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PoliGAF Interim Thread of USA General Elections (DAWN OF THE VEEP)

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According to senior Iraqi officials, the decision to play U.S. politics emerged last month after Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari's trip to Washington for meetings with Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Obama and Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican presidential nominee.

The visit took place as the U.S. and Iraq were negotiating rules that would govern the American military presence in Iraq once the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

The talks had bogged down over U.S. demands for extensive basing rights, control of Iraqi airspace and immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law for U.S. soldiers and private contractors.

In the past, the Iraqis would have bowed to American pressure. This time, they saw an option in Obama, a longtime critic of the war. They could press for a short-term agreement with the administration and take their chances with a new president _ Obama or McCain.

Also, the Iraqis could flirt with Obama's withdrawal timetable, increasing pressure on Bush to cut a deal more favorable to them.

With the talks bogged down, the Iraqis sensed desperation by the Americans to wrap up a deal quickly before the presidential campaign was in full swing.

"Let's squeeze them," al-Maliki told his advisers, who related the conversation to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The squeeze came July 7, when al-Maliki announced in Abu Dhabi that Iraq wanted the base deal to include some kind of timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops. The prime minister also proposed a short-term interim memorandum of agreement rather than the more formal status of forces agreement the two sides had been negotiating.

Talk of a full agreement fell by the wayside in favor of a short-term memorandum.

More significantly, the White House agreed this past week to a "general time horizon" for withdrawing American troops _ short of a firm timetable but a dramatic shift from the administration's refusal to accept any deadline for ending the mission in Iraq.

AP

Fascinating...

The result is that McCain's campaign has been cut off at the knees. Its completely devastating. I would go so far as to say there is no way he can recover and that this election is now over. Hopefully the defeat is large enough so that McCain's forthcoming veep choice of Romney has no shot at the nomination in '12.
 

Shirokun

Member
siamesedreamer said:
AP

Fascinating...

The result is that McCain's campaign has been cut off at the knees. Its completely devastating. I would go so far as to say there is no way he can recover and that this election is now over. Hopefully the defeat is large enough so that McCain's forthcoming veep choice of Romney has no shot at the nomination in '12.

It's certainly a blow to McCain, but the nature of politics in the US will make sure this is spun around a few times so as to lessen the impact. All the McCain camp really has to do is convince the American public that we, the US, know what is best for Iraq better than the Iraqi people do. It seems like this would be difficult, but I'm sure enough people would buy it. It would simply become an issue of national pride with people saying, "The Iraqi's can't tell AMERICA what to do!".

I can see it now, really!
 

Particle Physicist

between a quark and a baryon
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/20/us.iraq/index.html

Lieberman: Obama choosing to lose Iraq war

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama is choosing to lose the Iraq war by planning to withdraw American combat troops, a high-profile supporter of Republican candidate Sen. John McCain said Sunday.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent from Connecticut, said McCain's support for bolstering U.S. forces in Iraq last year to subdue insurgents has made Obama's expected visit to Iraq this week possible.

"John McCain had the guts to argue against public opinion, to put his whole campaign on the line, because, as he says, he'd rather lose an election than lose in a war that he thinks is this important to the United States," Lieberman said on "Fox News Sunday."

"If Barack Obama's policy in Iraq had been implemented, he couldn't be in Iraq today," Lieberman said, adding that Obama "was prepared to accept retreat and defeat."

Obama's expected arrival in Baghdad is part of a multi-country trip that included a Saturday stop in Afghanistan, where the Illinois senator says he would send more U.S. troops to bolster the fight against the Taliban and al Qaeda.

The remarks by Lieberman -- who ran for vice president as a Democrat in 2000 -- drew a sharp response from Sen. Evan Bayh, an Obama supporter who appeared with Lieberman on the show.

Obama's initial opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq "was right from the beginning," said Bayh, D-Indiana. Video Watch Bayh discuss Lieberman's remarks »

Bayh said President Bush's announcement Friday that the United States and Iraq were discussing a "time horizon" for the withdrawal of American troops suggests that the White House is coming around to Obama's point of view.

Obama has said the United States can withdraw combat troops from Iraq within 16 months while leaving a residual force to engage in counterterrorism activities and protect diplomats.

"Clearly, they want a more definitive timeline," Bayh said. "And even President Bush now is coming up with a variety of euphemisms: aspirational goals, time horizons. I mean, it's starting to sound pretty much like a timeline to me."

