows he has no knowledge of Foreign Affairs.

I am sure you voted for him both times, so of course you don’t want to talk about what a disaster he has been.

I can’t stand the radical right or the radical left, but you know I think I will become a radical left wingnut so I too can be psychic. You haven’t the slightest idea who I voted for. As a matter of fact I did not vote for him the first time, because he, JUST LIKE OBAMA, was quickly being swept up by the masses and money thrown at him, with little or no knowledge about him. And I again point out JUST LIKE OBAMA. And you can take it to the bank I voted for him the second time.

Obama - Little is known about his true person, because there’s not much to examine. He is a Harvard Graduate, very intelligent, stable marriage, gets elected to one post and moves on to another, and now hasn’t even finished his first term as a Senator and is moving on to the Presidency. His past associations are downright frightening. However, the left wing crazies like you downplay these things and just slobber all over him. And we are “sweeping” him right into the White House without knowing who the man is.

First off, Bush never “won” any presidential election, but that is another debate. Jesus, you really do only read what you wish. After all the votes were counted, hanging chads and all, Bush won the popular vote.*

And I go back to my premise, that folks like you are so bound and determined to get a Dem in office, you’re willing to put anyone in, no matter how little they are qualified. Obama is not at this point qualified or tested enough to take this office. And history can only tell us if he is ever qualified.

Obama will be a good president, and possibly a great one. One thing is for sure, the man you supported for the past eight years will go down as one of the worst.
Here we go again with the pcychic abilities. I try to base my decisions on actual facts not my personal desires and wishes of what might be. How the hell do you any conceptual idea he will be great or good for that matter? You have no track record to base it on. If he would be great, because of his very good abilities at public speaking, and his smoke and mirror tax and health care plans, he’ll be great. I think I might wait until I see how good he is in the event he does make it.

And again with the psychic ability to know who I voted for. Just because someone has something other than you rabid far left wing views of politics, they must be right wing crazies. Christ, man give me a break. And the fact that someone like you supports him, makes it even worse. But he does fit in with you because I don’t believe there is anyone left of him in the United States Senate.

So you managed in a rather lengthy post to completely condemn Obama without offering one single fact as to why he would not make a good president. Just meaningless rhetoric.

Try going back to the posting and READ it. Are you so closed minded that you can’t read facts that are placed in front of you? And your blind statements that he will make a “good” or even a “great” President with absolutely nothing to support that is unbelievable that you would even make that statement.

I think that Obama will do this since I believe he’s cut off funding for our troops that are in harms way. Even Joe Biden said “If you cut off funding for the troops, that’ll cost lives” He’s right! For once I agree with him. Did Obama listen? no! He decides to go ahead and do what he wanted to do while he was in the senate. If he’s elected, he better listen to all his military advisers whether he likes it or not. You all know that Obama wants to pull out of Iraq and bring our troops home right away right when he gets in office. But, then again, I believe he’ll continue cutting funding if we stay, and that also includes the defense budget. I just thought of that. I know that some of you will be voting for Obama for those who answered this question except those who are MCcain Supporters such as myself that answered this. We want MCCain! I won’t go any further then that.

There’s two words that Obama spouts over and over… “Responsible withdrawl”…hmmm…Mr. Obama, could WE have your specific definition of those words, please?? Nobody ever asks, “What precisely, does that mean??”

Generic words…meaningless.

p

“Jihmal, first of all you make mindless assumptions of who I supported and who I didn’t. Bush is not my favorite President either, but to make such alligations as above is blind left wingnut rhetoric.”

seao2florida, it is you who ran to Bush’s defense and accused me of only Bush bashing. I don’t think it is takes much of a leap to think you are or were a supporter.

“Bush operated and made his decisions on the Iraqi war based on a Democratic appointed Chief of the CIA. The information they provided, most agreed with this war, most Dems as well, including Clinton and Keary. Remember the “I voted for the war, before I voted against it”. And as Colin Powell said, “Once we break it, we have to fix it” referring to restoring the Iraqi government to be self-governing and putting the infrastructure back in place.”

