Obama in Never-Before-Aired 'Nightline' Interview From 2004: Praises John Kerry's Experience, Disses 'Cut and Run' Proposals From Iraq

Just the facts please! Wow! They have obviously stopped teaching logic in our schools. There are only about five intelligent responses in this entire thread. What happened to the time when adults could argue the issues without resorting to name calling - debate the issues - not each others' politics.

I am not an Obama supporter in fact embracing the fact that he is just another calculating politician. However his thoughts on the subject are fine from my perspective except for the fact that his inability to realize that there are just plain bad regimes out there that will never like the US. He thought Kerry would be able to better negotiate with those bums and now he thinks he will be able to. I disagree that his supporters understand that there is little difference between Bush and at that time Kerry based on what they practically can really accomplish. Everybody thought that Reagan was able to strong arm the Russia into behaving, but look now how wrong that really was. The Russian government is exactly the same bunch of thugs, just a lot richer and even more determined to kick America off of their top spot. It is one big war with many, many little battles. Russia lost a few of those battles, but they are still in the hunt. Peace is impossible and until both parties in this country accept that we will continue to see a divided America which long-term will bring us down.

This only demonstrates that Barack Obama has the intelligence to make decisions based on facts and has the courage to change course if necessary. He is no Yosemite Sam like John McThang.

Much has changed in the 4 years since this interview. Iraq now has a government of some sort in place and they have some measure of law enforcement and armed forces in place. It has been proven that Bush, Cheney, et al, manufactured evidence and for all practical purposes lied us into this war. We won't even address the amount of money made by private corporations due to their no-bid contracts. So, the climate in the US political game is VERY different for Obama in 2008 than it was for Kerry in 2004.

However, I think it shows the absolute lack of class, honor and integrity that this was aired on Nightline during the Democratic Convention, the night before Obama accepts the party's nomination, and on the night of the nomination McCain's camp is launching their newest barrage of attack ads supposedly "nothing like this has been done before".

Obama has consistently said we should be as responsible getting out of Iraq as we were irresponsible getting in. No significant change from 2004 to 2008.

What in Sen. Obama's record should lead anyone to believe his "narrative" that he is a "post-partisan unifier"? What in Sen. Obama's record should lead anyone to believe that he will govern as anything other than a hard-left, partisan liberal?

The Obamperor has no clothes!

Interesting interview.

I think it's important to note that Al Qaeda and America's enemies were plotting 9/11 attacks while Bill Clinton - a Democrat - was in office. Other American interests were also attacked while Clinton was President. And Bill Clinton was excellent at foreign relations and multi-lateralism. He did not have the "disdain for world opinion", as Obama puts it, that Bush supposedly has.

And yet America was attacked anyway.

There are nations in this world that will always hate America, no matter who is President. And there will always be European nations who don't want to get their hands dirty when confronted with a crisis, no matter who is President. The "unilateralism" that many Democrats dislike is sometimes necessary, because other nations simply won't step up.

You don't protect American interests by giving anti-American nations a hug and by making sure the Europeans like you. You protect American interests by actually protecting them - and yeah, that sometimes means fighting evil by yourself. Because the only nation that will ever really look out for America is America.

I'm Canadian. I wish I had a country that worried more about its citizens than it did about what the rest of the world thinks. A lot of the rest of the world has its collective head up its rear-end.

Tre, Not the race card!

It's about policy differences. Are you glad Clarence Thomas is a Supreme Justice? I am! Would you vote for Shelby Steele (A black author,if he ran) I WOULD!

So let's stop with the racism and believe what Martin Luther King believed, It's the content of a man's character that counts not his skin color!

And Obama was found lacking.

"Fast-forward to the 2007-2008 Democratic primary seasons, when Obama said he'd withdraw American forces with sixteen months regardless of whether Iraq was stable."

because in 2004 there was NO iraq government - and in 2007 there was - and now it's THEIR responsibility. And he NEVER said that he'd leave regardless of the facts on the ground, he said JUST the opposite - though the 16 month time table was offered to put a fire under malaki's butt...

you don't get that?

