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Obama: Surge Succeeded But Too Costly
September 04, 2008 10:14 PM
ABC's Sara Just reports: Barack Obama told Fox's Bill O'Reilly that the surge worked "in ways that nobody anticipated” but at enormous cost.
In part one of a pre-recorded interview that will continue to air over several nights next week, and tonight's portion airing directly as the Republican National Convention was taking place, the two focused on the war and security.
On the subject of the war in Iraq, O'Reilly began by praising Obama for being "perspicacious" (yes, precipicacious) on the decision to go to war, but asked why the Democrat has not been more positive about the results of the troop surge that increased American boots on the ground last year:
OBAMA: ....There is no doubt that the violence is down and that is a testament to the troops that were sent and General Patraeus and Ambassador Crocker. I think that the surge has succeeded in ways that nobody anticipated, by the way, including President Bush and the other supporters....
O'REILLY: But if it had been up to you there would not have been a surge. You and Joe Biden, no surge.
OBAMA: Hold on, if you look at the the debate that was taking place. We had gone through five years of mismanagement of this war, which I thougth was disastrous, and the president wanted to double down and continue and open-ended policy that did not create the kind of pressure on the Iraqis to take responsibility and reconcile.
O'REILLY: But it worked, come on.
OBAMA: Bill, look - I already said it succeeded beyond our wildest dreams.
O'REILLY: Why can you not say, 'I was right in the beginning, but I was wrong on the surge?'
OBAMA: Because there is an underlying problem with what we have done. We have reduced the violence. But the Iraqis have still not taken responsibility. And we still do not have the kind of political reconciliation -- we are still spending, Bill, $10 billion or $12 billion a month
O'REILLY: And if you're president, I hope you can get them to kick in on that.
OBAMA: They've got $79 billion dollars in the dirt
O'REILLY: I'll go with you.
OBAMA: Let's go!
September 4, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (90)
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Didn't watch this interview because O'Reilly bent over and caved to get Obamma. He insisted on it showing during the RNC Comvention.
RE: Obammy on the surge. He has flipped flopped again?
The next thing he will be saying is that he won't tax 95% of us. Sure.
And we should buy some oceanfront land in Arizona.
Palin/McCain 08
Posted by: LarryMan | Sep 4, 2008 10:25:16 PM
Good job, Bill O'Reilly, but you should have held Obama's feet a bit closer to the fire.
Actually, you caught him admitting he was wrong about the surge, and you should have made him grovel, crawl, and call out to Old Joe Biden for help.
Or, better yet, why didn't you ask the great Obama to kick in some of the $10 million that his campaign raised in fear of Sarah Palin?
At least, Bill, you were able to get Obama to admit that the surge did work (when he and the Dems said it would not) beyond his wildest dreams.
Now, one must wonder what the Obama "wildest dreams" are all about.
Posted by: Jayhawk | Sep 4, 2008 10:25:36 PM
does anyone find it funny that John McCain is talking about the cost of food, gas etc to a crowd who don't look like they are hurting for money?
Posted by: rachel | Sep 4, 2008 10:32:38 PM
"in ways that nobody anticipated"
Obama lying again. McCain anticipated it.
Posted by: geevill | Sep 4, 2008 10:35:39 PM
"in ways that nobody anticipated"
Obama lying again. McCain anticipated it.
Posted by: geevill | Sep 4, 2008 10:35:40 PM
This is the same thing that Senator Obama has always said. He didn't flip....I think that you a##hats need to just sign up and run right over to Iraq and give them folks what for....I have some ebay body armor you can borrow.
Posted by: Just wondering | Sep 4, 2008 10:37:12 PM
Rachel,
No. Michelle Obama $318,ooo per year to kick poor people out of her Hospital.
Posted by: geevill | Sep 4, 2008 10:37:13 PM
A couple months ago, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, McCain said that knowing what we know now he would still attack Iraq. Why does the media focus on Obama's statements, especially since they listen to what he has said?
In April 2008, the Iraq surplus was discussed with General Patraeus and Ambassador Crocker.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) "I'd like to focus a minute on the financial sacrifice of our country. It is a burr in the saddle of the American people that the Iraqi government has a budget surplus and we have a massive budget deficit, and yet we are paying and they are not."
McCain gave a campaign speech and said more money needed to be spent on training for the Iraq military.