This is nothing but White House talking points and do not rememble reality. First off, the CIA did present plenty contrary evidence to cheney, and it was rejected. They cherry picked the info they wanted. Not all info was shown to congress. Second, yes some key dems did vote for the war authorization, but not most dems. The majority of dems in congress voted against it. And third, the authorization called for Bush to exhaust all diplomatic avenues. How could anyone say he exhausted diplomatic resolutions when the inpsectors were on the ground in Iraq, reporting that they were getting full access and complete cooperation from the irqaqis. They said they need a little more time, and Bush said no, and made them leave so he could begin the “shock and awe”.

“And I will remind you the war in Iraq ended 5 years ago. We are now fighting insurgents and terrorists who want to bring down the democratic government of Iraq and fight and kill Americans.”

We are not fighting terrorists, or at least very few. And those insurgents are native Iraqis who want us to leave. How would you feel if a foriegn country invaded the US and tried to setup their own government? Wouldn’t you become an “insurgent” to protect our homeland? The issues over there are much more complicated than “insurgents and terrorists who want to bring down the democratic government of Iraq and fight and kill Americans.” You really should educate yourself.

“He is a politician and is very careful to take care of his image as most are. And so much of the problem with Obama is he has no “record” to look at other than the mess that Illinois is in. “

What exactly is meant by “take care of his image”? What does he have to take of? As a state legislator Obama gained bipartisan support for legislation reforming ethics and health care laws. He sponsored a law increasing tax credits for low-income workers, negotiated welfare reform, and promoted increased subsidies for childcare. In 2001, as co-chairman of the bipartisan Joint Committee on Administrative Rules, Obama supported Republican Governor Ryan’s payday loan regulations and predatory mortgage lending regulations aimed at averting home foreclosures. In January 2003, Obama became chairman of the Illinois Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee. He sponsored and led unanimous, bipartisan passage of legislation to monitor racial profiling by requiring police to record the race of drivers they detained and legislation making Illinois the first state to mandate videotaping of homicide interrogations. During his 2004 general election campaign for U.S. Senate, police representatives credited Obama for his active engagement with police organizations in enacting death penalty reforms. As a US Senator Obama voted in favor of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and cosponsored the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. and September 2006, Obama supported a related bill, the Secure Fence Act. Obama introduced two initiatives bearing his name: Lugar–Obama, which expanded the Nunn–Lugar cooperative threat reduction concept to conventional weapons, and the Coburn–Obama Transparency Act, which authorized the establishment of USAspending.gov, a web search engine on federal spending. On June 3, 2008, Senator Obama, along with Senators Thomas R. Carper, Tom Coburn, and JOHN MCCAIN, introduced follow-up legislation: Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in Federal Spending Act of 2008. Obama sponsored legislation requiring nuclear plant owners to notify state and local authorities of radioactive leaks. In December 2006, President Bush signed into law the Democratic Republic of the Congo Relief, Security, and Democracy Promotion Act, marking the first federal legislation to be enacted with Obama as its primary sponsor. In January 2007, Obama and Senator Feingold introduced a corporate jet provision to the Honest Leadership and Open Government Act, which was signed into law in September 2007. He introduced Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act, a bill to criminalize deceptive practices in federal elections. Obama also introduced the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007. Obama and Richard Lugar visit a Russian mobile launch missile dismantling facility. Later in 2007, Obama sponsored an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act adding safeguards for personality disorder military discharges. He sponsored the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act supporting divestment of state pension funds from Iran’s oil and gas industry, and co-sponsored legislation to reduce risks of nuclear terrorism. Obama also sponsored a Senate amendment to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program providing one year of job protection for family members caring for soldiers with combat-related injuries.

I can see why you think he has a weak record…

“And among other things in my posting, what I referred to was his association with Ayers and the Reverend Wright. It wasn’t until CNN challenged him publicly on it that he divested himself of Wright.”

Yes you did reffer to this in your post. And by doing so, revealed yourself to be another conservative lemming, mindless repeating the lies you hear on talk radio.