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki appeared to back Obama's call for a 16-month timetable in an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel over the weekend.

An Iraqi government spokesman said Saturday that the prime minister's comments to Der Spiegel had been "misunderstood" and "mistranslated." The White House said al-Maliki has made clear that any withdrawals would be conditioned on "continuing positive developments."

But in a brief statement Sunday, the magazine said it "stands by its version of this interview."

The magazine had reported that al-Maliki brought up Obama's 16-month idea and said it "would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes."

Rep. Roy Blunt, the Republican whip in the House of Representatives, said the weekend controversy over the Der Spiegel interview was itself a sign of progress in the war in Iraq.

"Maliki's comments indicate that suddenly we've got a stronger government there," Blunt, of Missouri, said on CNN's "Late Edition." "I wonder how that happened."

The U.S. is withdrawing the last of its five "surge" brigades: those sent to Iraq in 2007 to bolster U.S. forces there. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on "Fox News Sunday" that U.S. planners are examining whether American withdrawals are feasible after the final surge brigade is gone.
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But he said that "conditions on the ground are very important" and that setting a more definite timeline "could be very dangerous."

"I'd worry about any kind of rapid movement out and creating instability where we have stability," Mullen said. "We're engaged very much right now with the Iraqi people. The Iraqi leadership is starting to generate the kind of political progress that we need to make. The economy is starting to move in the right direction. So all those things are moving in the right direction."


choosing to lose!?? :/ but im glad people are pointing out how the white house has been slowly moving towards a withdrawal.
 

Clevinger

Member
New York Times gets the audio from the Maliki interview and translates it

“Unfortunately, Der Spiegel was not accurate,” Mr. Dabbagh said Sunday by telephone. “I have the recording of the voice of Mr. Maliki. We even listened to the translation.”

But the interpreter for the interview works for Mr. Maliki’s office, not the magazine. And in an audio recording of Mr. Maliki’s interview that Der Spiegel provided to The New York Times, Mr. Maliki seemed to state a clear affinity for Mr. Obama’s position, bringing it up on his own in an answer to a general question on troop presence.

The following is a direct translation from the Arabic of Mr. Maliki’s comments by The Times: “Obama’s remarks that — if he takes office — in 16 months he would withdraw the forces, we think that this period could increase or decrease a little, but that it could be suitable to end the presence of the forces in Iraq.”

He continued: “Who wants to exit in a quicker way has a better assessment of the situation in Iraq.”
 
siamesedreamer said:
AP

Fascinating...

The result is that McCain's campaign has been cut off at the knees. Its completely devastating. I would go so far as to say there is no way he can recover and that this election is now over. Hopefully the defeat is large enough so that McCain's forthcoming veep choice of Romney has no shot at the nomination in '12.

Errr, what? It's a problem for McCain but how exactly is it fatally devastating to his chances?
 

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Cheebs said:
Not really. They have been barely an ally for 60 years compared to the roughly 200 or so compared to England or France.
The fuck? A little under 200 years ago the English burned down the White House. :p
 
Agent Icebeezy said:
How can they knock a million people showing up. A lot of us want our fellow countries to respect us again, if Obama is able to outdo Germany's own politicians, that should be perceived as a good thing. I don't cosign on the Obama Messiah stuff, but when somebody comes along and makes you give a damn like he does to people, you have to take notice.

It all depends on how it's framed by the media. It's what they do. Several talking heads were already pushing this idea on Friday shows.

With what's happened these last two weeks (and especially the last few days), it should have just about destroyed McCain's chances in the fall. Nevertheless, despite the attention Obama will get, McCain is still liked by many pundits and reporters. I expect all will be forgotten by next week and it will be a horse race again.
 
Clevinger said:

This better get coverage tomorrow on the poli talk shows. If this gets buried or brushed off, we might as well stick a fork in the media.

Anyway, while this isn't check-mate (as another poster pointed out there's ways to spin this to lesson the impact), this can cause HUGE damage to McCain's supposed foreign policy advantage if Obama and surrogates can get the message out.

McCain either has to soften up his position or he needs to somehow justify us asserting our authority over the Iraqis against their will.

