The Facts About The End Of Combat In Iraq

OBAMA: “Tonight, I am announcing that the American combat mission in Iraq has ended.”

THE FACTS: Peril remains for the tens of thousands of U.S. troops still in Iraq, who are likely if not certain to engage violent foes. Counterterrorism is chief among their continuing missions, pitting them against a lethal enemy. Several thousand special operations forces, including Army Green Berets and Navy SEALs, will continue to hunt and attempt to kill al-Qaida and other terrorist fighters — working closely with Iraqi forces. Obama said, “Of course, violence will not end with our combat mission,” while stopping short of a full accounting of the hazards ahead for U.S. troops.

OBAMA: “We have met our responsibility.”

THE FACTS: That depends entirely on how the U.S. responsibility is defined.

Sectarian division — the danger that Obama said as a presidential candidate had to be addressed before Iraq could succeed — continues to deprive the country of a fully functioning government. U.S. goals for reconstruction are unmet. And although the U.S. says Iraqi forces can handle the insurgency largely on their own, Iraq is expected to need U.S. air power and other military support for years to control its own air space and to deter a possible attack by a neighboring state.

It was the U.S. that invaded Iraq, overthrew its government, disbanded its security forces and failed in the early phases of the conflict to understand the depth of Iraq’s sectarian and ethnic divisions and its political paralysis. The U.S. in some minds is responsible for putting Iraq back together again, yet today Iraq has no permanent government and its security forces arguably are not fully prepared to defend the country’s skies and borders.

In inheriting a war he opposed from the start, Obama did not accept U.S. responsibilities so broadly.

It will take time to see if his more limited view of success bears out. In May, he said: “This is what success looks like: an Iraq that provides no haven to terrorists; a democratic Iraq that is sovereign and stable and self-reliant.”

Al-Qaida terrorists are “not gone” from Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday. But he hailed “an important victory against transnational terror” because “al-Qaida in Iraq has been largely cut from its masters abroad.”

OBAMA: “Unfortunately, over the last decade, we have not done what is necessary to shore up the foundation of our own prosperity. We have spent over a trillion dollars at war, often financed by borrowing from overseas. This, in turn, has shortchanged investments in our own people, and contributed to record deficits.”

THE FACTS: This is partly true. For sure, the costly Iraq and Afghanistan wars have contributed to the nation’s budget deficit — but not by as much as Obama suggests. The current annual deficit is now an estimated $1.5 trillion. But as recently as 2007, the budget deficit was just $161.5 billion. And that was years after war expenses were in place for both the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts.

Most of the current deficit is due to the longest recession since the 1930s. It has seriously depressed tax revenues while increasing costs to the government — including social safety-net programs such as unemployment insurance and spending by both the outgoing Bush and incoming Obama administrations on stimulus programs and on bailouts of banks and automakers.

OBAMA: “This was my pledge to the American people as a candidate for this office.”

THE FACTS: At one stage of the presidential campaign, Obama spoke of an earlier departure of troops than he ultimately achieved. “I have put forward a plan that will get our troops out by the end of 2009,” he said in a January 2008 Democratic candidates debate. But his pledge for most of the campaign was to withdraw combat troops within 16 months, a target missed just by a few months.

OBAMA: “Our dedicated civilians — diplomats, aid workers, and advisers — are moving into the lead to support Iraq as it strengthens its government, resolves political disputes, resettles those displaced by war, and builds ties with the region and the world.”

THE FACTS: Although Obama said the U.S. commitment to Iraq’s future does not end with the combat mission, he made no mention of an emerging debate in Congress over paying for the diplomatic mission the State Department says is necessary. Plans for U.S. diplomatic posts in Iraq already are being scaled back as Congress sees the winding down of the war as a signal to invest elsewhere.

OBAMA: “Within Afghanistan, I have ordered the deployment of additional troops who — under the command of Gen. David Petraeus — are fighting to break the Taliban’s momentum. As with the surge in Iraq, these forces will be in place for a limited time to provide space for the Afghans to build their capacity and secure their own future.”