“There are many instances, but I’ll give you one quickly. His statement that he would sit down with any terrorist state and talk with no pre-conditions set.”

Please provide the quote where Obama said he would “sit down with ANY terrorist state and talk with no pre-conditions set”? This is one of the most ridiculous accusations about Obama the right spins. You do realize the Bush administration has started to talk to Iran, WITH NO-PRECONDITIONS!

“The foreign affairs experts both Democratic and Republican quickly challenged that and he then decided he would need pre-conditions. That is a lacking in good judgment and shows he has no knowledge of Foreign Affairs.”

Source please for this please?

“I can’t stand the radical right or the radical left,”

Could have fooled me… I have yet to see any vitriol spit at the right like you have for Obama.

“but you know I think I will become a radical left wingnut so I too can be psychic.”

No thanks…

“You haven’t the slightest idea who I voted for.”

I don’t know for sure, but I have an idea…

“As a matter of fact I did not vote for him the first time, because he, JUST LIKE OBAMA, was quickly being swept up by the masses and money thrown at him, with little or no knowledge about him. And I again point out JUST LIKE OBAMA. And you can take it to the bank I voted for him the second time. “

Now that tells me you really are a lost cause. I could maybe see voting for him the first time, but the second time? So you voted for Gore the first time?

“Jesus, you really do only read what you wish. After all the votes were counted, hanging chads and all, Bush won the popular vote.”

Please provide the source where you saw that Bush won the popular vote in 2000? He didn’t. And if it weren’t for the SCOTUS, he wouldn’t have won the electoral vote either. A consortium of news organizations, inlduing the right leaning WSJ, paid to have all the ballots in FL recounted. And no matter what standard was used, hanging chads, pregnant chads, of no chads, Gore won.
In a complete recount of every ballot in the entire state revealed: • Standard as set by each county Canvassing Board during their survey Gore by 171 • Fully punched chads and limited marks on optical ballots Gore by 115 • Any dimples or optical mark Gore by 107 • One corner of chad detached or optical mark Gore by 60 This is from wikipedia.

And in 2004, it is statisticly impossible for Bush to have won. Look it up. Of eleven battleground states, 10 of them had exit polls that differed wildly from the actual counts. All of them outside the margin of error. And every one of them wrong in the same direction, toward bush. And every one of them used black box voting.

The rest of your post is nothing but talking points, and I have wasted enough time educating you for one day.

Do you honestly believe people are supporting Obama only because they think they are going to get money? Gimee me a break…

Does it come as a huge suprise to you, that YES…in a time of economic crisis…every dime whistles a “come hither” tune…and many MANY people will vote on money only…Do you really think that the majority of Americans are as “in tune” to Congress, bill passage, who voted for what…when, etc etc… as yourself??

You are so well informed on “issues”, but have passed thru life paying no attention to the human elements that make up the issues.

p

so Bush made the politically correct decision, which in your opinion was wrong. thats what I’m afraid of with obama. enough looking back already… look forward, I mean we could go on and on about past blunders on both sides( I.e. energy policies, fannie and freddie–oh barney– wall st– Iraq– ) I’m looking forward, and obama can’t possibly make an informed military decision yet, so he’d BETTER listen to his advisors if he’s elected and hopefully get our troops what they need…

Cmon phrannie, you are better than that. He can’t be specific until he can make a real assesment once he is in office. He doesn’t have all the info to make informed decions or plans. Would you rather he just made crap up, like the GOP does?

This is precisely why we may end up seeing ourselves in Iraq for same length of time, no matter who wins. You seem be under the impression that once the election is won, the war is going to end…

Frankly, the only thing I’ve EVER heard him be truly specific on is the 95% goodie bags, that 5% are going to fill…an election promise, that I’m afraid is going to come as huge disappointment to those who decided to “vote for the money”… there has never been a Democrat in history who lowered taxes…ever. Do you suppose he needs the get the full info on the economy, also…before he can make an “informed” apology when it does’t happen??

p

jimal, you attempt to present yourself as a knowledgeable indidiual. Willimam Ayers is a terrorist. Obama has associated himself with him at numerous ACORN operations. He STARTED his political career at AYERS home in Chicago. READ, Jimahl, READ. You really can’t hide your head in the Democratic leftist sand all your life.