Also, saying "without the surge, the withdrawal wouldn't be possible" may have some truth to it but it's still not a real strong argument that's going to win a lot of people over. Mainly because their message is already so muddled. You can't go from "staying for years at whatever costs until victory" to "withdrawling quickly because violence has subsided". Especially since the McCain campaign has lambasted Obama for wanting to withdraw troops within the next 18-20 months, they can't turn around and claim essentially the same strategy. Otherwise you're just arguing semantics. Obama will win a semantics game because the country wants change.
 

ZealousD

Makes world leading predictions like "The sun will rise tomorrow"
The Obama campaign seriously need to make this a recurring talking point.

"Our withdrawl plan is endorsed by Prime Minister Maliki. Not only would a phased 16-month withdrawl save taxpayer dollars and free up our military to put extra pressure against a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, but it also respects the sovereignty of Iraq and the wishes of its people."
 

Chichikov

Member
ZealousD said:
The Obama campaign seriously need to make this a recurring talking point.

"Our withdrawl plan is endorsed by Prime Minister Maliki. Not only would a phased 16-month withdrawl save taxpayer dollars and free up our military to put extra pressure against a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, but it also respects the sovereignty of Iraq and the wishes of its people."
I hardly think getting endorsement from Maliki is going to be electoral gold come November.
In my mind the Obama campaign's talking point on the Iraq war should be fairly simple -
It was colossal failure that cost countless lives, hundreds of billions of dollars and made the US less safe.
Tactical successes on the ground change none of it.
 

Tamanon

Banned
quadriplegicjon said:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/20/us.iraq/index.html




choosing to lose!?? :/ but im glad people are pointing out how the white house has been slowly moving towards a withdrawal.

The funny thing is that Lieberman is talking about having the guts to argue against public opinion but conveniently ignoring the entire bit where Obama opposed the war from the very beginning:p

:lol :lol even Morning Joe is mocking this whole "time horizon" bit.
 
masud said:
A million people? I don't think this is a good idea. At least a couple thousand of them are bound to to be nazis. But seriously though how is Obama's European popularity gonna go over in the US? More importantly how is it going to be covered in the media?

hans_gruber.jpg


"Do you really think you have a chance against us, Mr. Cowboy?"
 
This is golden:

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/pub...g_that_reporters_are_trying_to_help_obama_win


Belief Growing That Reporters are Trying to Help Obama Win


The belief that reporters are trying to help Barack Obama win the fall campaign has grown by five percentage points over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that 49% of voters believe most reporters will try to help Obama with their coverage, up from 44% a month ago.

Just 14% believe most reporters will try to help John McCain win, little changed from 13% a month ago. Just one voter in four (24%) believes that most reporters will try to offer unbiased coverage.

A plurality of Democrats—37%-- say most reporters try to offer unbiased coverage of the campaign. Twenty-seven percent (27%) believe most reporters are trying to help Obama and 21% in Obama’s party think reporters are trying to help McCain.

Among Republicans, 78% believe reporters are trying to help Obama and 10% see most offering unbiased coverage.

As for unaffiliated voters, 50% see a pro-Obama bias and 21% see unbiased coverage. Just 12% of those not affiliated with either major party believe the reporters are trying to help McCain.

In a more general sense, 45% say that most reporters would hide information if it hurt the candidate they wanted to win. Just 30% disagree and 25% are not sure. Democrats are evenly divided as to whether a reporter would release such information while Republicans and unaffiliated voters have less confidence in the reporters.

Republicans and unaffiliated voters are more likely to trust campaign information from family and friends than from reporters. Democrats are evenly divided as to who they would trust more.

A separate survey released this morning also found that 50% of voters believe most reporters want to make the economy seem worse than it is. A plurality believes that the media has also tried to make the war in Iraq appear worse that it really is.

A survey conducted earlier this year found that 30% of voters believe having a friendly reporter is more valuable than raising a lot of campaign contributions. Twenty-nine percent (29%) believe contributions are more important and 40% are not sure.

These results are consistent with earlier surveys finding that large segments of the population believe the media is biased It is also clear that voters select their news sources in a partisan manner. During Election 2004, CNN viewers heavily favored John Kerry while Fox Fans preferred George W. Bush.
 

thefro

Member
McCain says Iraq has a border with Pakistan

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=3105288&page=1

And it was McCain who owns the first big gaffe of the trip -- appearing to confuse Iraq and Afghanistan.

