Kucinich hits Iraq withdrawal: ‘You can’t be in and out’

Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story
Saturday, Feb 28, 2009

It wasn’t even one year ago when Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and members of his political campaign said now-President Barack Obama “seems to think losing a war will help him win an election.”

Which is what makes this week’s announcement of — and the fallout from — President Obama’s plan to withdrawal troops from Iraq so surprising. It isn’t the opposition party Obama must now win over: It’s his own political allies.

Sen. McCain and top Republican leaders actually support the Democratic administration’s plan, while some top Democrats have openly criticized it. Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), himself a former presidential candidate, hit back Friday against a portion of Obama’s plan which would leave 35-50,000 “observer” soldiers in the country.

“You can’t be in and out at the same time,” said Kucinich in a media advisory.

“America must determine at some point to end the occupation, close the bases and bring the troops home,” he said. “We must bring a conclusion to this sorry chapter in American history where war was waged under false pretense against an innocent people. Taking troops out of Iraq should not mean more troops available for deployment in other operations.

“In February of 2007 I presented H.R. 1234, legislation that would end the war in Iraq, and the process I outlined is still necessary. We should immediately bring home American service members and contractors, convene a regional conference to prepare an international peace-keeping force and accelerate Iraq-driven reconstruction.”

“As a candidate for President, I made clear my support for a timeline of 16 months to carry out this drawdown, while pledging to consult closely with our military commanders upon taking office to ensure that we preserve the gains we’ve made and protect our troops,” Obama said on Friday. “Those consultations are now complete, and I have chosen a timeline that will remove our combat brigades over the next 18 months.”

Obama added, “Let me say this as plainly as I can: by August 31, 2010, our combat mission in Iraq will end.”

Congressman Kucinich has been a leading opponent of the Iraq war policy even well before many of his Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives came to agree with his position.

interesting

dunno

Bring'em home...sooner if possible.

Kat

In the false paradign of Right/Left there are those on both sides of the imaginary fence who fight their particular party elites.
Kucinich is one of those.

He's a good guy. Very right too. It puzzles me how people think Obama's foreign policy is so different than Bush's, and Bush's being different than clinton's, etc.

We have to change our WHOLE FOREIGN POLICY. We can't just say "well lets not attack here that's wrong, but we can attack here". This is our problem. Either we have an aggressive policy, or we don't.

Obama wants to increase troop involvement in Afganistan. He also wants to leave 35 to 50 thousand troops in Iraq, and he also (according to his campaign website) wants to involve more troops and "Third world African countries"? This is getting retarded. He wants to increase the Foreign Policy budget by another 10 billion!

How is that smart? GO KUCINICH!

Of course the opposition that said withdrawel is a "loss" are not concerned because some soldiers may be left there.

Of course they aren't, They are in favor of the current foreign policy...

Close all overseas bases. NOW!!!!

seriously?

30-50k non-combat troops.

Personally I think they all should be brought home.

A long time ago.

There should not be a single US serviceman or woman stationed outside of American soil. Its time for the rest of the world to police their own backyards.

I wont disagree with that.

we can't help others until we are good to go

umm yea but we surely cant leave the mideast in the mess that it is currently in.

sooooo bring the troops home...put the majority back on reserve duty.

if ALLLL the troops came home..the competition for jobs would double.

The government would save billions of dollars if all the active duty troops were stationed here. The cities and towns that had bases closed would certainly welcome the return of jobs and business.

Being stationed here would increase the quality of life for the family members, and maybe we wouldn't have to recruit mexican nationals and gang bangers to fill the quotas.

Back on reserve duty? Reservist have civilian jobs. Many have their jobs waiting for them....supposedly. My son does. When he comes home his job is waiting for him. He is very lucky there. This is very hard on him and his family. His 2 year old son is now not wanting to talk to him via computer and cam. He will not see his new son being born.

This needs to stop. These poor families are falling apart.
He tells me that the horror stories he hears from the soldiers is scarey. The divorces and children forgetting them. This war is killing families. Bring them home.

Then there are those that only joined for that bonus check that they needed.

I agree with whomever said their famllies would certainly be happy to have them home. Many of these military families are losing their homes and are having a very hard time living a normal life.

I think over half of the military there are reservist and national guard. I know that the Marines are taking a hard hit too.
I don't know....maybe I am wrong.

I just know I want my son home. I am very scared. He is my youngest and has no choice in the matter. He tells me that the moral there is very bad.

I am sorry. I have had the need to rant about this. My heart hurts.

Kat

But, we have to finish the job in Afghanistan.

I say draft so all Americans will sacrifice equally!

i do feel for the troops.
and the iraqis

and their families.
and the mental strain they are under.

but it appears that the US is now expanding the war to Afghanistan. and then where?? Pakistan? Iran??

this is the truth, y'all can live in your fantasy

Afghanistan is our war.
We should have been concentrating our forces there from the get-go.