Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Thursday backed off his firm promise to withdraw combat forces from Iraq immediately, and instead said he could “refine” his plan after his trip to Baghdad later this month.
Earlier, a top Obama adviser had said that the senator is not “wedded” to a specific timeline.
Link:Politico.com
WASHINGTON: With Senator Barack Obama planning to visit the Middle East and Europe in an apparent effort to burnish his foreign policy credentials, the credentials of his likely presidential rival, Senator John McCain, came under sharp attack Sunday from a man considered a possible Democratic vice presidential candidate.
The retired general Wesley Clark said McCain had [...]
10 times since the beginning of June, McCain has retreated from, upended or just forgotten positions he once claimed as his own. On Social Security, balancing the budget, defense spending, domestic surveillance and a host of other issues so far this month, McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” did a U-turn on the road to the White [...]
“We’ll make an announcement about that but as I’ve said, I’m interested in visiting Iraq and Afghanistan before the election,” said Obama, who has been vilified by McCain for visiting Iraq only once, in January 2006.
Link:AFP
RUSSERT: The fact is you are different than George Bush.
SEN. McCAIN: No. No. I-the fact is that Im different but the fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, Ive been totally in agreement and support [...]
I respect sen. John McCains service to our country. He is one of those heroes of which I speak. But I cant understand why he would line up behind the President in his opposition to this GI bill.
I cant believe why he believes it is too generous to our veterans. I could not disagree with [...]
The proposed 21st Century GI Bill would allow soldiers to receive free tuition for college. Obama said it is one of a number of upgrades to GI benefits and healthcare the federal government should provide.
“It would provide every returning veteran with a real chance to afford a college education, and it would not harm retention,” [...]
Obama proposes to remake the Veterans Administration for the 21st Century and evokes his grandfather’s World War II Service. Perhaps most interesting is his description of the maltreatment of returning Vietnam War veterans as “one of the saddest episodes in our history” — an olive-branch to the right that’s in keeping with his larger claim [...]
In January 2005, Clinton deftly maneuvered — from her perch on the Senate Armed Services Committee — a multi-billion-dollar contract to buy presidential helicopters from a consortium including European companies.
That deal involved rewarding a $6.1 billion contract to the England based AgustaWestland and Lockheed Martin to build 23 high-tech Marine One helicopters — the President’s [...]
Sen. Barack Obama says if elected president he won’t require that his appointees to the Joint Chiefs of Staff support allowing gays to serve openly in the military.
The Democratic presidential front-runner told The Advocate, a gay magazine, that he wants to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays, which was instituted during the [...]
PFC Jeremy Slate said he supported Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., because of his stated intention to pull out of Iraq right away.
“That would be nice,” Slate said, “I’d like to be home, yea.”
SFC Patricia Keller also expressed support for Obama, citing his representation for change.
Link:ABC News