The rest of your posting gives no even reason to reply. “Palin has energized you guys so much you are all starting to sound like her. We weren’t talking about the bridge to no where.”

Far from a credible response to three paragraphs of reasoning.

Try to get your information from something other than leftist organizations. Try looking at both sides. It might make you think. That is what I try to do.

irrismith, looking back at past errors, and seeing what was done wrong, is the only way to make sure you don’t repeat the same mistakes. You say you’re looking forward, but you are making unfounded accusations like: “obama can’t possibly make an informed military decision yet”. He has much more intelligence and judgement than Bush or McCain ever had, and I am sure he will listen to reasonable advice from his military advisors. Just as Bush didn’t.

hey jimahl ..I think seao2florida is right btw and as far as something real, lets get something real from your candidate obama has had more involvement with militants than the military thats a fact .. he knows nothing of the funding needed to support a proper military, and will be ping ponged between the left and right, because no one , probably not even the dems, trust him enough to ever come to a logical consensus as to what his “wasteful spending” definition is..and just when did Powell say that those things were’nt true ? did he investigate it’s inaccuracy as much as it’s accuracy. nope doubt that…IF he ever said those things weren’t true it would have likely been for political favor, I mean look who he endorsed, now , just like seao2florida said, accuse me of lying cause you know the truth hurts…

“There’s two words that Obama spouts over and over… “Responsible withdrawl”…hmmm…Mr. Obama, could WE have your specific definition of those words, please?? Nobody ever asks, “What precisely, does that mean??””

Cmon phrannie, you are better than that. He can’t be specific until he can make a real assesment once he is in office. He doesn’t have all the info to make informed decions or plans. Would you rather he just made crap up, like the GOP does?

irrismith: “let us remember the words of Colin Powell to the UN security council 5 feb 2003”

You mean the speech that Powell himself calls a “blot” on his carreer? None of it was true, and he admits that now.

Your tirade about Obama cutting funding is ludicrous. You are taking comments about him eliminating waste and equating it with cutting funding. Nice try. Come back when you have something real.

“This is precisely why we may end up seeing ourselves in Iraq for same length of time, no matter who wins. You seem be under the impression that once the election is won, the war is going to end…”

I never said that. But if Obama wins, we will have at least the beginning of the end. It will take time, but no matter who wins, a draw down has to happen because we just don’t have enough troops to keep it up. Obama will change our strategy and direction, McCain wants to continue the same failed policies as Bush.

“Frankly, the only thing I’ve EVER heard him be truly specific on is the 95% goodie bags, that 5% are going to fill…”

If that is all you have heard, then it is obvious you aren’t paying attention. Try visiting his website and spend a half hour reading about the specifics.

“an election promise, that I’m afraid is going to come as huge disappointment to those who decided to “vote for the money”… “

Do you honestly believe people are supporting Obama only because they think they are going to get money? Gimee me a break…

“there has never been a Democrat in history who lowered taxes…ever. Do you suppose he needs the get the full info on the economy, also…before he can make an “informed” apology when it does’t happen??

Well then there is a first for everything. Is this something you know, or is it just off the top of your head? The economy is much more transparent than Bush’s pentagon. Obama has a much keener insight into the economy than does McCain. He has a much keener insight to most things than McCain.

but WHY doesn’t obama talk in specifics? he has too many things to tackle to have a good plan on anything, in my opinion, thats why we don’t get straight answers from him. I believe Bush did exactly the right thing for this country at the time, and based on the intelligence he was provided, he made a choice that probably saved more lives than it has lost. obama probably will take so much funding from the troops out there that they will be FORCED to come home, and that will be his withdrawl plan, come limping home…NO EXPERIENCE… people need to start BELIEVING what they SEE ..rather than SEEING what they BELIEVE…

jimal,

We have seen how little judgment Senator Obama has made in his choices of associates. He is very intelligent, but certainly seems seriously lacking in the area of common sense. And Obama has no military experience whatever. And as to history. Those who do not study history are bound to repeat it. But that is not how you use it in your posts. It is Bush bashing. Get over it Bush won, the Democrats lost. And in this election it is about the lesser of two evils. And I am sick of the liberals who so want a Democrat in office they will put anything there to achieve that goal. And if Obama were a Republican, I’d be voting Dem -

The only thing that will be a saving grace if Obama wins is if he picks people who are competent and then at least most of the time makes the right decision based on their wisdom and advice. Obama is not the right choice in this election, and probably isn’t the right candidate for the job ever.