O' pleease Tre!

"You do realize that he sounded like an utter buffoon when talking about Georgia..."

Translation: I'm a Neo-Con wack job itching for a fresh war!

Obama sounded like a seasoned statesman when talking about Georgia - urging retraint from both sides and then increasing the pressure on Russia as the events unfolded. McCain - without knowing the full story, went right to belligerent - declaring - without the means to back it up, that we're all Georgians today - an outright lie... - the buffon is the one staring back at you in the mirror.

as to the Koppel interview - Obama proved himself precient and wise - of course we couldn't just leave in 2004, and he was right - he always said that we have to leave carefully with repsect to the facts on the ground. he offered up the timetable as an incentive to push the iraqis towards self government - in 2004 there was NO iraqi government. Anyone who claims that handing iraq to the maliki government is a defeat, is just offering lip service to the notion of Democracy...

obama's a career politician and a hypocrite, which makes him a typical politician.....his speaking ability is the only difference between a common politician, and a Presidential candidate..

Sen. Barack Obama used the exact same tired analogy of "someone drove the bus into the ditch" to explain the mistakes going into Iraq in the debate in Philadelphia with Sen. Hillary Clinton. Man, these politicians sure have their "speak" and "talking points" down cold dont they! And I was stupid & naive enough to think that he just thought that up in Philly! Typical empty-suit politician, spewing the party line. Only this time, with Roman columns and Steve Wonder to back him up. McCain 2008/Hillary 2012!!!

The Obama supporters here aren't getting the point. In 2004, Obama was opposed to withdrawing until Iraq was stabilized. That was a good position for him to take. Fast-forward to the 2007-2008 Democratic primary seasons, when Obama said he'd withdraw American forces with sixteen months regardless of whether Iraq was stable.

What's his position now? It's anyone's guess. This interview is bad for Obama because it shows that he adopted a new position in the Democratic primaries just to win the nomination.

Uh oh, he's just another politician. Let the games begin.

"We can't cut and run".

But we sure as hell SHOULD BRING OUR TROOPS HOME BY NOW!

Americans SHOULD NOT have been in Iraq in the first place.

If the wild bush-MCaint put Americans are in a hole, STOP DIGGING!

I don't think this interview reveals anything we didn't already know.

Obama opposed the war, but was sort of toeing the Powell maxim, "if you break it, you own it" line.

The Iraqi government is asking for a timeline. Obama is going to give it to them.

In my view, this interview demonstrates the thoughtfulness that will make Obama a great President.

Obama is very clear in his thinking,articulate and practical.He accepts reality and would rather look to the future than what has happened in the past.It is clearly evident from the interview he has the intellectual ability to look at the larger picture of any issue and look for lasting solutions and not short cut fix.He is very careful in weighing long term consequences of any issue and advocates an approach that is best suited even when the situation is like in Iraq is a quagmire.It takes guts to voice a bold strategy in Iraq when the country was divided between extreme opposite strategies.Now after nealy four years the parties concerned including the Bush administration and the Iraqi government agree to do what he proposed then while more lives have been lost and billions spent and more goodwill squandered.McCain stands alone waging his own war,but can you blame him,that is all he knows:he shouted for war aginst Iraq 3 months after 9/11,a colossal and costly mistake that has diverted the center of war against terrorism which should have been won several years ago.He is still belligerant shouting for more war against more countries.The mark of civilization is moving away from combat to meanigful dialogue.In the stone age disputes were decided by might.We have evolved from those days.Not McCain,he stands alone for he does not subscibe to evolution nor to practical reality.

Reading some of the anti-Obama comments on here reminds me that some of the most ignorant, bigoted human beings on the face of this planet live in America. They can lose their job, their house, their sons and daughters in Iraq, their health care because of Bush and McCain AND STILL NEVER VOTE FOR OBAMA BECAUSE HE IS BLACK!

Obama's answer to every question is bla bla bla; he blabbers until you've forgotten what the actual question is. McCain will tear him to shreds in the debates.c