THE FACTS: Obama is reciting almost the exact language of the Bush administration’s rationale for the Iraq surge: to buy time and space for the Iraqis to reach political accommodations and to strengthen their own security forces. That’s quite a change from Obama’s stand as a presidential candidate, when he criticized it. Obama seems to be embracing the troop surge logic now, even though it’s clear that the Iraqis have yet to achieve the necessary level of reconciliation to form an enduring government.           By Calvin Woodward, Associated Press Writers

Beck and Sharpton Enter the No Spin Zone

 

The left is doing their darnedest to discredit the Restoring Honor rally. I've seen what the left wing have been saying about the event. So last night I watched it on C-SPAN. It was a beautiful event. I would suggest everyone watch some of that event to get a understanding of what it was about. I can see why the left  are so afraid of this event. Any time the Bible is quoted the left froth at the mouth as they become unhinged like the minion they are. The event destroyed the left wing agenda of separation of the races. They spoke of the one race, the human race just like Dr. King did. They spoke about our countries history with God. They had the largest group of religious leaders ever to form at the National Mall. All colors all religions were arm in arm. The only group that was not recognized there were the anti-God, but they only make up 6% of American populous.

Must-Watch: Gibbs Flip-Flops on Surge

 

On "Fox & Friends" this morning, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was interviewed by host Gretchen Carlson and claimed Barack Obama had said all along that the surge would improve the security situation on the ground:

GRETCHEN CARLSON, CO-HOST, "FOX & FRIENDS": Will President Obama recognize the success of the surge put in place by President Bush tonight?

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There's no doubt that first and foremost, that the men and women in our uniform and the sacrifices that I think we are all in awe of -- the president will log today at Fort Bliss when he stops there as well as in his speech -- I don't think there's any doubt, as candidate Obama said, adding 20,000 men and women into Iraq would improve the security situation. I think along with a series of other things…

CARLSON: Candidate Obama said that?

GIBBS: He did.

CARLSON: Excuse me, back in 2007, he said he was against the surge.

GIBBS: No, he said he was against the surge. He said there was no doubt that adding 20,000 men and women would improve the security situation, but as we know, our efforts in Iraq weren't going to be done simple militarily, Gretchen.

Robert Gibbs is misstating the facts here. On January 10, 2007, Obama predicted the surge would actually increase violence.




OBAMA: I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse. I think it takes pressure off the Iraqis to try to arrive at the political accommodation that every observer believes is the ultimate solution to the problems we face there. So I am going to actively oppose the president’s proposal. I don't doubt his sincerity when he says he thinks this is the best approach, but I think he is wrong. And I think the American people believe he is wrong. (NBC News)

In fact, a simple online search shows Senator Barack Obama repeatedly predicted additional troops in Iraq would not improve the security situation in Iraq. Do you think he’ll thank former President Bush tonight?

Zonation On Net Neutrality

Now Even More Americans Will Think Obama's A Muslim

Now it looks like everyone that shops will see this "Obama Is A Muslim!"  It's time President Obama come out and denounce his past with Islam or tell us he is Muslim. I'm sure this Globe magazine will sell out. But just think of all the people that will look at that cover when they are grocery shopping. It's the same kind of tactic the left uses all the time to smear their opposition. It almost seems like their "chickens have come home to roost". I find it hard to be too upset with this when Obama is only reaping what he has sown so often,lies and deciet.

Beck Crowd Leaves Mall Clean; Obama Crowd Not So Much

 

The left in our nation is always depicted by media sycophants as concerned with the environment. By contrast, these same people always paint a picture of the right being exclusively focused on profits with total disregard for nature and ecology. What do these two videos say about this "conventional wisdom," and will Obama-loving media members in the post-rally coverage of this event point out to readers and viewers just how clean our National Mall was left by these awful, greedy, right-wing extremists? This has been documented at every left wing vs right wing rally. The left are like locus of distruction. If you want to see what liberalism does long term then just look at liberal cities like Detroit. I'd like to hear why the liberals think there is such a drastic difference between the left wing distruction after their rallies? Now we must not forget all the distruction all those left wing riots have done over the years. One group is civilized and the other is just animals.

Sarah Palin Speach At The Restoring Honor Rally

Exclusive From Fox News: Beck Reflects on 'Restoring Honor' Rally

 

Radio and TV host Glenn Beck said Sunday he doesn't want to retract his controversial charge last year that President Obama is racist, but does want to amend it since reading more about "liberation theology."

