I hope Obama doesn't weaken to this McClain Bush stuff. This has been a lie from the beginning and will always be a lie and we need to get the hell out of there right now!

Here's an idea: Pull out ALL the troops and leave Blackwater to guard the oil fields, while the country works it's problems out by themselves, with us finally out of the way. Is that good enough for you John?

Congress needs to start supporting the voters who want this to end.

McCain is simply telling us to accept an occupation that could go on indefinitely because he believes it serves our national interests. I say "no thanks". Why are we not electing someone that voted against the war since we as a country are against the war and the lies which facilitated it.

You have no idea how badly George W threatened Britain to get them to go along with him. He tried to move all of out military personnel out of England if they didn't play ball with him.

Obama says he will leave up to 80,000 troop in Iraq. In any case, if America were to leave now what could happen? For one, Iran and Syria would be big time winners putting enormous pressure on other Middle East states. There's gonna be one heck of a killing ground in that part of the world for years and years to come. No one will then have the courage to stop Iran from getting their nuclear weapons. In turn whether its a Obama or Clinton president the Middle East will be their horrific problem that will grow worse and worse on a daily basis. The carnage will spill all through the larger Middle East and should Iran threaten Israel with their nukes there's going to be a nuclear exchange like nothing mankind has ever seen in our short history of life on this planet. Iran will get wiped off the face of the earth if they strike Israel because it is estimated Israel has 300 plus nukes. Even Kuwait has made overtures to be included under Israel's nuclear umbrella in March. Not something any president could ever want on their watch. People please think of the possible out comes if we leave too soon. My outline is all too real and deadly. Because who among the nations on this earth will stop Iran from getting nukes? And if you think gas prices are bad now you ain't seen nothing yet, believe me.

Sorry John MCain, laughable.

RuthieM Obama's foreign policy advisors say though that will have 60-80,000 troops in Iraq until 2010- so are we aren't leaving under Obama all so soon. Obama is the same guy who just about a weekend ago said he wants to go back to the foreign policy traditions of Ronald Reagan and George Sr. (no mention of two term Democratic President Clinton) - so I guess he's already impressed by the Republicans and their foreign policy stance. In fact I love that video on you tube where he talks about how Rumsfeld is just mainstream in his foreign policy beliefs, and in fact, as he says further in the video, all of Bush's appointees are. Now I certainly wouldn't have anticipated the degree to which Rumsfeld and Cheney got us into this mess, but mainstream? they always seemed pretty right of center to me.

How thin is Barack Obama's resume? Tomorrow he will chair his first Senate hearing EVER.

Despite the fact that the subcommittee he chairs has still NEVER met (subcomittee on 'European Affairs'--nothing going on over there anyway), he's been given the honor of chairing the Senate hearing on the ambassadorial nominations to Finland, Slovenia, Cyprus and Bulgaria.

Wow, how can you resist Change and Hope like that ?!

What did Obama mean when he said he would keep a "strike force" in Iraq after withdrawing most U.S. combat forces? Well, he may not be planning to withdraw the bulk of U.S. combat forces after all.

A key adviser to Senator Obama’s campaign is recommending in a confidential paper that America keep between 60,000 and 80,000 troops in Iraq as of late 2010, a plan at odds with the public pledge of the Illinois senator to withdraw combat forces from Iraq within 16 months of taking office.

The paper, obtained by The New York Sun, was written by Colin Kahl for the center-left Center for a New American Security. In “Stay on Success: A Policy of Conditional Engagement,” Mr. Kahl writes that through negotiations with the Iraqi government “the U.S. should aim to transition to a sustainable over-watch posture of perhaps 60,000–80,000 forces by the end of 2010.”

Note that Mr. Kahl is the day-to-day coordinator of the Obama campaign’s working group on Iraq.

If there are 80,000 U.S. troops in Iraq at the end of 2010, halfway through an Obama administration, there is no conceivable way that Obama "ends the war" by the end of his first term. In fact, this isn't any different from the role McCain envisions U.S. forces playing in Iraq, except that under Obama, U.S. forces would no longer have victory as their aim.

An advisor's position paper is just that, a paper. Doesn't mean anything. Senator Obama will, I am sure, do everything necessary to bring the Iraq war to a swift conclusion. While I would personally prefer an immediate withdrawal, the proposals put forth by both candidates will be sufficient, understanding that they are subject to change based on conditions in January 2009.

Obama 2008 -- Yes, WE CAN!!!

After reading this article, and looking at the behavior and policies being pushed by the presumptive presidential nominee from the republican side, one would wonder, have some doubt and ask some serious questions about the gentleman Mccain's IQ, just a curiosity. Jgaw, WestCoastMessanger, DCVoter, Dogsoldier,MattOhio,jay or russell may have an answer for us. God bless America and God bless Obama. OBAMA08.

"An advisor's position paper is just that, a paper. Doesn't mean anything'- So Obama doesn't have to listen to advisors that he has purposely asked to advise him on what to do in Iraq, he doesn't have to listen to the Generals who have fought this war and know the complexities in Iraq. He doesn't have to listen to one of the greatest minds with a PH.D from Yale, wrote the most acclaimed book on counterinsurgency and just happens to be the General who in 7 months turned a war around, no Obama who was a community activist and lawyer been in the Senate for 3 years he knows what should be done in Iraq, he knows what to do to protect Americans and their interests, he knows what to do so when we leave Iraq it doesn't come to bite us in the ### and cause more American blood, treasury and ability to have some control in the region, ah... he knows because he has special powers that only his ridiculous supports can see.

Since Obama has not defined his "Strike Force" strategy for Iraq, then the paper published by his Iraq advisor Colin Kahl is the ONLY definition of his intentions. Until Obama explains his Iraq plans, we can only assume his plan is to keep 60,000 to 80,000 US troops in Iraq as late as 2010.

Once again, this inexperienced candidate has let someone else define him and his position on the most important issue for Democrats--withdrawal from Iraq.

If McCain would put the nation ahead of his own personal ambition, he would quit supporting the occupation of Iraq.