Asked by ABC's Diane Sawyer Monday morning whether the "the situation in Afghanistan in precarious and urgent," McCain responded:

"I think it's serious. . . . It's a serious situation, but there's a lot of things we need to do. We have a lot of work to do and I'm afraid it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border," said McCain, R-Ariz., said on "Good Morning America."
 
PHOTOS: BARACK OBAMA arrives in Iraq, meets with PM Nouri al- Maliki

capt.d588ca07b42742d1a7681f81fcfb0ca8.iraq_obama_bag106.jpg

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, right, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, left, and U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb, 2nd left, leave after having talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 21, 2008. Obama began Monday his first on-the-ground inspection of Iraq since launching his bid for the White House, with U.S. commanders ready to brief him on progress in a war he long opposed and Iraqi leaders wanting more details of his proposals for troop withdrawals (AP Photo/Thaier al-Sudani, Pool)

r569874007.jpg

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (R) and U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker smile as they walk out from the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki after a meeting in Baghdad July 21, 2008. Obama met Iraq's prime minister on Monday to get a first-hand assessment of security in the country, where violence is at its lowest level since early 2004. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ)

r2316658383.jpg

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (L) walks with Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh (2nd L) and Iraq's National Security Advisor Muafaq al-Rubaye (R) during his arrival at the office of Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad July 21, 2008. Obama met Iraq's prime minister on Monday to get a first-hand assessment of security in the country, where violence is at its lowest level since early 2004. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (IRAQ)

capt.2f9bd7f6798b48dc9538ec70aba31b81.iraq_obama_bag108.jpg

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, 2nd right, arrives at the office o Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, unseen, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 21, 2008. Obama began Monday his first on-the-ground inspection of Iraq since launching his bid for the White House, with U.S. commanders ready to brief him on progress in a war he long opposed and Iraqi leaders wanting more details of his proposals for troop withdrawals. (AP Photo/Thaier al-Sudani, Pool)

capt.e12687821ba341358e1a596a9a4716d2.iraq_obama_bag105.jpg

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, left, talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, right, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 21, 2008. Obama began Monday his first on-the-ground inspection of Iraq since launching his bid for the White House, with U.S. commanders ready to brief him on progress in a war he long opposed and Iraqi leaders wanting more details of his proposals for troop withdrawals. Man at center is an unidentified aide. (AP Photo/Thaier al-Sudani, Pool)

capt.cac5675082c04d07ae47f256a5a53703.iraq_obama_bag109.jpg

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama looks on during talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, unseen, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, July 21, 2008. Obama began Monday his first on-the-ground inspection of Iraq since launching his bid for the White House, with U.S. commanders ready to brief him on progress in a war he long opposed and Iraqi leaders wanting more details of his proposals for troop withdrawals. (AP Photo/Thaier al-Sudani, Pool)
 

Tamanon

Banned
"We want the US troops out by 2010". Not on a timetable not by US election standards. But by our standards".

Ali Al-Dabbagh

I can't wait to hear who Centcom posts a statement from to counteract this, was just broadcast a half hour ago.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
ZealousD said:
The Obama campaign seriously need to make this a recurring talking point.

"Our withdrawl plan is endorsed by Prime Minister Maliki. Not only would a phased 16-month withdrawl save taxpayer dollars and free up our military to put extra pressure against a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan, but it also respects the sovereignty of Iraq and the wishes of its people."

That's pretty damn good. Are you a part time political speech writer? That's exactly what he shuold be saying everyday about Iraq.
 

Tamanon

Banned
I dunno, you can't really reference a foreign leader's support for your policies that much, people are too nationalistic for it. But you can say the American people want us to leave Iraq AND the Iraqi people want us to leave Iraq.
 
Tamanon said:
I dunno, you can't really reference a foreign leader's support for your policies that much, people are too nationalistic for it. But you can say the American people want us to leave Iraq AND the Iraqi people want us to leave Iraq.

Exactly. If the Iraqi government says "We're ready to take over", then it's out of our hands. If the Iraqi government is asking us to leave, but we continue to stay and let our soldiers die, it looks very bad for us.
 

