President Obama: ''Afghan Draw-down WILL START in July 2011'' - Oslo, Norway, press conference

[MrObama]

Run time: 02:25 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpfatJOnc1g   Posted on YouTube: December 10, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 10, 2009 By DU Member: MrObama Views on DU: 1351

 
Prior to getting his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, President Barack Obama met with the Prime Minister of Norway. The President said once again that he plans to start drawing down U.S. Forces in Afghanistan in July of 2011.

[whatchamacallit]

1. "I've been unambiguous about my ambiguity..."

Painful to watch him insincerely choke out that answer. He doesn't seem to believe it himself. "In July 2011 we will begin the process of determining the process by which we can start the transfer of yada, yada, yada..." All of it of course subject to "conditions on the ground". I won't hold my breath.

[Dawgs]

2. What has he done that would make you not believe him?

Or are you one of those people?

[whatchamacallit]

3. Before I can accurately answer

I'd have to know what being "one of those people" means.

[liberation]

7. LOL, "what do you mean 'you people'?"

they are starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel at this point, me thinks. "you people" unf*ckingbeliebeable!

[dmallind]

4. ...absolutely consistent with what he said before

Anybody who fondly imagined a promise to be out by 2011 is either illiterate or deaf.

[liberation]

8. Bush was also very consistent....

... should we hold off criticism on his case too?

Obama just took ownership of Bush's f*ckups. Yeah, great chess move there. LOL.

[dmallind]

10. Depends on if you agree - just make the criticism honest.

The initial critic does not say that he disagrees with the President, a perfectly valid position - he is claiming that the president is shifting his own position and being insincere. That is not the case.

[liberation]

14. Oh, Making up sh*t when fishing for red herrings is sincere then?

So Obama has been consistently wrong on this issue. Now what?

Note, I never claimed Obama "changed" his position... but rather that his current position is wrong. This hole constant moving of the goalpoasts regarding what is acceptable criticism reeks of intellectual dishonesty.

[dmallind]

15. Whhh? Me? Obama? Which shit? Which Red Herrrings?

I said he was consistent. He is. Why is that a problem? I said he can be criticized (not that I could stop it if I wanted to or tried - but I don't) on policy but not on being shifty and insincere and dishonest until that has been demonstrated. All words used on DU about this policy. Why is that a problem? You are taking as axiomatic that he is wrong. I disagree. But even so, then criticize him for being wrong (in your personal end entirely subjective opinion - just like my opposite opinion is also), not for being dishonest or insincere.

[lib2DaBone]

5. Ocean Front Property in Arizona.... For Sale... Cheap....

[Andronex]

6. America has never left a country...

once it got it's hooks into it, unless forced out. Because of Afghanistan strategic position to keep Russia and China in check, and huge and very profitable oil and gas prospect to be serviced through pipelines in Afghanistan and Pakistan, America will never leave voluntarily. The military will make sure the conflict continues to justify permanent military presence and profit. We already know they are paying the Taliban "not to attack", another way of looking at this is they are simply funding the Taliban to keep the conflict going and so justify US military presence.

The point of wars is not to win them, but to ensure that they last as long as possible, war is a racket, a very profitable one for the central bankers who fund them and the military industrial complex...

Looking at the video you can see by his body language and tone of voice that Obama doesn't believe a word he is saying.

[liberation]

9. The American people don't like paying attention: how does one win a war on a concept exactly?

Furthermore, how does one win a war in which a significant portion of it is carried out by mercenaries (f*ck that "private contractor" euphemism to make us feel better at hiring soldiers of fortune to carry out our wars) whose profit is inversely proportional to the probability of the war ending?

Obama did not even address any of those "minutiae" right?


Although I got to hand it to him, I think it was obvious from the video that not even him believes the sh*t he says any more. His body language was about the only thing sincere, which is a huge difference from the previous sociopath in chief, so I'll take what I get to make a silver lining at this point, LOL

[swilton]

12. +1

[me b zola]

11. Recommended

I am very proud of our President. He will end two wars during his presidency, all while having to battle his own pentagon and cia.

[Enrique]

13. he sounds unusually shaky

maybe he's thinking that people are believing him less and less on Afghanistan, which I think might be true.

[liberation]

16. He is not a sociopath....

... unlike the previous jackass. I think that at a deep level Obama understands the hypocrisy of accepting the Nobel Prize while waging 2 wars and continuing aggressive policies started by earlier American exceptionalism. Or at least it is getting harder for him to subsume his subconscious?

Who knows, maybe he reaches an breaking point and he has a similar 'I am finally free' moment as LBJ.

[thereismore]

17. Is 1 platoon reduction a drawdown? nt