Democrats label Iraq 'strategic blunder' in 2008 Party Platform

[jefferson_dem]

Democrats label Iraq 'strategic blunder'
Posted: Sunday, August 03, 2008 4:28 PM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Democrats, 2008

From NBC/NJ’s Matthew Berger
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Democratic Party will formally call the decision to go to war with Iraq a “strategic blunder” in its 2008 platform, according to a draft debated Saturday. The party also included language on Iraq withdrawal echoed by its presumptive nomine, Barack Obama, as it expressed a desire to “be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in.”

The party will also add calls for universal healthcare coverage, while keeping the current employer-centric system.

A drafting committee unveiled the 44-page platform for the national party, encompassing both traditional Democratic values and the plans unveiled by Obama.

The party’s draft differs from four years ago on Iraq, when it said “people of good will disagree about whether America should have gone to war in Iraq.” This time, reflecting a shift in American public opinion, the committee hopes to emphasize that “Iraq was a diversion from the fight against the terrorists who struck us on 9-11” while reiterating complaints about the war’s execution. It also echoes Obama’s calls to remove one to two military brigades each month.

“I think the facts are clear now,” Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, drafting committee chair, said after the hearing. “People of good will could disagree with the facts, but as clear as they are now, the facts are manifest that it was a blunder.”

The language on Iraq is consistent with Obama’s position, and is significant for a party that includes many leaders who initially backed the war in Congress. While some, including former Sen. John Edwards, have called the initial support a mistake, others, like Sen. Hillary Clinton, have said the error was largely in the war’s execution.

Obama Senior Foreign Policy Advisor Susan Rice, who presented that section of the draft, said she had not heard complaints from other committee members, but would not know until the full Platform Committee meets and votes on the platform whether it represented the view of most Democrats.

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http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/03/1244331.aspx

[Xipe Totec]

1. Cheney '94: Invading Baghdad Would Create Quagmire C-SPAN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BEsZMvrq-I

[Raven]

2. A "blunder"??? Websters defines a blunder as a "foolish or stupid

mistake". Seems to me that this war, which has taken so many of our children and about bankrupt us, is a little more than a "blunder". What is my Party thinking????

[babylonsister]

3. Thank you. Took the words right out of my mouth. nt

[bdf]

5. It's either far worse or far better than a "blunder" depending on your perspective

If, as most readers here, you are interested in what is good for America and its citizens, this was a fuck-up of the first order.

If, however, you are one of Bush's obscenely-rich cronies, or are one of the fascists in the maladministration, this was one of the most brilliant moves ever.

It all depends on perspactive. If you make the mistake of thinking the Bush maladministration is working for the betterment of America, they're all fucktards. If you realize the true situation, that they're trying to turn Bush into an emperor and have their obscenely-rich cronies and themselves get even richer at the expense of ordinary Americans, they're all evil geniuses.

I've said it before, and I'll no doubt say it again, because it cannot be repeated too often: these people aren't stupid. Evil, yes; stupid, no.

[lapfog_1]

4. Worst foreign policy decision in the history of the United States

One right up there with Germany invading the Soviet Union, Napoleon invading Russia in 1812, Alexander the Great invading India, etc.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Strategic "blunder"? Shucks! How silly of them.

Whoops!! Just a million dead Iraqis and our nation on the verge of economic collapse because somebody just goofed.

Oh, well, we don't want to embarrass them. Everyone makes mistakes.

:puke: