Obama Calls on Bush To Admit Iraq
Errors
Washington Post
By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 23, 2005; A03
CHICAGO, Nov. 22 -- Sen. Barack Obama said President Bush should admit
mistakes in waging the Iraq war and reduce the number of troops stationed there
in the next year. But the Illinois Democrat, a longtime opponent of the war,
said U.S. forces remain "part of a solution" in the bitterly divided country
and should not be withdrawn immediately.
Without citing specific numbers, Obama called for a "limited drawdown" of
U.S. troops that would push the fragile Iraqi government to take more
responsibility while deploying enough American soldiers to prevent the country
from "exploding into civil war or ethnic cleansing or a haven for
terrorism."
Obama also faulted the administration for tarring its critics as unpatriotic
naysayers and said it launched the war to topple Saddam Hussein in March 2003
without "giving either Congress or the American people the full story."
"Straight answers to critical questions. That's what we don't have right
now," the high-profile freshman senator told the Chicago Council on Foreign
Relations. "Members of both parties and the American people have now made clear
that it is simply not enough for the president to simply say 'We know best' and
'Stay the course.' "
As other Democrats are finding their voice against Iraq policy, Obama took
an approach closer to one taken by Senate Foreign Relations Committee colleague
Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) than to that of Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.).
Murtha, a former Marine, called last week for an immediate pullout of nearly
160,000 U.S. troops.
Four prospective Democratic presidential candidates -- Biden, Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) and former North Carolina
senator John Edwards -- have advocated a more gradual approach, with no sudden
steps. Biden called Monday for the withdrawal of 50,000 troops by the end of
next year and all but 20,000 to 40,000 out by January 2008.
Obama told the audience of about 500 people that the war has siphoned assets
from homeland security and the global anti-terrorism fight. He said the
administration's attempt to equate the defeat of the Iraqi insurgency with the
defeat of international terrorism is "overly narrow and dangerously
short-sighted."
In a 35-minute speech scheduled just days ago, Obama argued that public
opinion has raced ahead of politicians in seeking a clearly etched policy that
helps produce stability in Iraq and the Middle East without exposing the United
States to "a war without end -- a war where our goals and our strategies drift
aimlessly, regardless of the cost in lives or dollars spent."
"Those of us in Washington have fallen behind the debate that is taking
place across America on Iraq. We are failing to provide leadership on this
issue," Obama said.
He maintained that Bush could take politics out of the Iraq discussion "once
and for all if he would simply go on television and say to the American people:
'Yes, we made mistakes. Yes, there are things I would have done differently.
But now that I'm here, I'm willing to work with both Republicans and Democrats
to find the most responsible way out.' "
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
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