Would Obama have voted for the IWR?

[rollingrock]

what do you think?





IMO: despite his campaign rhetoric claiming otherwise, there's no reason for me to believe he would have voted against Bush's IWR (if Obama were in the senate at the time). like any typical politician or lawyer, Obama likes to tell people what they want to hear so they will vote for him, after putting his finger in the wind of public opinion.

but when he became a senator, Obama voted in favor of all of Bush's Iraq funding bills. as president, he reneged on a promise to close the Guantanamo prison facility by January as promised, now saying that it could be open indefinitely. he is also opposed to signing the land mine treaty, wants to escalate in Afghanistan, etc. so there's really nothing in this man's record to indicate that he would have done anything other than vote for more war. Obama is not the 'peace president' by any stretch.

[Skittles]

1. yes, he would have

[boston bean]

2. OMFG were peoples eyes closed and ears block during the primaries..

All this shit is NOTHING NEW!

[Pisces]

16. yes they were, or they are willfully ignorant. I tend to think these people are hidden trolls.

Obama was clear on sending more troops to Afghanistan, yet many on this board are acting like this is the first time they have heard this information.

[debbierlus]

21. No, it is not new. It was horrible then, and atrocious now.

[Myrina]

3. Listening to him now, I would say most likely, yes.

:(

[La Lioness Priyanka]

4. Yes, he would. Not because he is a bad person or a war mongerer or anythign

but because he is a politician with a viable career

[rollingrock]

10. I disagree

sending people to die in some fabricated trumped up war makes him a warmonger and possibly a criminal.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

11. then we should round up and jail clinton, kerry, edwards etc. i honestly think in 2001

most politicians didnt think they had a choice. not sure if thats a good excuse but i dont think its really war mongering

[rollingrock]

18. Most politicans didn't think they had a choice?

did someone have a gun to their heads telling them to vote yes or else? give me a break.

[Telly Savalas]

20. If I recall correctly, the folks who voted "no" did rather well in subsequent elections.

[rollingrock]

24. Absolutely

for example, Kucinich's career is doing just fine despite his principled vote against the IWR.

[Telly Savalas]

26. A majority of the Democratic caucus on Capitol Hill voted the same way he did on this.

[MNDemNY]

5. WITHOUT A DOUBT !!

[Juche]

6. Likely

Half the democrats in the senate (including Durbin) and 2/3 in the house voted against the IWR.

Obama spoke out against the Iraq war.

So likely.

On another note, Obama said he was going to focus on Afghanistan during the election. Why is everyone surprised? I don't want him to pull troops out tomorrow if there is valid reason to think pulling out would let Al Qaeda rebuild in the region.

[NYC Liberal]

7. No.

And please don't spread that bullshit about Gitmo not closing. Obama gave the order, he has to wrangle with Congress now which is stalling and delaying on it.

[MNDemNY]

9. It's a military post. He is Commander in chief, is he not?

[NYC Liberal]

12. Congress has to fund it.

"No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law" --US Constitution, Article 1, Section 9

[MNDemNY]

15. To "fund" the closing??

What action of congress is de-funding the closing of Gitmo?:shrug: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[NYC Liberal]

17. Funding. Not Defunding. And there is no action of Congress.

That is why it's not happening.

Do you think it will cost $0.00 to dismantle an entire military base and transport several hundred prisoners to various prisoners here in the U.S.? :rofl:

[tonysam]

8. Of course. It would be consistent with his neoliberal ideas. n/t

[jefferson_dem]

13. Of course he would have. He forcefully spoke out against it several times.

Why do so many here conflate Iraq and Afghanistan?

[tritsofme]

14. I very much doubt it.

Illinois' other Democratic senator, Dick Durbin, opposed the resolution; and Obama as a state senator talked of opposing the Iraq War then.

I really don't have a reason to think differently, but I guess it makes for a good smear.

[debbierlus]

19. In a New York minute...

[cali]

22. No.

He would not have.

[cherokeeprogressive]

23. He himself said he didn't know how he would have voted. I see no reason to speculate. n/t

[noamnety]

25. Oh sure,

After making a cautiously worded speech about how he opposed the war, he'd have voted for it. We call that playing chess.

[bvar22]

27. Go with the Flobama?

Sure he would have voted FOR it,

AND chalked it up as a "WIN".

[kenny blankenship]

28. I think we know the answer now!

The fact that he wasn't there caused me and millions other Dems to give him the benefit of the doubt, whereas Hillary left no doubt of her warmongering. Now he has spent that benefit several times over, and as far as I'm concerned he's bankrupt.

No second chance for that grifter.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

29. I don't remember Obama reneging on closing Gitmo

When did he say THAT???? Link???
:wtf:

He may not get it closed by when he wanted but that is NOT the same thing as saying that it would continue to remain open indefinitely. The NIMBYs (both Democratic and Republican ones) in Congress are largely to blame for the delay. It's important to set deadlines to get things moving and things HAVE been moving forward but that doesn't mean that they are going to be met all of the time, particularly when there's a lot of bureaucracy involved.