GhaleonEB

Member
*** Hillary’s debt: Looking at her June FEC filing, the New York Times reports that Clinton loaned herself an additional $1 million (up to a total of $13.2 million), and that her debt to her vendors rose from $10.4 million to $12 million. The paper also writes that in June, “the Clinton campaign took in just $2.7 million from donors in June, less than the $5.4 million it spent.”
Heh.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
GhaleonEB said:

I dont feel too bad for her, she chose to continue the fight all the way through the primaries even though it was mathematically over. She limited the amount of time she had before the convention to make up any debts as well as took on new ones.

Her choice.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Tamanon said:
Ali Al-Dabbagh

I can't wait to hear who Centcom posts a statement from to counteract this, was just broadcast a half hour ago.


Who is Ali? I mean what does he do for Iraq?
 
Hey guys, I've been out of touch with PoliGAF since the primaries ended. I'm pretty clueless on the political front but while I was browsing the internets yesterday I found all these sites claiming Obama's birth certificate is fake (the one from Hawaii). Can anyone provide info on the matter. True or not? Links would be helpful.

Thanks.
 

maynerd

Banned
koshunter said:
Hey guys, I've been out of touch with PoliGAF since the primaries ended. I'm pretty clueless on the political front but while I was browsing the internets yesterday I found all these sites claiming Obama's birth certificate is fake (the one from Hawaii). Can anyone provide info on the matter. True or not? Links would be helpful.

Thanks.

It's not fake. Move along nothing to see here.
 

Tamanon

Banned
What sites are you going to?:lol

Some site made an unfounded claim about his birth certificate, kos posted the certificate and then someone else made up something else. Nothing else, just lies, damn lies, and also lies.
 

Tamanon

Banned
I was listening to The Bugle this morning and they're hoping that the right wing blogs don't get a hold of Obama's long lost brother Nigel Obama, who he slayed as a youth.
 
Right after I submitted the message, I saw the certificate on Obama's site. Thanks for the help though, I really should start reading through this thread.

EDIT: Oh, If I came off as trying to start something, sorry about that. I was actually just curious. I'm an Obama supporter.
 

scorcho

testicles on a cold fall morning
maybe they just hope it to mirror Obama's stubborn adherence to reality.

i'm thinking McCain referenced our vital need to provide Czechoslovakia with a missile shield and to shatter the Ottoman Empire once and for all.

edit: that editorial is full of platitudes and drivel. i'm glad he got the countries correct though.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Tamanon said:
I was listening to The Bugle this morning and they're hoping that the right wing blogs don't get a hold of Obama's long lost brother Nigel Obama, who he slayed as a youth.


What does this even mean?
 
**Heads Up: Please Vote For Obama On This CNN Poll**

Which candidate's judgment do you trust more on the Iraq war?

Obama or McCain?

Folks go to CNN page on the middle right corner is a poll on which candidates judgement is better on Iraq. Lets keep it going to the Senator.

http://edition.cnn.com/
 

scorcho

testicles on a cold fall morning
for some good commentary on the current state of the economy, this is as good an op-ed you'll find - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jared-bernstein/the-shampoo-economy_b_113942.html

the PDF it links to should also add several more nails onto the coffin of those twisting the current downturn as a failure of over-regulation. the biggest problem is that neither party or the Fed has the wherewithal (or desire) to correct the fundamentals.
 

Tamanon

Banned
From McCain's "editorial"

I am also dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it. But if we don’t win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president. Instead I will continue implementing a proven counterinsurgency strategy not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan with the goal of creating stable, secure, self-sustaining democratic allies.

My god, that's gotta be the most empty paragraph ever.
 
This pretty much sums up the McCain/Maliki/Obama situation:

Spencer Ackerman said:
There's nowhere left for McCain to go here. Either he endorses a timetable for withdrawal, which he has consistently said would be a disaster, and cedes his only big issue to Obama -- and more importantly, concedes that Obama's judgment is sound -- or he deliberately ignores the concerted, expressed wishes of the Iraqi government in order to prolong an unpopular war.

Hard to see how he could get out of this one.
 

scorcho

testicles on a cold fall morning
Tamanon said:
From McCain's "editorial"



My god, that's gotta be the most empty paragraph ever.
replace Iraq with Vietnam, Afghanistan with Cambodia, switch the years around and it's like the world stood still.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Tamanon said:
From McCain's "editorial"



My god, that's gotta be the most empty paragraph ever.

Exactly, this isnt an editorial, its one giant hit piece on Obama. Obama's outlined policy, which is what the NYT wants.
 
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