"I have a big fat mouth sometimes and I say things, and that's not the way people should behave," Beck said, adding that he regrets saying a year ago that Obama has a "deep-seated hatred for white people" because it's not accurate.

"I didn't understand, really, his theology," Beck a Fox News host, told "Fox News Sunday." "I think that it is much more of a theological question that he is a guy who understands the world through liberation theology, which is oppressor and victim."

Beck described liberation theology, which teaches that salvation for the individual is dependent on salvation for the collective through economic and social justice, as the message that was preached by Obama's ex-pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

"I'm not judging (Obama) for that," he said. "I'm not demonizing it. I disagree with it."

Beck, who is Mormon, said most Christians don't believe in liberation theology.

"That is a direct opposite of what the gospel is talking about," said Beck."It's Marxism disguised as religion."

Beck spoke after hosting his "Restoring Honor" rally in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, which attracted hundreds of thousands of Americans. Beck said the event, meant to honor the U.S. military, was not supposed to be political, and for the most part, politics were left out of the conversation.

"The message I was trying to send was be your highest self and stand in the burning bush, stand in the fire, because that's the only thing that's going to save us," he said. "I've come to the place where I believe there's no way to solve these problems, these issues ... unless we solve it through God, unless we solve it through being our highest self, and that's a pretty tall order."

But Beck said the message of the event was that Americans should reclaim the nation from politics.

Beck added that he never intended the event, scheduled on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, which was also held at the Lincoln Memorial, to be about civil rights.

But many of his critics claimed he was trying to usurp the civil rights message by holding the rally on Aug. 28. A counter-rally to commemorate the speech, organized by Rev. Al Sharpton, also attracted thousands to the nation's capital on Saturday.

Beck, 46, noted that he wasn't alive yet when King delivered his speech or the civil rights movement was in full swing, and he grew up in the Pacific Northwest, which wasn't a hotbed of civic activism during his youth.

But he said he believes that people of faith are proponents of "equal justice," the broad message of the civil rights movement. He also said he thinks it's a "good thing" if he has done damage to "racial politics" as some of his critics claimed.



"Race should not be in politics. Race is a negative that is a heart condition honestly," he said."The real agenda should be equal justice.

"People of faith ... believe that you have an equal right to justice, that is the essence, and if it is not the essence, than we've been sold a pack of lies."

Beck, who described himself as a "hard-living, hard-drinking," ignoramus until he decided to clean up his life 15 years ago, brushed off suggestions that he should run for president. He said he has "zero desire" to hold the office and warned against using popularity as a measurement of the right candidate for the job.

"If that's the case, then we should either elect Billy Graham or Paul McCartney," he said, adding, "We should be looking for people with ideas. The country is in trouble and I don't see a political solution. I think both parties have sold their souls."

Beck noted that the Founding Fathers warned that if people turned from God, the country would be at risk.

The Restoring Honor Rally Is Driving The Left Nuts

This weekend is going to be a busy weekend in Washington DC. Glenn Beck is paying for a non-partisan,multi-religion Restoring Honor rally. It's not a civil rights rally like I keep hearing on the left wing media. The MSM is giving Beck and the rally more air time then they could ever ask for. They seem to have a real problem with Americans trying to restore honor in this country. This is a religious event held for all religions to come together in a "out of many,one" philosophy. The only ones left out are the 6% of Americans that don't believe in God. But the way the MSM is acting is just goofy. Why do they have a problem with restoring honor? What is the big deal about Americans coming together in the name of God? And when will the left realize that this isn't about Glenn Beck? I wish I could have gone. Even more now that I see how unhinged Olbermann and Madow are getting over this rally. I'm praying for the safety of these great Americans as the New Black Panther Party has made a point of disrupting this event. Al Sharpton is also protesting this event. But Al Sharpton is protesting the event because he wrongfully thinks the event is a civil rights event. Just because it's on the same day as MLK Jr. great civil rights speech doesn't mean that is what Beck is trying to do. But that never stop the left in the past from making things up about events and groups of people. I'm sure we will hear the left wing talking points,"racist","anti-American","Christians"...