And yes to the posted question, he does intend to cut the defense budget.

And to the harps on the war in Iraq. That war ended 5 years ago. Since that period we have been fighting insurgents who want to fight America, and end democracy in Iraq. Whomever the next President, will not pull out of Iraq immediately. If they do Iraq will become a suburb of Iran, and the terrorists can spend more time and energy planning acts against western nations whose way of life and people they detest.

“but WHY doesn’t obama talk in specifics?”

I dodn’t say he hasn’t talked in specifics. I said we weren’t in our discussion of taking advice from military advisors, and you brought up ambiguities. We were talking about events that might occur. Of course there are ambiguities in such a discussion. Stop trying to move the goal posts.

“he has too many things to tackle to have a good plan on anything, in my opinion, thats why we don’t get straight answers from him.”

If you aren’t getting straight answers I sugesst you get your info from other than FOX Noise and Blimpaugh. If you disagree with his plans, fine, discuss them on their merits, not on ideology.

“I believe Bush did exactly the right thing for this country at the time, and based on the intelligence he was provided, he made a choice that probably saved more lives than it has lost. “

Oh boy… Please explain to me how invading a country that posed absolutely no threat to us, or its neighbors was the right thing to do? Please explain to me how if we had not invaded, that hundreds of thousands of people that have died since this war began would have died anyway? And don’t tell me about past Saddam attrocities. While they were horrible, and he deserved being brought to justice. But at the time we invaded, they were no mass killings going on in Iraq, and there was no chance of him to start killing hundreds of thousands of people.

“obama probably will take so much funding from the troops out there that they will be FORCED to come home, and that will be his withdrawl plan, come limping home…NO EXPERIENCE… “ Please show me where Obama has said he will cut funding for the troops? We have to start drawing down no matter who wins. We just don’t have the resources to continue the occupation.

“people need to start BELIEVING what they SEE ..rather than SEEING what they BELIEVE…”

I suggest you do the same. You ignore the former and only do the latter.

“That is one of your starry eyed, I hate Republicans statement that could be made. We are not fighting terrorists? And can you tell me why so many Iraqis are still being killed if the insurgents are fighting us to remove us? Get more widely read Jimahl.”

seao2florida, You know nothing about me, and I do not hate republicans. I despise their ideology, just as you do Democratic ideology. Do you really not understand at this point that their is a civil war going on over their? Foreign fighters (terrorists) are not the primary cause of the violence.

“Lies? Jimahl, typical left wingnut. Don’t confuse me with the facts, right.? These type of statements you make just show the defenseless position you take. And again you resort to attacking when you can’t defend your position. Definitely shows the weakness. I think you will find cogent arguments more effective. “

“Yes, lies. And instead of just claiming partisanship, why not actually rebut what I say and not why I said it. You accuse me of attcking you right after you call me a wingnut. If my arguments are no non-congent, why are you only respindingt to peices of my post. I responded to everything you wrote.

“And thank you so much. But no thank you.”

Palin has energized you guys so much you are all starting to sound like her. We weren’t talking about the bridge to no where.

“I will gather my education from legitimate, credible sources.”

Care to list those “credible sources”? If FIXED News one of them? Or I bet you really rely an that bastion of web-based journalistic integirty, NewsMax.

“hey jimahl ..I think seao2florida is right btw and as far as something real, lets get something real from your candidate obama has had more involvement with militants than the military thats a fact ..”