Obama’s efforts to point to other factors that predated the “surge” – such as the Anbar Awakening (the Sunni tribal rejection of al-Qaeda extremists) and cease-fires ordered by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr – fall on deaf ears.
Posted by: Jim | Sep 4, 2008 10:38:27 PM
Looks like the Obamabots are all busy watching their next President speak.
Don't they have DVRs?
Posted by: Jayhawk | Sep 4, 2008 10:42:35 PM
Obama's compaign is too costly. Look at what he spent on Pensylvania against Hillary. That's not responsible spending. He's all talk.
Posted by: young_voter | Sep 4, 2008 10:44:19 PM
The problem is that the surge was only a qualified success. John McCain is the one being stubborn on this issue. ........
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/09/05/stubborn-mccain-champions-war/
Posted by: Ohg Rea Tone | Sep 4, 2008 10:45:40 PM
oh would you all just stop it!
Listen to what he is saying...the surge still did not yield the intended results. The surge was initiated to give the Iraqi's room, the room without all the violence, to install their political resolutions, which they STILL HAVE NOT DONE.
Ok, that's it on the surge.
Palin is not qualified to be vice president of this country. She really isn't qualified to be governor. I bet the folks in Alaska are quietly trying to figure out how that happened. Her education level is sorely lacking.
With the degree she has, she's not even qualified to teach a class, let alone be the vice president of this country.
Posted by: LA in Indiana | Sep 4, 2008 10:45:41 PM
I'm gonna become cheif of police in LA. Pull in all the cops off the street. Have the gang members rob, rape and murder for, let's say a few years. Put the cops back on the street after anybody who could have got out did. And crack down with a martial law/police state and restrict the movement of anybody who's stuck there and survived the aftermath after all of the uncontrolled violence. And then I'm gonna call it victory and when I run for reelection for police cheif I'm gonna run ads saying: "The violence is down, because I added cops on the beat and my "surge" worked. Now put me back in office even though I was the one who was responsible for all of that violence that went down in the first place." This is what McCain and the GOP would have you believe is your reason for rewarding their performance with another four years. Well, do you think they deserve it??? Just wanted to know.
Posted by: argh! | Sep 4, 2008 10:54:09 PM
McCain-Palin -USA
Obama-Biden liberal kooks
Posted by: geevill | Sep 4, 2008 10:57:00 PM
McCain-Palin -USA
Obama-Biden liberal kooks
Posted by: geevill | Sep 4, 2008 10:57:01 PM
be clear he said he was not conceding that he was wrong because he's not...Iraq is not stable by any stretch of the imagination...
other wise why would we be ignoring the countries wherer the terrorists are all in the name of trying to keep a cap on the bottle.
Posted by: dl | Sep 4, 2008 11:00:07 PM
After watching both conventions with passive interest..I have come to the conclusion that Obama is a good man with a good heart..but is just too inexperienced to deal with foreign policy and national security issues..as proven by the above statements....
Posted by: curious indep | Sep 4, 2008 11:01:36 PM
geevil
the surge workes because al qaeda can't risk looking like they are to blame for the unrest in the middle east over the USA and we gave money and guns to militant muslim insurgents to fight with us...a tactic that has bitten us in the a$$ when we did the same thing in afghanistan...out of it we got OBL, al qaeda and the taliban.
that is why Obama is right...the goal of the surge was political stability...we do not have it...and the American economy can't afford the decades it would take to create it if the Iraqii government won't do it on it's own.
Posted by: dl | Sep 4, 2008 11:03:18 PM
geevill that really bugge me too the huge pay raise michelle got when her hubby became a senator, and the hospitals record with minorites. However I just can't the image out of my head of a bunch of people who all look the same at the rnc and none of which are looking like they hurt for money, just looks werid to me. In the end I am gonna vote for Obama and biden because I cant take the republicans talk on how government needs to be smaller and no big brother yet most want to have a say in the most personal decison a woman can make about her body.
Posted by: rachel | Sep 4, 2008 11:03:45 PM
Of course its too costly. That goes for the war too. We borrowed the money from China through the feds manipulation. Then there is the fact that troops are killing themselves. Then there is the cost of all the wounded. Obama will win, and he better do a good job. Ron Paul would have been a better choice.
Posted by: Ben Straub | Sep 4, 2008 11:09:05 PM
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