Just the fact that you keep trying to associate Obama with Ayers tells me you are just a hack. Show me the evidence (not from a right wing source) what exactly was Obama’s association with him?

“he knows nothing of the funding needed to support a proper military,”

Care to give us some proof of this?

“and will be ping ponged between the left and right, because no one , probably not even the dems, trust him enough to ever come to a logical consensus as to what his “wasteful spending” definition is..”

He couldn’t possibly do any worse than we where we are right now. Which is a broken military.

“and just when did Powell say that those things were’nt true ? did he investigate it’s inaccuracy as much as it’s accuracy. nope doubt that..”

In september 2005, Powell said to Barbara Walters “”I’m the one who presented it to the world, and (it) will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It is painful now,” He also said: “There were some people in the intelligence community who knew at the time that some of those sources were not good, and shouldn’t be relied upon, and they didn’t speak up,” He also said he never saw a connection between Saddam and the 9/11: “I can’t think otherwise, because I’d never seen evidence to suggest there was one,” He referred to himself as a “reluctant warrior”. In his own biograghy he referred the UN speach as a “blot on his record”.

“IF he ever said those things weren’t true it would have likely been for political favor, I mean look who he endorsed, now , just like seao2florida said, accuse me of lying cause you know the truth hurts…”

You guys are unbelievable. First you want me to remember the words Powell spoke at the UN, but now say any later self-repudiation of those words is only because of political expedience. It amazes me the attacks against powell.

I didn’t accuse you of lying. You probably do believe the stuff you hear from your right wing news sources. It doesn’t mean there not lies.

I don’t think he wants to cut the defense budget so much as reallocate its funding. The war in Iraq has placed a huge drain on the military’s funding, and it’s being felt in many ways. By ending the war or at least scaling it back, I think Obama hopes to address these problems.

For example, the war has killed recruiting in the Army and Marine Corps, which is something that both Obama and McCain have said they’d like to focus on, increasing funding for personnel benefits, in all branches actually; because the Army has suffered shortages, even the Navy and Air Force have had to take over Army slots in Iraq, affecting the missions of those branches as well.

Also, the military has become kind of “top heavy” with enormous spending on new tanks, aircraft, etc. with almost nothing going to improve small arms and readiness equipment. Many soldiers complain about the effectiveness of their weapon systems, and that is another area that will require increased spending.

Finally, Obama wants to step up US military presence in South Asia and, I believe, Africa, which is basically the biggest battleground in the “war on terrorism” anyway. Again, I think he plans to do this by ending the war in Iraq.

I really don’t think obama knows WHAT to do about military spending. he will probably make the politically correct “reallocations” and probably leave his military leaders hand-cuffed. if elected president, he is going to have to listen to his military advisors, and make some decisions the dems aren’t going to like in order to defend this country and its citizens properly. I think historically he has voted against certain funding, under certain conditions, but I beleive he would try to decrease funding overall.

“but I beleive he would try to decrease funding overall. “

Decrease funding could be done just be reducing waste. Don’t you think there is a lot of pork in the military budget that can be cut?

All presidents need to listen to military advisors. Not all do. Bush didn’t when the Army’s top general, Eric Shinseki, said we would need several hundred thousand troops in order to succeed and handle the post-invasion occupation. Shinseki was basically forced out after that. Bush didn’t listen and in 2006 the chief CentCom, General Abizaid said that shinseki was right, that a lot more troops were needed for the post invasion. Bush didn’t listen because he knew it would be a much harder sell several hundred thousand troops rather than the 130,000 that were actually sent.

Were you this vocal about Bush ignoring military commanders in 2002 and 2003?

jamal, it is my latest conclusion that you are the Rush Limbough of the left. A very real credible accolade of your position. Go talk on one of the crazy far left radio shows and leave the rest of America and our desire to further our ecomomy alone.

yes its in his budget to cut defense spending by atleast 25%. thats one of the reasons I did not vote for him. the other is his economic package is lable to throw this country in to a depression worse the the last great depression in the 1920-30. know I hope that I am wrong about that time will tell. but just going by the numbers they seldam are wrong thats what is going to happen.